Dor Peretz faced the media at a Press Conference ahead of the match away to Hapoel Jerusalem which will open the second league round. With Maccabi third in the table with 27 points, two behind second place Beitar and six adrift of Hapoel Be’ersheva but with a game in hand, Peretz said: “We dropped four points in the last two matches (Hapoel Hadera and Hapoel Haifa), yet we won our match in Europe not with the best of ability but by showing loads of character and plenty of determination. This alone is worth just as much because it shows the players’ and team’s character.”
On the difference between playing in Europe and the domestic competition, the 29-year-old midfielder said: “The character of these matches is totally different but the stage here is a lot more important for us. We need to know there is no room for mistakes, as we must be fully prepared, the players, the staff, as we are challenging for the league title. Such matches reflect on awful lot on the future. We must arrive prepared as best as we possibly can.”
On the penalties Maccabi conceded in the last three matches, Peretz said: “Your role as media is to try find the explanations for everything, but I don’t think that there is a link between Maccabi and this penalty or the other when a certain player commits one. There are controversial penalties. Against Hadera it was a penalty, but was the penalty against Hapoel Haifa a 100% penalty? Difficult to say. We must be more alert and focused but we can’t concede a penalty for everything that happens. We must be a lot more focused as players, understand our place and hope for the decisions to go in our way.”
On the effect of Europe on Maccabi’s season, Peretz said: “Of course it has an effect. We arrive from matches against a certain opponent, with a different style of a game, to matches here. Add that to the combination of all the flights which makes this season into a real journey. This is not an excuse because from game to game we would want to show that we can compete in Europe as well as the league.” With Maccabi’s next match in Europe scheduled for January 23rd away to Bodo/Glimt in Norway, Peretz, who also travelled with the Israel national team for all its’ international matches, explained: “Now we have an entire month to focus on matches here. There will be no excuses not to show up in all our strength and glory.”
Ahead of Hapoel Jerusalem, a team Maccabi managed to beat only in added time when both teams met at Bloomfield earlier this season, Peretz said: “They are an excellent team, with quality players, an interesting game plan who always know how to surprise their opponents. Our role is to prepare for that. Matches against them were always very tight and we must show up and play an intense and aggressive game, to take the right decisions which should help us create chances in win the match”.
