At the age of 30 Maccabi’s captain Dor Peretz is starting his 11th season in Yellow and Blue. Peretz who last season scored 18 goals in 52 appearances to win the Player of the Season award, also helped the team win three domestic trophies: the Super Cup, Toto Cup and League Championship. On Sunday evening, Peretz is set to lead Maccabi out at Bloomfield as the first domestic title will be on offer with last season’s runners up and State Cup winners Hapoel Be’ersheva supplying the opposition.
“Ending the season on a high note just like last season, to win every title, and participate in a European competition and hopefully the most prestigious one.” Peretz said when speaking about his expectations from the forthcoming season. “We are in the early stages of preparation, there are new players, some are returning to the system, so we will start getting ready step by step. It begins with the Super Cup against Hapoel Be’ersheva a very important match for us, it’s for a title and qualification to the Semi Final of the Toto Cup. It is a game between two teams that competed to the end last season. So, we will start with that game and move forward toward our goals.”
On his opinion of the new kit, which was unveiled minutes earlier, Peretz said: “I think they’re very nice. I like them a lot.”
Following the departure of several experienced players, Peretz is by far the most experienced member of the team, as her reflected on the transition in the dressing room: “Factually, it is true. Anchors from last season are currently missing. Hopefully some of them will return, they can help me and the team this year as well. In any case, when there is a void, a gap, it can be filled by new players who can become influential and leaders in this team. We are already working on that, on a new generation, on leaders, on players who will start taking small steps toward leading the team.”
On the fact preparations for the season were disrupted by the war with Iran as the team split between Serbia where the coaching staff and foreign players began training until the Israeli contingent could travel and meet up in Hungary for pre-season, Peretz said: “Honestly, I was in touch with some of them, not extensively. Once I saw them at the training camp, I realized they had returned and that everything was okay, that they were calm and felt safe. I am happy about that.”
