Zohar's Good Looks and Powerful Kick Dazzle Hapoel Kfar-Saba

Teddy Stadium, November 30 - Beitar Jerusalem won its fourth consecutive victory, this time beating Hapoel Kfar-Saba 2:1. This game may have been Ronen Harazi's farewell appearance in the yellow and black uniform, but other than this emotional aspect, there was nothing spectacular about today's match. Even the small satisfaction of seeing Beitar go through 90 more minutes without receiving a goal was taken from Beitar's fans as Asi Tooby scored against Kornfein on the 90th minute. Contrary to the forecasts for the game, Kfar-saba opened the match with two good attacks which were stopped by Kornfein. The visitors did not play a closed or exceedingly defensive game, not counting the usual tight defense around Ohana and Salloi. Despite this unexpected freedom, the Jerusalem midfield did not produce many striking opportunities. On the 16th minute Harazi tried to shoot a volley kick from the far left end of the 16 box, but it was way too high. Salloi's mid-air continuation of Shmulik Levy's cross found a Kfar-saba defender on the goal line, and Ohana shot nicely from 16 meters into the keeper's body. The rest of Beitar's attacks were disorganized and ended before anyone had a real chance to shoot. On the 33rd minute, Istvan Salloi was making his way toward the 16 box when he was fouled down. In a scenario which we have already grown accustomed to, Itsik Zohar placed the ball on the grass, put his hands on his waist, estimated the distance, wind and visibility conditions, and after three short running steps drove a fantastic kick into the upper right corner of Sheinsinger's goal. This advantage lasted till the end of the first half, with Beitar now playing better in the midfield but with no improvement in the final pass. Kfar-Saba had its share of attacks, but Beitar's defense was in its usual top form, despite Kahila's absence. Pisont, Abuxis and even Salloi played in the rear, causing most of the green team's attacks to die before the 16 line. Asi Domb had an exceptionally good game, and his defensive actions were applauded several times. This trend continued in the second half. Zohar found Shmulik Levy on the right end of the 16 box. Shmulik advanced and shot accurately from 3 meters, only to see the Kfar-Saba goalie stop the ball in an acrobatic leap. Then, on the 55th minute Pisont made one of his fast-breaks, going all the way to the Kfar-saba 16 line and then passing the ball to his right, where he found Salloi uncovered. Istvan advanced into the box, and with two defenders closing in on him, managed to get past the goalie, who fouled him before the final kick. Zohar transformed the resulting penalty kick into his second goal in the game, and from this moment on it was clear that Beitar was going to win. This knowledge, however, caused some very strange moves on the part of the yellow team's attack: Beitar's players found themselves several times in the vicinity of Sheinsinger, only to give each other the ball in a chivalrous manner that cost us at least 2 goals. This was especially frustrating in light of Kfar-saba's good scoring opportunities, which were stopped by Itsik Kornfein. On the 80th minute even Kornfein could not help, as Beitar's defense crumbled and allowed Yaniv Abargel to enter the 16 box alone. Kornfein's attempt to pluck the ball from the young striker's feet ended up in a foul, a penalty kick and a yellow card. Gabor Marton, Kfar-Saba's full-back defender, kicked the ball carelessly toward the left corner, where Kornfein's reaching hands grabbed it and kept our net clear for an additional 10 minutes. Then, on the 90th minute, it was Asi Toobi who entered the left side of Beitar's 16 box, faked a move, got past Tritiak, and scored into the far left corner. A nice goal which left a somewhat bitter taste as Haim Lipkowitz blew the final whistle a minute later. 10000 spectators left the stadium feeling glad about the victory but disappointed with the final accord and with Beitar's careless offense. Beitar opened with Kornfein, Tritiak, Domb, Levy (Mizrahi, 84), Amsalem, Pisont, Abuxis, Zohar (Der'i, 84), Salloi, Harazi (Talesnikov, 72) and Ohana.

An Embarrasingly Easy Victory for Beitar in Haifa

Kiryat Eliezer, November 23rd - Last year, the 2:2 score in Kiryat Eliezer stopped 4 years of humiliating losses to Maccabi Haifa, and was celebrated by Beitar's players and fans like a victory. Today, the yellow team and the thousands of fans who made all the way north rejoiced as Beitar defeated Maccabi Haifa 2:0, but could not help feeling a bit disappointed about the low score. Indeed, 4:0 would have been a more accurate translation of the events on the field into goals. It took Beitar a full 45 minutes to realize that it was indeed the better team in the game. By that time the score was 2:0, and the second half of the game featured a more confident and entertaining Beitar. The game started off with a few attacks by Haifa, although the first accurate attempt at a goal was by Itsik Zohar, on the 5th minute. Alon Harazi found Kornfein ready in the 12th minute with a powerful shot from outside the box, and Salloi forced a great save out of Bonnie Ginzburg on the 15th minute. After half an hour of football, Ohana received a pass from Zohar in the middle of the Haifa part of the field, about 30 meters from the goal. He passed it to Pisont, who was uncovered on the right side of the field. Pisont entered the box, and crossed to the other side of the goal, where Ohana suddenly appeared, completing the sprint he began after the pass. Rising high in the air, Eli headed the goal into the right side of Bonnie's goal, finding the gap between the leaping keeper and the right post. Maccabi reacted with more pressure in the midfield, and with some over-aggresive moves that were quickly restrained by the referee, Eyal Tsur, who pulled yellow cards for Kandaurov and Roni Levy. The Haifa pressure did not yield real scoring opportunities, and the Jerusalem defense continued its splendid display from the previous week. Kornfein was in his usual great form, and Asi Domb demonstrated for the fourth consecutive game the reasons for Eli Cohens fascination with him. Sergei Tritiak, who was brutally tackled by Roni Levy in the first half, kept the danger zone clean most of the time, and Kahila gave a whole-hearted performance, blocking several shots with his body. By the 47th minute, Beitar's fans were whistling loudly, urging the referee to call half-time before Haifa would have a chance to equalize. It was then that David Amsalem received a ball in the middle of the Green half of the field, passed it quickly to Ohana and ran forward to complete a simple but perfect double-pass. Overtaking the defender that was guarding him, Amsalem entered the 5 box, and with the tip of his shoe rolled the ball past Bonnie's reaching hands and into the far corner. The half-time whistle came a few seconds later, and Beitar must have had a pretty jolly time in the dressing room. The second half should have begun with massive Haifa pressure to begin an equalizing move, but it was Beitar who came very close to scoring again three times. Unfortunately, Zohar Ohana and Salloi did not manage to score despite the relatively comfortable position they were in. Zohar received a cross from Ohana in the middle of the Haifa 16 box, and from a distance of 7 meters or so shot the ball straight into Bonnie's arms. Amsalem received a brilliant pass from Salloi, entered the left half of the 16 box and diverted the ball to Ohana, who fumbled it and sent the ball over the corner line while falling down. Finally, Istvan Salloi received a pass from Pisont, outran two defenders and entered the 16 box, but the position was too tight and his kick went straight into Ginzburg's hands. In the 78th minute, Abuxis left the field, replaced by Ronen Harazi, and subsequently Jean Talesnikov took Pisont's place. Haifa had one last chance in the 88th minute, as Shirazi shot a stray ball which got to him about 8 meters from the Jerusalem goal. Kornfein managed to touch the ball with the tips of his fingers and deflected it to the post. The final whistle found Beitar's players overjoyed, and they remained on the field for several minutes, waving to the thousands of loyal fans who have finally had a chance to celebrate a victory over Maccabi Haifa. Beitar's captain, Eli Ohana said, in a spontaneous interview after the game: "We're good, we score, we do not receive, and we're going to be champions."

Top League Confrontation Decided by Brilliant Individual Shows

Teddy Stadium, November 16th - In a game between the teams that occupy the first two places in the Israeli National league, Beitar Jerusalem needed the unique talents of Itzik Zohar, Eli Ohana and Istvan Salloii in order to beat Hapoel Petah Tikva 3:0. The score is somewhat deceptive, as it does not reflect Petah Tikva's clear dominance on the field during most of the game. Superb defensive play by Pisont, Abuxis, and the entire rear section of Beitar's defense prevented the blue team from realizing its advantage. All three goals were scored in situations where Petah Tikva's efficient defense did not get a chance to demonstrate its talents. Beitar drew first blood on the 6th minute, when Itsik Zohar drove a powerful free kick into the upper left corner of Petah-Tikva's goal. Beitar was awarded this kick after Pisont was fouled by a Petah Tikva defender as he was sprinting into the adversary's 16 box, with the ball glued to his feet. Before the audience had a chance to argue whether the foul merited a penalty kick or just a free kick, Zohar showed that any number of meters under 20 is equivalent for him. From this moment on the game was played mostly in Beitar's half of the field, with Petah Tikva arriving time and time again close to the Jerusalem 16 box, only to see the ball intercepted by Domb (who kept an eye on Moti Kakoon), Kahila (who was Yaniv Ofry's shadow), or even Tritiak and Kornfein. More on Beitar's goal-keeper later. From time to time, Beitar lashed out in quick counter attacks, but most of its efforts were cut short either by Ohana's numerous offsides, or by Zohar's excessive affection for the ball. Still, despite Petah Tikva's dominance in the midfield, we could not register even one serious threat to the Jerusalem goal during the first half, as Beitar managed to disrupt the opponent's moves before the final kick. Istvan Pisont seemed to be everywhere, stealing balls, obstructing passes and driving Beitar to quick counter attacks as soon as he would gain possession of the ball. Abuxis performed a similar job, with fewer offensive moves, and even Zohar and Salloi were seen defending from time to time. Apparently, this was Eli Cohen's scenario for the game, relying on a tight defense and individual brilliance to make the difference. This was demonstrated on the 59th minute, as Abuxis found Salloi in the right-hand side of the field, close to the middle line, after intercepting a Petah-Tikva attack. Salloi advanced a few meters, examining his possibilities, and shot the ball, almost 40 meters from the goal, above Shai Hess's reaching hands, into the inner crossbar. The ball bounced down, hit the goal line and was deflected into the box, where Ohana caught it on his chest and drove it precisely into the gap between the goalie, a defender and the right post. 2:0. From the on Beitar seemed sure of its victory, and whenever it gained possession of the ball it tried to perform attractive, virtuoso moves. It is important to note that during all this time Petah Tikva came continuously closer to Beitar's goal, but a stable performance by the defenders, and an impeccable play by Itsik Kornfein, prevented them from scoring. They came close twice, as Kakoon managed to shoot two powerful headers following corner kicks, but apart from those occasions, Kornfein was the master of the Jerusalem 16 box, going out all the way to the 16 line to intercept crosses and forward passes. Itsik was hurt twice during such moves, but managed to recover and continue his excellent performance. Then came the 70th minute, when Itsik Zohar was replaced by Ronen Harazi, and Jean Talesnikov took Shmulik Levy's place. Zohar did not react favorably to this exchange, and disappeared down the dressing room door, thus missing the game's most beautiful move. As usual, Petah Tikva was on the attack, when Pisont intercepted the ball and passed it to Ohana. A quick header to Salloi, who was fouled by a blue player. Amazingly, Istvan made a complete flip in the air, landed on the field and was back on his feet as if in a gymnastics tournament. He diverted the ball back to Eli, who was now surrounded by 3 defenders. Eli elegantly changed direction to the right-hand part of the 16 box, passing 1 defender and then another. Accompanied by the third one and faced with the goal keeper to his left, Ohana shot the ball accurately into the far corner. Shai Hess could only track the ball with his gaze and accept the fact that his team would lose the game, and the first place in the league table. Number 11's 8th goal of the season placed him in the top of the scorers' table, and added relevance to the discussion of his absence from the national team. Raana Der'i replaced Ehud Kahila on the 83rd minute. Despite the fact that the game was decided, both teams continued to play with devotion and effort until the 90th minute, when referee Itzhak ben Itzhak blew the final whistle.

Salloi Gives Birth to a Healthy Triplet

November 1st 1996 - Beitar Jerusalem beat Hapoel Taibe today in Kiryat Eliezer 3:0, with Istvan Salloi scoring all three goals within 11 minutes in the first half of the game. Taibe's fans were shocked to see their team trailing by three goals - and one player - on the 30th minute, and stayed silent for most of the remainder of the game. The Jerusalem blitz started at the very first minute, and as in a good movie, the first scene foreshadowed the events to come. Eli Ohana received a pass from Istvan Salloi, completed a classic double-pass, and saw the Hungarian striker shoot accurately a ball that was barely deflected by Miki Dahan, Taibe's goal-keeper. Beitar continued with a well organized game, with Abuxis and Zohar taking turns in playmaking. The Jerusalem defense was enhanced today with both Kahila and Domb playing as forward defenders, and most of Taibe's attacks were broken well outside Kornfein's 16 box. On the 19th minute, Beitar was awarded a free-kick after a foul on Shmulik Levy. Itsik Zohar raised the ball to the box, where Salloi rose above the defense and headed the ball into the upper-left corner of Taibe's goal. Beitar continued to play elegantly, and on the 25th minute a brilliant pass by Abuxis found Salloi facing Dahan, with two Taibe defenders pressed against him. At such favorable odds, Istvan had no problem rolling the ball into the right corner of Taibe's goal. 4 minutes later Nasim Agbaria from Taibe was expelled on a second yellow card after grabbing Asi Domb by his shirt. The ensuing attack yielded Beitar third goal, which was scored by Salloi after 11 consecutive passes between Beitar's entire midfield, ending in a low cross from Amsalem which Salloi diverted into the same corner as his previous goal. A Taibe striker found himself in an attractive scoring position on the 40th minute, as he caught a ball deflected by Kornfein, doubled up and shot well toward the goal, only to see Kornfein arriving from the other side and deflecting again, this time with his body. Taibe made two changes in the beginning of the second half, but their game remained anemic and produced very few scoring opportunities - the best of which came after a ball was lost by Mizrahi35 meters from the Beitar goal, but the accurate shot by Taibe's Bason was deflected by Kornfein. In the last 15 minutes, Beitar seemed to play for Ohana, but his two headers went straight into the Taibe Goalie's hands. At the end of the game, one Beitar fan was hit by Taibe fans who broke his nose, while 3 Taibe fans smashed the windows a car carrying Beitar symbols. Another noteworthy fact is the complete disorder in the ticket boxes and the entrances to the stadium in the hour that preceeded the game. In addition to the fact that only three cashiers were available, the police did a poor job organizing the queues, resulting in the near suffocation of hunderds of fans. Naturally the disorder and the density of the crowds resulted in multiple cases of violence, with the massive police force doing very little to calm things down. Police officers seemed more interested in black-market ticket vendors than in the safety of the thousands of fans who made the long way to Haifa form Jerusalem, Taibe and other parts of the country. At the outrageous ticket price of 60 Shekels, one would expect better security and organization.