Goal scorer Barak Itzhaki looked back at his side’s 2:0 Toto Cup Semifinal final win over Kiryat Shemona at the Acre Stadium while also commenting on his second half goal:

“That’s why I play. To wait for these moments when I’m on the pitch and try to score and help the team win.”

Happy with the result:
“We are always learning and improving from our mistakes and these types of matches can always help us along the way. We take every match at Maccabi Tel Aviv seriously and there are many players that are getting back into shape which they did today and I’m happy that the result was a win. Now we have to turn our sights on to the league match on Saturday.”

Fighting for the title:
“We have very good players and we are a solid club. We have a lot of new players and also the injured ones are coming back. At the end of the day we will be a strong team that will fight for the title with a number of other clubs.”

Jordi Cruyff, the Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach was happy that his squad moved on to the Finals of the Toto Cup after defeating Kiryat Shemona 2:0 on goals by Aaron Schoenfeld and Barak Itzhaki:

“The main thing with the Toto Cup is to advance after each round and at this stage it’s to get to the final. The most important thing for me today was the clean sheet and we were more aggressive especially on the duels which were things we had been lacking lately, so I was happy with that.”

Looking ahead to the Final against either Maccabi Haifa or Hapoel Beer Sheva and the next league match on Saturday:
“We hope that it will be one of those games that will bring a lot of fans. But we have to put that aside and think about Saturday which we must recover for and win.”

Clean sheets and being disciplined:
“The first few months we had a lot of clean sheets while the last few months a little bit less and we lost points along the road because we scored goals but couldn’t avoid giving some up as well. Today was important and from now on every team that wants to win titles must be strong and disciplined.”

The Yellow & Blue advanced to the Toto Cup Finals after defeating Kiryat Shemona 2:0 at the Acre Stadium. Aaron Schoenfeld scored in the first half while Barak Itzhaki added a marker of his own the the second half as keeper Predrag Rajikovic picked up the clean sheet. Maccabi Tel Aviv will face the winner of the second semifinal between Hapoel Beer Sheva and Maccabi Haifa which will be played on Thursday.

Head Coach Jordi Cruyff’s Starting XI included Predrag Rajikovic in goal with a defensive quartet of Ofir Davidzada, Jean-Sylvain Babin, acting captain Tal Ben Haim and Yuval Shpungin. Jose Rodriguez, Cristian Battocchio and Dor Peretz were in the midfield while Barak Itzhaki, Nick Blackman and Aaron Schoenfeld played up front.

Available on the bench were keeper Daniel Lifshitz, Eitan Tibi, Sheran Yeini, Eyal Golasa, Avi Rikan, Eliran Atar and Vidar Kjartansson.

First Half
Kiryat Shemona had the first chance of the match as Ismael Rian’s shot was scooped up by Rajikovic in the 5’ while Maccabi looked for their first chance of the contest during the first quarter hour and believe it or not, that opportunity would result in a goal.

In the 16’ Ben Haim crossed a ball into the box that both the Kiryat Shemona keeper Itamar Nitzan and Marcus Diniz went for, but Schoenfeld pounced on it first and sent it into the goal to give the Yellow & Blue a 1:0 lead. Two minutes later Itzhaki’s 18 meter chance went over the goal as the sides played mostly in the midfield for the following 20 minutes. Peretz had a 41’ attempt that just went wide of the goal as Maccabi took a 1:0 advantage into the break.

Second Half
The Yellow & Blue looked to double the score and they did just that in the 53’ when Davidzada sent the ball into the box to Itzhaki who while in midair clipped it into the goal for a 2:0 lead. Over the next few minutes Cruyff made a number of substitutes including bringing on Avi Rikan, Sheran Yeini and Eyal Golasa for Davidzada, Rodriguez and Battocchio.

In the 75’ Eitan Tibi came on for Itzhaki as Cruyff continued making wholesale changes. Blackman had a chance in the 83’ minute but his attempt was stopped by Nitzan while the Maccabi coach made his 5th and final substitution when Eliran Atar was introduced for Schoenfeld. In the 88’ Blackman has another chance from the right side but put the ball over the goal as Maccabi took home the win and advanced to the Toto Cup Finals.

History in short
Meir Melika, born on August 1, 1969 grew up through the ranks of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Department and made his debut as a substitute on Matchday 1 of the 1988/89 season. He secured his spot as one of the Yellow & Blue’s most important players after scoring 3 goals in his first campaign and 10 in his second.

In the 1991/92 season, Melika won the league championship and added a State Cup in 1993/94. He also finished 1992/93 as Maccabi’s leading goal scorer with 17 league goals and 24 markers across all competitions with two coming in the 4:0 win over Hapoel Petah Tikva in the Toto Cup final.

Melika also played for Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Tel Aviv, but returned to Maccabi in time for the 1995/96 Double Season and scored the last goal of a 4:0 victory in the State Cup Final over Ironi Rishon Le’Zion.

One of the most memorable moments of his career came during the 1993/94 campaign during a match against Maccabi Haifa when he went into their central defender Roman Paz, leaving the latter with a serious injury. The match ended in a 1:1 draw with Melika scoring Maccabi’s goal.

Titles
Championships: 1991/92, 1995/96
State Cup: 1993/94, 1995/96
Toto Cup: 1992/93
Appearances: 253
Goals: 63

Top moment
Melika played center stage in the 1991/92 season State Cup semifinal against Maccabi Haifa. Maccabi was down 2:1 in the match that was being played at Ramat Gan Stadium, but a goal and an assist by Melika helped lead the Maccabi comeback in a 4:2 victory versus one of the Yellow & Blue’s biggest rivals. WATCH:

Avi Rikan, the Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder will face Kiryat Shemona on Wednesday night (20:30) in the semifinals of the Toto Cup at the Acre Stadium and spoke about the challenge ahead:

“We had a good training session, we are ready and we want to advance to the final. Every competition that we play in is important and every win gives us confidence. There are players that need playing time and that are coming back from injury, so this is an important game for us.”

Playing more of an offensive position:
“I am enjoying playing more of an attacking roll, more forward and looking for the goal. Sometimes it works and sometimes not, but it feels good and I have already scored 6 goals and I hope that I can score more and also assist on some as well. Every 90 minutes that I play in a position that I like gives me even more confidence, but most importantly is that I am helping the Club.”

Attempts from long distance:
“I stayed after training to work on my shot from outside of the box and from long distance. I feel comfortable doing it and when I see that I can, I will take a long attempt. Sometimes it doesn’t go as well, but every time I’m playing and scoring it will continue to give me confidence and will also be even easier for the ball to go towards the target.”

Win=confidence:
“It’s a fact that wins give teams confidence. We didn’t pick up a victory in our last two matches, in the Europa League and the Israel Premier League, so we want to make sure we win our next game. Any time you take 3 points or advance to the next stage of a competition it gives the players confidence.”

About Kiryat Shemona:
“Kiryat Shemona is a strong team and didn’t get to this stage otherwise. They have played well and they always give us a hard time. It will be a tough match.”