Maccabi will host Hapoel Be’ersheva on Saturday for a top of the table MD22 ONE ZZERO League clash at Bloomfield (20:00). Roy Revivo who scored a spectacular free kick against Maccabi Netanya earlier this week, faced the media ahead of the game between the two sides currently ranked second and third.
Revivo, who scored his senior debut goal against Ashdod doubled his tally for the season with a free kick against Netanya, revealed: “When I was with the Israel U19’s with Ophir Haim the player who took the free kick was Thai Abed who has an amazing shot. I asked Ophir to let me take one every now and then as I also have a good shot. At the end of one training I told him that if I score one now he should let me take one at a match and he said ‘go for it’. Tomer Zarfati who was Netanya’s keeper against us this week, was in goal and I scored. He told me that he is not sure whether he would let me take a free kick and until today he hasn’t done so as I never had a go. At the game against Netanya, I told myself that I will try and received the support of Sab (Enric Saborit) who encouraged me to go take it.”
On the comparison to the free-kicks technique of his father Haim Revivo, Roy said: “From a young age I have been going into YouTube, clicking my father’s name and watch the things he did whilst playing for Fenerbahce or Galatasaray and see what it is all about. It is always fun to score goals, especially to be able to run to the fans and experience that madness, nothing can beat that.”
Following Maccabi’s 5-1 victory over Netanya and the recent run of results, Revivo said: “There is no secret behind us wanting to win every match. We don’t like to draw let alone to lose. We set ourselves a target after a complex spell of not winning matches to get back to winning ways, be aggressive and energetic. I am delighted we got that victory.”
Despite his young age and the first full-season with Maccabi’s senior side, Revivo, who already played 32 matches in all competitions in this campaign, remained with his feet on the ground: “After victories I tend to have 24 hours where I am enjoying the win and then open a clean slate ahead of the next match. Every match stands on its own but in football we all know that anything can happen. We will approach this match like we did against Netanya, be aggressive, energetic and follow the instructions of the coaching staff.”
On the style of play Maccabi will approach, Revivo summed up: “We all knew that the playing surface in Netanya wasn’t the best with the ball bouncing everywhere especially in the center of the pitch. Sometimes it is worth taking risks, send the ball forward and battle for the second and third balls whilst being aggressive. It proved successful.”
