With February soon coming to an end, it is time for the Israeli Cup to shift into a higher gear with the quarter finals.
On a cold Thursday night in the south of the country, Turner Stadium in Be’er Sheva was host for the biggest matchup of the round - Hapoel Be’er Sheva vs Maccabi Haifa.
The local Reds are in the midst of a fantastic season, leading the league by 5 points, under the helm of new coach Ran Kozuch. Although the campaign started with a disastrous European elimination in August, the team surprised everyone with their resiliency, strength and “unbreakable” attitude - as Kozuch himself described it.
In this match, however, the 44 year old coach was not present on the touchline as he served a one match ban.
On the other hand, Maccabi Haifa’s season might only be saved with a cup success, as they sit 3rd in the league, 10 points from Be’er Sheva. Barak Bachar, perhaps the best Israeli coach of his generation, can’t seem to figure it out this year.
A mirror for the season
Thursday’s matchup perfectly embodied both side’s 2024-25.
Hapoel were dominant and aggressive from the first moment, and fully controlled the match. The visitors from the Carmel were passive and toothless.
Hapoel Be’er Sheva’s star and perhaps best player this year, Kings Kangwa, was especially fired up and was visibly talking and staring at the opposition bench. Kangwa and Barak Bachar have crossed paths before, most recently in Red Star Belgrade - where the Zambian became a regular on the bench under the tenure of the Israeli. This created a bit of tension between the two, and Kangwa is eager to prove Bachar wrong.
In the 31st minute, Be’er Sheva were awarded a penalty after Dan Biton was taken down by goalkeeper Sharif Kaiuf’s rash challenge. At first it seemed to occur outside the box, which might have forced Referee Orel Grinfeld to send him off, but further check confirmed the onfield decision.
Only a yellow for Kaiuf, but also a ball in the back of the net. Biton took the pen himself and slotted it home, and then celebrated by releasing 3 Orange balloons to the sky as a tribute to the Bibas family - Shiri, Ariel and Kfir, who were abducted by and killed by Hamas and whose bodies were recently returned to Israel. Ariel and Kfir, aged 4 and 9 months, were the youngest hostages held in Gaza and became symbols for the hostage return campaign.
Biton’s mark of respect was one of many to the Bibas family in Israeli sports in recent days, as the orange color became a common theme around fans and players.
At the break, a deserved 1-0 to the hosts.
Bakhar’s career test
In order to change the course of the match, Bakhar sent in 38 year old Lior Refaelov as a halftime sub along with Dolev Haziza, and Haifa somewhat improved but weren’t dangerous enough as most big chances fell to Be’er Sheva. Amir Ganah, especially, was wasteful for the hosts with a few decent looks at goal.
At the 84th minute, Be’er Sheva’s subs created the second goal: Arnold Garita shielded the ball, Roei Gordana opened up the defence with a great pass to Yoan Stoyanov who ran all the way in front of goal… only to be stopped to Kaiuf, but a racing Dan Biton headed the rebound for the 2-0. Game, set and match.
The Camels are going to the semi-final.
Last year they made it to the final, but shockingly lost to Maccabi Petach Tikva, who were coached by none other than Ran Kozuch. That heart-breaking loss in Bloomfield stadium was also a very big contributing factor in the team’s decision to appoint Kozuch this summer.
Can he compensate the fans and club after one year with yet another cup? Or perhaps even more?
Only time will tell, but no one dares betting against him. Even when he is not on the sidelines.