Barak Itzhaki's joy was clear after scoring twice in the State Cup, but the striker added: "I can do a lot more"
Last night, eleven months after scoring his last goal for Maccabi, Barak Itzhaki was back in the first eleven and back on the scoreboard – twice! At the end of Maccabi Tel Aviv's decisive 1-4 victory over Beitar Tel Aviv/Ramla in round 8 of the Israeli State Cup, the veteran striker described his feelings: "It's been a difficult time for me, it's good to be back and of course to score. That's what I'm playing for and there's nothing like it in the world". Last night Itzhaki showed again his old brilliance, scoring twice from volleys to the far post: "It's all down to the hard work of the medical staff, the coaching staff and of course my team-mates, a great effort from everybody. It's not easy going through what I went through but thanks to a lot of very hard work, lots of desire and lots of concentration I came out of it. I'm glad I did it and managed to score again but I know I can do a lot more".
"I have to be more mobile on the pitch, but that will come with time. I need to play more, but for the time being I'll take any chance I get and hopefully that will include the league as well. That's the most important thing". Itzhaki, who scored his first goal since Feb. 9th last year and completed 71 minutes last night, felt comfortable on the pitch and didn't think about his injury: "I try as much as possible to get my tackles in. I mean, when you're out there playing you don't think too much about what might happen, you're too focused on what's going on on the pitch". Itzhaki has played for Maccabi in Cup ties before so he knew it would be no walk in the park: "I'm glad we're through to the next round. Forget that Beitar Tel Aviv/Ramla are a second division side, it was a tough game playing away and I'm glad we won and moved on".
Dor Peretz, who last night finished the full 90 minutes, picked up where his team-mate left off, stressing the team's preparations for the match: "We went into the match as determined as we always are to play our own game, and it showed. Maybe there was a minute or two after the equaliser that had the fans worrying but we were confident and gave it everything we could. I think we did enough out there and were impressive as well". Along with playing the full 90 minutes, the young international enjoyed the challenge of playing in two positions, as defender and midfielder: "It was a great feeling going the whole course in a senior-team Cup tie and playing in two different positions. I'm happy with the result and I hope we'll carry on this way, all the way to the final".
On Saturday Maccabi will already be back to league duties, hosting Hapoel Acre at Bloomfield Stadium in matchweek 18 of the Israeli Premier ("Winner") League. Omri Ben Harush isn't worried the team won't have enough time to prepare for the encounter, their third in the last six days: "We've had runs like this in the past. We've often played two, three games in a week so we're used to it and we'll be ready". The defender is confident that Acre's place holding up the league table won't influence Maccabi's preparations: "You can't take any club for granted, and that includes Hapoel Acre. Our objective is to go into every match prepared to give it our all, to play the football we know and of course to win. It's been a while since we've done that at home".
