Gal Alberman: “Hello everyone! I know that you asked me a bunch of questions on the Official Maccabi Tel Aviv Facebook Page and I’m here to answer some of them.”

Do you think that you’ve found an heir apparent for your midfield position?

“I haven’t found someone to take my position just yet as I want to continue playing for many more years to come. I do think that there is an exceptional young player coming in through the ranks in Dor Peretz. He has many qualities to be able to play this specific position and I really believe in him. I’m here to help him as much as possible to succeed in this role.”

Have you thought about a coaching career in the future and will it be with Maccabi?

“I finished a coaching course but I haven’t decided what type of role I want to take on in the future. Football is a part of my life and I can’t see myself leaving it when I finish my playing career. With regards to Maccabi I really don’t know. I’d be happy to be a part of the club as I’m very connected to it. But one never knows where we will be in the future.”

What  do you think of the fan’s song about you?

“I really like the fan’s song and I really feel their support. It helps motivate me along with all of the other players.”

If you weren’t a defensive midfielder what position would you want to play?

“I enjoy my role so much, so I’m not sure what position I’d play if not defensive midfielder and I’ve played it for many years. Most players would want to be a striker and score goals, but I’m one who likes to be in the middle of things right smack dab in the center of the pitch. That way I can help out all of my teammates and begin an attack and pass the ball. I love it.”

In order for Maccabi to win the league title, the team will probably need to win the rest of their matches. Beer Sheva looks like they won’t lose points, so do you believe that you can put together such a streak?

“We try to cut into their lead week to week, but we always have to do our job first and only concern ourselves with them afterwards. The bottom line is, even if they drop points and if we don’t do what we need to, then the gap won’t change anyways. We have a match going into the playoffs and right now out short term goal is to make sure we take three points. If Beer Sheva drops points we’ll be happy too.”

Which coach or player was very influential for you?

“There are two. Guy Luzon promoted me to Maccabi Petach Tikva’s first team and he coached me both in the youth department and on the first team for a number of years. He really believed in me and I don’t think I would be the player I am today without his support back then.

The second coach was Oscar Garcia. He came to Maccabi after a rough time for both me personally and the club as well. He came to the team and totally changed the style of play and moved me to a more defensive role, one that is a very important which I have now been playing over the course of the last four years.”

Who is your role model?

“In modern day football I’d say that Sergio Busquets is a player who plays the same role that I do and he is the best and most complete player at the position. He is one of the quiet leaders who is part of the Barcelona machine and plays very attractive football. Even though he is not one of the most famous players on the squad, he is one of the most important players in the system that they play. When I watch Barcelona matches I always keep an eye on him and I watch what he does when the ball is being controlled by the other team. It’s very interesting for me to see how he plays and even at my age it’s very important for me to continue to learn and improve.”

Thanks for all of the questions, they were great! I’m looking forward to seeing all of you at the stadium.

Less  than 24 hours since Maccabi advanced to the semifinals of the Israel State Cup competition, the defending Cup holders were drawn to face Bnei Sakhnin at the Israel National Team headquarters in Shefayim. The match will take place on either April 19th or 20th at Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa while the other semifinal will pit Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Beer Sheva in the one game winner take all match for a ticket to the finals which will take place at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem.

Head Coach Peter Bosz spoke to the Official Website about the semifinal draw opponent: “Like I said after yesterday’s match, it really doesn’t matter who we will play against. We still have to win two matches in order to win the Cup. Sakhnin is a strong team that happens to be in very good form and that’s why they are in the Upper Playoff round.”

Maccabi advanced to the semifinals of the State Cup after defeating Ironi Ramat HaSharon 3:1, Rishon Le’Zion 2:1 as well as Hapoel Kfar Saba in a two legged quarterfinal tie 5:0 on aggregate (3:0, 2:0).

The last time the Yellow-and-Blue kicked off against Bnei Saknin in State Cup play was in the 2006/07 Round of 16 when they won by the score of 2:1 to advance to the next round. The only remaining squad player from that match happens to be Yuval Shpungin.

Barak Itzhaki, Maccabi Tel Aviv’s striker looked back at his side’s 2:0 State Cup win to help the club advance to the Israel State Cup semifinals. Number 10 also discussed the upcoming league playoff round, playing Kfar Saba again on Saturday and takeaways from the second leg matchup:

“There is no such a thing as an unimportant match. Many players who took part haven’t played much in the league and everyone wanted to prove that they are good enough to play in the league. We took this game very seriously and we scored early on. It was a good match.”

About  the Under-19 players who were in the Starting XI:

“I think that this was the brightest moment of the match when two youth players who came through the youth department get an opportunity to start for the first team. Congratulations to them for having a good game and I hope that they will continue to improve going forward. We are here to help them out, cheer them on and get them ready for the future.”

Playing  Kfar Saba on Saturday yet  again:

“It seemed that Kfar Saba came into the match already looking towards the league game. We have to take this into account and understand that Saturday’s match will not be the same story we saw in the second leg of the State Cup. We’ll be focused on winning this very important league match.”

The first league contest ended in a goalless draw:

“They are a good team with an excellent coach. They have some terrific quality players who are young and know how to create chances. We have to be very careful since this will be a very difficult match.”

Money time:

“I’ve been nursing a small ankle injury over the last few weeks and I still have some pain that I am able to handle. Little by little I hope that I can go into the playoffs in the best shape possible and help out the team. Right now is money time and we have to make sure we are focussed on the task at hand.”

After Maccabi advanced to the State Cup semifinals, the club was very content with the performance of the squad that featured many changes to the usual starting lineup. Daniel Lifshitz, the Yellow-and-Blue keeper who stood between the posts and kept a clean sheet discussed the win and more:

“Near the end of the match I urged the players to keep going forward and attack as I didn’t want to give up a goal, so I’m very happy with the outcome. I’m here to give the best that I can in every match, so before the semifinals the coach will have to make his decision as to who will start. I did the best that I could and I proved that I can be counted on. The youngsters who started today were excellent and we could see them gaining confidence along the way.”

On his decision to come and play for Maccabi:

“Maccabi is the biggest club in the country and the Champions League experience speaks for itself. At every club in the world both the first and second choice keepers are first keepers in every way, shape or form and the same is true at Maccabi Tel Aviv. It’s an honor to be here.”

The next opponent in State Cup play:

“We will welcome whoever it may be and I personally have no preference. I hope that I can help the club pick up another trophy and if I take part in the upcoming matches it will be all the better.”

Peter Bosz, the Yellow-and-Blue coach looked back at his club’s 2:0 Bloomfield Stadium win and 5:0 aggregate total victory over Hapoel Kfar Saba as they now wait until tomorrow’s semifinal Israel State Cup draw to find out who they will face. Maccabi Haifa, Bnei Sakhnin and Hapoel Beer Sheva are all candidates for the April 19/20 contest at Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa:

“I’m really happy with today’s performance. We were up 3:0 after the first leg, and it could be logical that some may think that today would’ve been an easy game, but I hate that. I want to win every game and today we proved that we don’t just have 11 good players but a good squad as well as some talented young players.”

Positives from the match:

“There were a lot of positive things today. We don’t just have 11 good players but we have a big squad. Every player that played today proved that he can be on the first team. I like to play with a lot of pressure and the first goal we scored was because of a lot of high pressure. We won the ball and we scored the first goal. This is the way we want to play. We also played a good position game and we moved the ball well from left to right and we played with players between the lines.”

About the Kfar Saba game on Saturday:

“I always live from game to game and for today it was important that we qualified for the semifinals. I will watch the match we just played and analyze it. I’ll discuss it with the players and I’ll prepare for the net game which will obviously be a different game. They need points to stay away from relegation and we need points for the championship, so it will be a totally different game.”

Preference of who Maccabi will draw in the semifinals:

“I don’t care at all. If you want to win the Cup you have to beat all the teams and there are now four good teams left. All of us will play for the championship.”