On the way he blended in with the rest of the team: “To be honest I received an amazing welcome. The guys welcomed me in an amazing manner, there are some guys whom I have known from before, but all embraced me, gave me a big hug and welcomed me into the team. This is just great”.
Avi Rikan, who scored Maccabi’s equaliser to cancel Shakhter’s early lead, added: “On a personal note I began the season late as I was suffering from a back injury as almost everyone knows. I was struggling physically to get into the right shape the team requires. I am delighted that today all the hard work paid off with the goal I scored and even happier with the goal Eden (Shamir) scored. We are a massive club that always aspires to participate in European competitions an I hope that today we did an important step towards our target. This is only the first leg, as next week we have another tough match against them in our stadium and with our climate. I hope we manage to do it until the end”.
