Ido Shahar is experiencing the best season of his career as he scored 10 of his 14 goals this season in league matches. From his position in midfield, Shahar, is Maccabi’s joint top scorer together with Dor Peretz who scored one more goal in the league. While Peretz was on target in Wednesday’s State Cup Semi Final victory over Maccabi Haifa, Shahar missed a penalty which would have taken his tally this season to 15 in all competitions.
Ahead of Sunday’s Tel Aviv derby against Hapoel at Bloomfield, where local pride will take center stage, Shahar said: “A derby is a derby. Everyone knows the meaning of this game, for the players, the Club, and the fans. We are preparing as we do for every match. We’re coming to win, and we do have a good feeling after the recent victory in the Cup against Maccabi Haifa. We hope to continue the momentum we have created, come to win tomorrow and look as good as possible.”
Bloomfield stadium is expected to be full again to its’ capacity after the Home Front Command lifted all the restrictions following the ceasefire with Iran and Lebanon. Sahar, didn’t hide his excitement as he admitted: “We are happy the fans are back and that Bloomfield will be full, I am sure it will help us a lot and give us a real boost.”
Shahar who has an excellent success rate from penalties, spoke on the spot kick he missed against Haifa on Wednesday: “It was a bit frustrating to miss a penalty, but I know it’s part of the profession. I always say, if you don’t take them, you don’t miss. After the penalty I told myself that the most important thing is the next action. I managed to win the ball back, and most importantly, we won. Dor (Peretz) came over and said a few words which gave me a lift.”
Local pride will not be the only thing at stake as Hapoel are neck and neck with Maccabi in the table as only goal difference separates the two sides in the table: “I understand what the fans are feeling” Shahar said. “I don’t think the derby is more important than the Haifa match, Haifa was also a very important game. We’re level on points and everything is tight. Even after the run was broken, we as players take it in a positive way. It’s a privilege to be under this kind of pressure and in these situations. We want to take that pressure and turn it into positive energy, and make our fans as happy as possible.”
On Wednesday’s Cup victory which was the first victory Maccabi recorded over one of the ‘Big Guns’ over 90 minutes this season, Shahar said: “It’s a fact that we haven’t beaten the big teams. Maccabi is the biggest club in the country, we come to win every match. It has been a bit of a strange season, with a lot of changes in the squad and many new players. I can’t remember Maccabi having such a young squad in a long time, but we take that positively.” Despite his young age, Shahar, who emerged from Maccabi’s Youth Department, is one of the most experienced players in the squad. “To keep the club’s DNA as it was, and it’s still there. There’s also the war situation, which affects all teams. For us, the season isn’t over and there’s still a lot to play for. We’re not giving up on any title or any match. This upcoming game is very important for us.”
On the competition for places in midfield, Shahar, who will be making his 40th appearance in all competitions this season and a total of 113 in Yellow and Blue, added: “In the end, we’re used to it. There’s competition across the squad, every position has competition. We like that, and ultimately it pushes the team forward.”
On Maccabi’s targets this season, Shahar said: “Our goal is to win the league, the cup, basically to fight for every title. We did everything to enter the playoffs from first place, unfortunately it didn’t happen. But we haven’t given up, and the season isn’t over yet.”
