Roy Revivo is set to make his 70^th senior appearance for Maccabi Tel Aviv during Saturday’s WINNER League home match at Bloomfield against Bnei Reineh. Revivo, who together with his teammates and coaching staff visited Kfar Aza and the Nova site during the week, revealed how this visit at the Gaza surrounding communities affected him. “The tour was very tough for me personally” Revivo said before explaining. “I had a close friend who was at the Nova party and fortunately he managed to escape. On the day we exchanged text messages, so to feel the magnitude of the place is something which I find tough to even talk about. When we were there, it was tough for me as I never expected it to be that way. I think it was important t be there and see how each one of us perceives it. When you are there, it is just different.”

 

Maccabi faced Bnei Reineh twice this season winning 2-1 in the league at Nof Hagallil before suffering a 2-1 defeat at Bloomfield to be knocked out of the State Cup. On the challenge Maccabi will face against Reineh, Revivo said: “We are aware of our previous encounters and can’t wait for this match. I think that this time round we will be more focused. The late goals we conceded in the Cup were caused by a lapse of concentration as the balls fell between us, so we will put our emphasis on that, and the coaching staff will prepare us in the best possible way.”

 

With Maccabi trailing Hapoel Be’ersheva by two points, a victory in the early kickoff match (17:30) could take Zarko Lazetic’s side to the top of the table at least until the leaders end their game away to Maccabi Netanya. On the possibility of capturing top spot, Revivo said: “We’d obviously like to be top and if you want to win the league you must be at the top of the table. So, it is important.”

  

On a season which started slow and was plagued with a knee injury that sidelined him between September and December, Revivo said: “At the start of the season when I returned from the Olympic Games it took me a while to recapture my form. I then suffered an injury but this is the life of the footballer and one has to recover from that, gain strength and move on. Now I think that I am back to my best form.”

On the challenge of facing Reineh that this season recorded victories over Maccabi, Be’ersheva and Beitar Jerusalem, Revivo said: “They are a good side, a tough team but if we do what we have to do properly, we will win.”

On Maccabi’s relatively youn g squad and its’ effects on the campaign, the 21-year-old added: ”In my opinion age doesn’t make a difference. Jude Bellingham for example is 21 years old and is one of the world’s leading players, do if you ask me age is not important once a player is ready.”

On Maccabi’s performance during last week’s 3-1 victory over Bnei Sakhnin, Revivo summed up: ”I must first thank the fans for pushing us with 10 men. I think we showed a lot of character as a team, and believed we could do it.”

 

While 500 days to the start of the war is marked all across Israel, Maccabi’s players staff, management and employees left their day jobs behind and travelled down south today (Monday) for a tour of the the communities outside the Gaza strip.

As part of the tour, the club officials visited some of the sites that were severely hit on October 7th. The tour began at Sderot, where one member of the security forces shared his experience from October 7th. The next stop was Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where 64 people were killed and 19 were taken hostage from a community of 1,000 residents, mostly civilians during the Hamas-led massacre. The final stop of an emotional day was the Nova site at Re’im where 364 were murdered and 44 kidnapped. After hearing about some of the atrocities and acts of bravery, the players placed scarves on the memory pillars of Maccabi fans who were murdered there 500 days ago.

Gabi Kanichowsky praised the team’s character for a fine display as Maccabi beat Bnei Sakhnin 3-1 at Bloomfield stadium. Idan Nachmias was shown a red card shortly before the interval while Abdallah Khalaikhal equalized Weslley Patati’s goal before the Brazilian restored the lead and Dor Turgeman sealed the win.

Kanichowsky spoke on the character his teammates showed on the night: “To receive a red card at such an early stage, to bounce back from an equalizer we conceded in the 78^th with 10 men is proof of our character and we did it. It was a tough match, but I am happy with the outcome.”

Kanichowsky refused to be drawn to any comment on refereeing matters as he insisted: “We must focus on ourselves, not the referees or their decisions as it takes us out of the game. This is proof of Maccabi Tel Aviv’s character. To take points with 10 men – matches like this win championships. Our fans really pushed us today. I don’t think that this was a matter of being fresh but more of mentality. We know that this is the run in of the season as every point is important.”

When asked about his ambition to move abroad when his contract runs out, Kanicowsky said: “I am not hiding my ambition to go and play in Europe. But in recent years Maccabi Tel Aviv is like playing abroad as we play in Europe every season. At the moment I am a 100% focused on Saturday’s match against Bnei Reineh and I hope that the fans will turn up in numbers and push us.”

Preview

Maccabi returned to Bloomfield stadium for the MD23 WINNER league match against Bnei Sakhnin knowing they need a victory to narrow the five-point gap from the top.

With only four matches left to play in the regular season before the Playoff kicks off, Zarko Lazetic’s side would like to build on last week’s victory away to Kiryat Shmona in order to string a successive victory streak.

Lazetic made two changes to his starting line up with Simon Sluga recovering from the injury that forced him off against Kiryat Shmona to keep his place in goal. Nemanja Stojic who scored a couple last week, was partnered by Stav Lemkin as the two central defenders in front of the Croatian custodian. Idan Nachmais on the right and Roy Revivo on the left completed Maccabi’s back-four. In the absence of Joris van Overeem who is serving a one-match-touchline ban, Lazetic named Issouf Sissokho to the anchorman role. Gabi Kanichowsky and Dor Peretz completed Maccabi’s midfield trio with Peretz leading the team out with the captain’s armband. Henry Addo whose only league goal was scored in the 4-0 victory over Bnei Sakhnin when both sides met in November, was named on one flank. Weslley Patati who scored his debut Maccabi goal in that game was named on the opposite wing. Dor Turgeman led the line aiming to add to his 9 league goals and 13 in all competitions.

On the bench alongside Roy Mishpati, Lazetic named Tyrese Asante, Eran Zahavi, Raz Shlomo, Yonas Malede, Elad Madmon, Ofir Davidzada, Ido Shahar and Osher Davida.

Prior to kickoff, a minute of applauds was held in memory of former player and team manager Moshe ‘Pepo’ Israeli who passed away last month at the age of 90.

First Half

Maccabi began the match on the front foot and came close to score inside the opening minute. A long ball out of defense picked Weslley Patati deep inside Sakhnin’s half before the Brazilian chested the ball and cut it for Dor Turgeman who couldn’t connect. A well drilled corner in the fifth minute left Stav Lemkin in an excellent position to score but the central defender snapped his shot to the wrong side of the post. Bloomfield stadium was on its feet in the 11th minute as Henry Addo chased what seemed like a lost cause before shrugging off a defender to keep it in play. Roy Revivo sent a cross into the area where Patati’s first attempt came off the post but his second was blasted into the roof of the net. Maccabi’s celebrations were short-lived as VAR took 3 minutes to spot the Brazilian winger in an offside position and disallow the goal. Two minutes later, Patati, had an even better chance to score as a pinpoint cross landed on his left foot but goalkeeper Mohamad Abu Nil dived to his right and saved.

Patati continued to look the most dangerous Maccabi player as his dual with Abu Nil continued with a series of corners right after the half hour mark. Maccabi edged closer towards the opener as Addo looked lively down the left created a chance for Turgeman who couldn’t pull the trigger. In the 41st minute Idan Nachmias was booked for a tackle, but VAR called referee Gal Leibovic to the screen. The yellow card was cancelled and replaced by a red one leaving Maccabi to continue with 10 players. Turgeman had two more chances as he first fired over before flashing a shot that rolled across the face of goal inside the 8 minutes of added time.

Second Half

Lazetic was forced to make a change at the restart as Tyrese Asante came on for Addo. Two minutes later, Nemanja Stojic burst forward from the halfway line before slipping the ball to Dor Peretz. But Sakhnin’s keeper Abu Nil charged off his goal line and dived at the feet of Maccabi’s captain to save.

Two minutes after the hour mark the deadlock was finally broken as Patati got his well-deserved goal. Sakhnin’s defense failed to clear the ball which reached Kanichowsky on the edge of the area before the diminutive midfielder flicked it to the Brazilian wizard who still had his work cut out as he rounded the keeper and fired home. Lazetic made his second change on the night as Ido Shahar came on for Peretz in the 72nd minute adding a fresh pair of legs into midfield.

In the 79th minute Simon Sluga pulled a stunning save as he was at full stretch to push over a shot by Alexandre Ramalingom which was making its way under the crossbar. But from the resulting corner Sakhnin managed to equalize as Abdallah Khaliakhal headed a corner that beat Sluga to make it 1-1. Maccabi’s response was quick and clinical as Kanichowsky burst forward and spotted Revivo’s overlap run. Revivo sent a perfect center into the patch of Patati who tapped home from the goalmouth to restore Maccabi’s lead on 83.

Victory was secured in the 86th minute as Turgeman forced a mistake from a Sakhnin midfielder before picking up the ball and firing the third last Abu Nil for the third. Patati and Turgeman were given a standing ovation as they came off and were replaced by Osher Davida and Eran Zahavi. Within a minute Zahavi received the ball just inside the area before sending a dipping shot which landed on the roof of the net.