The Yellow-and-Blue Under-19 team will kick off against Hapoel Haifa on Wednesday in State Cup quarterfinal action. The match will take place at Kiryat Haim and Maccabi will look to pick up an important win having already suffered two defeats at the hands of the Northern Reds.
Head Coach Ziv Arie spoke to the Official Website following the final training session prior to the match: “The two losses against them were actually two totally different games. It’s going to be tough to play our football at Kiryat Haim. We’ll try to make the difference in the box. About last game at Ramle, I’d rather forget about it.”
The players and the challenge ahead:
“A lot of the players here have been through some big matches, be it the Champions League Youth League and also in the earlier round of the State Cup. We’re not a team that knows how to move the ball forward but we will make some adjustments and make sure we don’t make any mistakes.”
Encouraged from last Saturday’s match:
“It’s been tough to put a finger on where the momentum will swing next this season. We made some second half changes and the players responded well. I hope that it gave them some confidence but we still have to be a bit more aggressive and not be as soft as we were. There’s no room for mistakes in Cup play.”
The importance of the match and the State Cup:
“The players know full well what our goal is with the Cup tournament and they are not afraid of it. I told the players that it doesn’t matter who we get drawn against. Did they get it? We’ll find out tomorrow at 18:00.”
