Ofek Melika experienced a rollercoaster ride of a season at Maccabi so far after beginning the campaign with a red after 19 minutes of his European debut against Pafos. The 21-year-old keeper waited for his chance on the bench, and became a hero overnight as he saved a crucial spot kick in the State Cup penalty shoot-out victory over Hapoel Tel Aviv. Melika, who claimed the number one jersey and kept a clean sheet in the 4-0 league victory over Maccabi Bnei Reineh, said after the match: “It was very important. We’re all feeling good. There’s new energy and a new atmosphere. I hope we keep looking good and that the feelings stay positive.”
Melika paid tribute to the former coach Zarko Lazetic and his coaching staff as he said: “I think it’s a change in atmosphere, and I really want to thank Žarko Lazetic, the goalkeeping coach Dragan Bajic and his entire staff, I truly enjoyed working with them; first and foremost, they are amazing people. Right now the team has gained a bit more energy, and I’m very happy to be working now with Ronny Deila and with the new goalkeeping coach who arrived. I’ve been very impressed by them. I’m happy they trust me and give me minutes, and I hope we can achieve great things this year.”
On the arrival of Dean Kiely, his new goalkeeping coach, Melika said: “It’s very exciting to work with him. Honestly, I knew who he was beforehand, and my dad is a big admirer. All of his demands, what he expects from me, and the way he runs training, it’s a lot of fun working with him.”
The fact Maccabi are nine points adrift of leaders Hapoel Be’ersheva didn’t shake the confidence of the young custodian who insisted: “I think everything is possible. There’s still the playoffs and we have knockout matches, anything can happen. We’ll just keep going down this path and things will be good.”
On a personal note, Melika summed up: “All my life I’ve been with teams that were underdogs, so I always had to be ready to step in. That’s something I’m used to. I think I’m doing a good job and I hope to continue like this. For me it’s harder to be ready for one or two situations in a half, because you can suddenly lose a bit of connection with the game. But in the end, that’s our job, to stay focused at all times, and hopefully we’ll keep improving.”
