“I think that everyone played very well” Kanichowsky said, “I was delighted to score the two goals and would like to thank all the fans who turned up to support us in these cold weather conditions. They deserve a lot of respect”.

On his performance on the night, Kanichowsky added: “I am used to playing in the middle but I am here for Maccabi and will play and do my best in every position I am asked to play”.

Eden Shamir, who scored Maccabi’s fifth goal said: “We made our lives easy but knew that it was not going to be easy on an artificial pitch and with these weather conditions that we are not used to. From the first moment however we showed that we are here to take the three points” Shamir said. “We played good football, created loads of chances and I am delighted we ended the game with 5 goals but even happier we didn’t concede. That was important for us”.

Pregame

Maccabi arrived in Finland for the Conference League group stage match against HJK at Helsinki’s Bolt Arena aiming to continue the form which saw them record four point from the opening two matches.

Maccabi’s coach Patrick van Leeuwen made two changes to the side that suffered a 4-2 defeat against Maccabi Netanya in the league. Shahar Piven stepped into the starting line-up to partner Luis Hernandez as the two central defenders in front of Daniel Peretz. Andre Geraldes and Enric Saborit completed the back-four on the right and left respectively. Sheran Yeini pushed into a defensive midfield role alongside Dan Glazer while Eyal Golasa was at the top of the triangle of Van Leeuwen’s midfield trio. Gabi Kanichowsky and Brandley Kuwas were named as the two wingers with Croatian striker Stipe Perica lead the line upfront.

First Half

Seven minutes from the start Maccabi reached the first chance as a Brandley Kuwas cross from the right was flicked by Stipe Perica into the path of Sheran Yeini. The veteran captain who ghosted into the area behind HJK’s defence, found himself in a glorious position to score but opted to cross before the danger was cleared. Perica had the first shot on goal after being teed-up by Kuwas on the edge of the area, but the Croat’s shot was easily collected by HJK’s keeper Hugo Keto. 

The deadlock was finally broken in the 27th minute as Dan Glazer and Golasa won the ball on the edge of the HJK are before Gabi Kanichowsky latched on the lose ball and sent a powerful low drive that found Keto’s bottom corner. The hosts seemed to threaten only from set pieces but with no further goals before the halftime whistle was sounded by the referee, both teams left the field to try and catch their breaths and warm up in the dressing rooms.

Second Half

Two minutes after the restart Maccabi were awarded a penalty after Perica was brought down inside the area. The tall Croatian striker picked himself up and fired the penalty beyond the reach of Keto to double Maccabi’s lead. Maccabi came close to increase their lead even further on 54 as Golasa found himself inside the HJK area, but his shot was blocked by a defender. Four minutes later Perica carved himself an opening as he skipped past three HJK defenders only to blast his shot over the crossbar.

In the 59th minute an Andre Geraldes cross from the right sailed across the penalty box and reached Kanichowsky who sent a low drive that beat Keto to make it 3-0. Van Leeuwen made his first substitution in the 63rd minute as Eden Shamir replaced Golasa in midfield. HJK came close in the 67th minute as a dangerous cross saw Luis Hernandez attempt to clear the ball but instead was deflected off his boot onto the crossbar.

Daniel Peretz was drawn into action as he made his first serious save to keep out the free kick of Lucas Lingman on 75. Two minutes later, Van Leeuwen made a double change as Eduardo Guerrero and Osama Khalaila replaced both Perica and Kuwas.

In the 84th minute Khalaila released Guerrero who spotted Keto off his line but the Panamanian forward missed the target with his attempt of a chip. Two minutes later Guerrero was fouled inside the area and Maccabi were awarded penalty allowing Enric Saborit to make it 4-0 with a successful spot kick. 

Sheran Yeini and Gabi Kanichowsky bowed out to a standing ovation by the traveling Maccabi fans as they were replaced by Matan Hozez and Ido Shahar on 87. Inside injury time Shamir headed in a Gerlades cross to make it 5-0 and round up a successful night overall.

It was a game which is impossible to forget. It was in the qualifying rounds on the way to the group stages and after a 0-0 draw in the first leg in Helsinki. Before we entered extra time, we needed to win” Liran Cohen recalls the previous meeting Maccabi Tel Aviv had with HJK Helsinki in the summer of 2004.

Late that summer Maccabi reached a historic landmark by reaching the Champions League group stage for the first time in the club’s history. After a 0-0 draw in the first leg in Finland, the tie was set to be settled in the return leg at Bloomfield stadium. The hero on the night was the young midfielder who grew up at the Youth Department and was promoted to the first team at the age of 21 before scoring an 88^th minute winner that beat the Finnish side.

“There was pressure of a game that looked like going wither way, like 50:50” recalls 38-year-old Cohen on the eve of the Conference League match against HJK in Finland. “I was introduced in the second half and felt that I am capable of doing it as I reached one or two chances beforehand and knew I needed one more time to score the goa and finish the tie. I felt that something good was going to happen”.

“The opponent were a physical side, a European team by all means. They were not a great footballing side but it was a tough match. Each team was trying to breach each other’s defence in order to advance through to the next stage. Neither team wanted to make a mistake that was of cost us dearly. Towards the end of the match we created chances and looked dangerous” he adds before reaching his glorious moment in the 88^th minute. “After scoring there was total madness, it was insane. This was a goal that took us up a stage and there is no better feeling than that. No one could know what would have happened in extra time or a penalty shoot-out”.

“This goal together with the goal against PAOK in the next round are probably the two most important goals of my career. I think they were also arguably the most significant goals in Maccabi Tel Aviv’s history” Cohen said.

This is how it happened: Watch the victory over Helsinki

As opposed to the goal scored by Liran Cohen, a move that didn’t capture the headlines as much was the injury time goalmouth clearance of Ghanaian defender John Panstil. Cohen however, recalls the incident vividly: ”One can’t forget that. After taking a late lead, every goal we would have conceded would have knocked us out thanks to the away goal rule, not even led to extra time. They had an attack and I remember goalkeeper Liran Strauber coming off his line, before their player (Jukka Santala) blasted a shot which didn’t just hit Pantsil but he headed off the line and saved it”.

“I remember after the game but were quick to land on our feet and stand firmly on the ground. We knew we have yet to reach the group stage and that there is still another round as we were just hoping for a comfortable draw”. PAOK Thessaloniki were the next opponents as Maccabi won the first leg in Greece by 2-1 with Erez Messika and Ishmael Ado getting their names on the scoresheet. In hindsight it emerged that the Greeks fielded an ineligible player as Maccabi won the match 3-0 by default which didn’t leave any doubt ahead of the return leg. Cohen scored the only goal of the game as Maccabi reached the Champions league group stage for the first time.

“It was a season where many young players who were not used for such levels, were the backbone of the squad. It was difficult to combine between the Champions League and the domestic league but ultimately we had a successful European campaign and won the State Cup so it was a good season” Cohen summed up.

 

Van Leeuwen, who guided Maccabi to a victory and a draw in the first two matches in the group, said: “This is not a team we had met in the past, which means that we must be a 100% prepared to face an unknown team in terms of football. This is what we have been doing over the past few days to ensure that we are a 100% prepared”.

On the fact his side will play on an artificial pitch, van Leeuwen added: “This is not new to our players, but at the same time not a surface they are used to on a weekly basis. The players should adapt now during the session and it will be OK”.

Sheran Yeini also spoke about the weather conditions and the playing surface as he added: “We had played on artificial pitches in the past and this is not new to us, but we will have to adapt to the conditions. I believe that we will be fine”.

On the importance of the match on the group, the veteran captain added: “It is a critical match in my eyes and I hope the result will go in our favour”

 

After playing against Alashkert or Armenia and Austrian outfit LASK Linz, Maccabi will conclude the first round of the Conference League group stages as they face HJK Helsinki in Finland on Thursday (17:30). The Finnish side hosts Maccabi at the Bolt Arena before traveling to Tel Aviv on MD4 for the corresponding match at Bloomfield stadium on November 4^th.

Queen of Finland

HJK Helsinki is the dominant force of Finnish football as they had won no less than 30 league titles. As a matter of comparison FC Haka who won the second number of Finnish league titles had so nine times only. This will be the second time Maccabi faces HJK as the previous double headed tie was played in the 2004/05 Champions league qualifying campaign. Maccabi beat the Finns 1-0 on aggregate to reach the Champions League group stage for the first time in the club’s history.

HJK began their European campaign this season in the Champions League but were eliminated in the second round by Malmo FF. The Europa League third qualifying round saw HJK knockout Neftchi Baku of Azerbaijan (5-2 on aggregate) to reach the Playoffs before suffering a 6-2 aggregate defeat to Turkish giants Fenerbahce. Having dropped directly to the Conference League, HJK began the group stage with a 2-0 defeat at home to LASK on MD1 followed by a 4-2 victory over Alashkert in Armenia.

League crisis

Similar to most European countries, the Finnish league is well underway having played 24 league rounds as HJK are currently second in the table trailing Kuopion Palloseura (Kups) by 3 points. HJK recently suffered a dip in form as a run of four winless matches and three successive league defeats saw them concede a four point lead at the top to keep the title race wide open. Against Maccabi however, HJK will arrive on the back of a 3-2 victory over Ilves that ended their winless run.

Artificial pitch once again

The Bolt Arena or Helsinki Football stadium is a compact ground which a capacity of 10,770 spectators that features an artificial surface. This will be the second time this season Maccabi will play on an artificial pitch following the 2-1 victory in Kazakhstan over Shakhtar Karagandy that was played at Astana. In terms of weather conditions, the close to zero welcoming Maccabi received upon their arrival to Helsinki on Tuesday night, will see the temperatures rise to around 11 with heavy rain expected.

Beware of the Riski brothers

HJK are coached by 38-year-old Toni Koskela, a former Finnish midfielder who played mostly in Scandinavia but also had short spells at Cardiff City and in Illisiakos of Greece. He was appointed as HJK Head Coach in 2019 after roles as Youth Team Coach and first team Assistant coach. In terms of the squad, two important and dangerous players upfront are the Riski brothers Riku (32) and Roope (30) with the former playing mostly on the wing while the latter is HJK’s leading goalscorer who is also a member of the Finland national team. Last season Roope scored 16 goals in 20 league matches yet this campaign he scored only 4 goals in 21, yet against Alashkert both brothers bagged a goal each in HJK’s 4-2 victory in Armenia.

Filip Valencic, a 29-year-old attacking midfielder who can also play as a winger is one of Koskela’s choices with 27-year-old Brazilian Jair Tavares da Silva occupying the anchorman role. Veteran midfielder, Tim Sparv is a household name in Finnish football as the 34-year-old defensive midfielder represented his country 84 times and featured for clubs such as Southampton, Halmstad, Groningen, Greuther Furth, Midtjylland and Larissa before returning to HJK in 2021. David Browne is another player to watch as the Papua New Guinea 25-year-old international scored four goals for HJK this season.

 

    

  

 

 

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Maccabi jetted out to Finland ahead Thursday’s Conference League group stage match against HJK Helsinki (17:30). Shortly before leaving for Ben Gurion Airport, the team held a training session at the PenguinPickUp training complex in Kiryat Shalom.

Before leaving for the airport, Dan Glazer spoke about the forthcoming encounter: “This is a very important match. “We began the group stage in a very good way and looking forward to getting a good result and return to focus on the league. We would like to reach as far as possible in Europe”.

On the artificial pitch and the cold weather conditions that await Maccabi in Finland, Glazer added: “We are fully aware of that and the conditions are not something we are used to on a regular basis but will do our best. We worked hard on all their tactical aspects and be prepared to do our job”.