Israeli Football

[Green Apes]

Well we only got there once and it was along time ago, but looking at the world cup qualification group I'd say its our best chance and the coach must take the best players we have and go for it, we also have very talented players (like Ben Sahar, Guy Asulin and ofcourse Benayoun) for this campaign and I'm pretty sure this is our chance.
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~GA

[Gerrit]

I hope to see Israel at the next world cup. It is a very fascinating country and a very beautiful one with some of the most ancient cities in the world. The team has some very skilled players (Dudu Awat, Yossi Benayoun, Guy Asulin, ... and the Belgian almost-top-scorer Elyaniv Barda) and Greece and Switzerland may not be bad but also shouldn't be feared. I don't see Greece win in Tel Aviv anyway, so it will be a matter of getting at least a draw away in Basel and Athens. In that case Israel can finish it off at home. I do think they are favourites to win this group honestly.
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[Green Apes]

I hope more people will think like you, but actually when we get to the final step when we are so close to something we fail (even in the Israeli teams you can see it..Maccabi Haifa vs Rosenborg, Maccabi Haifa - Malmo, Beitar - Copenhagen and the list goes on...), in Euro 2000 I think Israel had a great chance to qualify against Denmark in the Playoffs but again we failed to qualify because of something with whores I dunno what it was really..
But I am going to most home games and hopefully see my national in WC
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~GA

[Gerrit]

Well, have you seen Greece and Switzerland at the Euro? "Disaster" is the right term. Israel has a very strong frontline which easily scores goal, I don't see Greece nor Switzerland survive their trip to Ramat Gan really. Also, if it would come down to goals scored (in case of equal points) Israel is in advantage as they will score a lot more goals against the likes of Moldova and Luxembourg.

My native country Belgium faces Turkey, Bosnia, Spain. In other words: playing against the European champions and a semi-finalist. Add to that the large Turkish, Spanish and Bosnian communities in Belgium which means Belgium will play games that don't feel like a home game at all. I think they're quite chanceless. Dick Advocaat is rumoured to be interested in becoming the next Belgian coach ; that would be great but the problem is the current coach (known for his defensive tactics) will demand a lot of compensation if he is fired, so the FA cannot afford to change coach now.
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[Green Apes]

Still, they both played in Euro against greater teams, Israel is not Spain or Portugal or even Sweden, we're at their level to remind you we're coming as underdog as usual, the away games are going to be really tough hoping to get draw..Maybe in Ramat Gan we can offer alittle more
I'm pretty sure Swiss will finish first though, its us against Greece.
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~GA

[Gerrit]

The Israeli teams have not done too bad in Europe so far, apart from maybe Kiryat Shmona who disappointed a bit (1-1 at home versus a Montenegran team) but they still have a chance to make it through if they score on Montenegran soil.

Hapoel Tel Aviv easily won its game.

Bnei Sachnin have made it to the final stage of the intertoto (to then lose against Deportivo is no shame). Did Dudu Awat play for Deportivo or is he still on bad terms with the Deportivo coach?
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[Green Apes]

Well its Kiryat Shmona's first game in europe I think, they could have won that game but they dont have any experience.

Hapoel Tel Aviv are OK.

Beny Sakhnin had a very good match against Deportivo, they were better in most parts of the game but again only the experience counts, and no Dudu Awat didn't play, his coach sucks hes going to be sold soon Valencia are interested in him for first keeper.
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~GA

[Gerrit]

from Haaretz.

Six Bnei Sakhnin players were arrested yesterday and confessed to shoplifting in Ben-Gurion Airport's duty-free mall. The six admitted to stealing perfume bottles worth $4,000, and after an initial investigation police allowed them to board their flight to Spain. The investigation caused the flight to depart 50 minutes late.

The pre-flight preparations had started out like any other for a team going to Europe - with a press conference. The team was on its way to meet La Coruna for the return match of the third round of the Intertoto Cup. Ironically, coach Freddy David said before the players visited the duty-free shops that "I don't know the term 'no chance' in sports. If we steal an early goal in the opening minutes, things will turn out differently."

The six team members are players Abed Rabbah, Khaled Khalaila, Mosa Sha'ban, Alaa Abu Saleh, and Mahmud Kannadli as well as trainer Alaa Genaim. They were milling through one of the James Richardson shops with one other player and didn't notice an undercover agent employed by the store posing as a customer. At one point the agent noticed team members quickly stuffing packages of perfume into their carry-on bags. The agent alerted store security officers, who called airport police. The police arrived shortly and arrested the seven suspects.

Once it came out that the suspects were soccer-team members a small commotion broke out in the store, and the police took the players to a side room for questioning. A search revealed perfume bottles in six of the suspects' bags, and the seventh team member was released when it was determined he was not tied to the shoplifting.

The six team members confessed, and the police let them board the plane after the players promised to appear for further questioning when they return from Spain, if necessary.

The police will check whether any of the alleged acts were caught by security cameras.

"All the passengers gathered around us, and it simply was an embarrassing event for us," said a member of the delegation. "After we've finished our mission and return, we'll have time to deal with this wisely, and everyone will get their due."

The club took the news in shock, but officials expressed hope the whole matter would turn out to be lies. "We shouldn't judge them before it's proven that they did it. We will wait until they land in Spain and then know from the players what exactly happened," said Sakhnin spokesman Mundar Halaila.

Team chairman Mazen Genaim, who stayed in Israel, declined to comment before receiving a report from management. A member of the front office who asked not to be named said before the flight that "all the passengers gathered around us. It was simply an embarrassing event for all of us. Let's finish our job first, and when we return we'll be all the wiser to take care of this matter. Everyone will get his just punishment."

Sakhnin fans looked dumbfounded and found it hard to digest the report. "I'm ashamed to be a fan of a team of thieves," one fan said."No one will come out of this innocent. The fact they were investigated means they're guilty. We won't forgive them, and we'll ask that they be punished in accordance with Islam - by cutting off the hand."

Shaher Halaila, an executive for Bnei Sakhnin, commented, "We'll wait for them to return. They will be punished severely by the club over and above the law, and we will weigh their future with the team."





Why do well-paid footballers (not saying "rich" but surely not badly paid if they are professionals) go shoplifting?

I wonder if the club is going to refund the other passangers who had connecting flights to take and missed them due to the delay... I am actually surprised that the shoplifters being footballers was enough reason to delay the flight.

But applying Sharia in football like that one fan suggests would be quite different, finally some real punishments rather than a red card and one game suspension!

Good luck to Sakhnin though, it would be a great achievement if they could beat Deportivo.
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[2mas]

Quite particular story this one.

[Gerrit]

Haaretz is one of the most popular papers in Israel, so everyone will have heard what happened. I think the Bnei Sakhnin board would better sack the players in an attempt to make sure the club in general doesn't see its reputation harmed by this. After all the event occurred while the players travelled to a game and thus represented the club.
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[Green Apes]

Yeah heard about this one, they are going to kick them out of the team..I'm not surprised arab players after all, they don't play for Israel and we don't want them.
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~GA

[Engelsk]

Oh dear, football players stealing. Two Southampton players were caught going through a woman's handbag last season...
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thecomplexii.com - Founded 2005

[Gerrit]

Wasn't there a Southampton player stealing a toilet seat out of a handyman's store as well, or was that someone from a different club??

You sort of wonder why someone would go shoplifting when you earn a huge salary. Oh well, as Saint Morrissey would say: shoplifters of the world, unite and take over!

I doubt that all Bnei Sakhnin players will get punished though. Rumours say one of the players involved with the shoplifting is a family member of the club chairman, so would he really consequently kick all shoplifters out of the team (including his own family member playing for the club?)??
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[Engelsk]

[Green Apes]

This is Maccabi Netanya's new game shirt:



What do you say?

I think it looks more like shirt I would wear for a date heh


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~GA

[Gerrit]

Hmmm, odd... But I somewhat like it. I like it when teams are creative with their shirts (unless it goes terribly wrong like Hull City's old tiger-motive shirts...). Those Netanya shirts aren't that bad, although it is a bit odd.

The Israeli national team also has new shirts with even a new logo. The Menorah has been replaced with a football that features the Star of David. Guess it was a logical change to make it resemble the national flag more.
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[Ballahl]

Is it a Reebok-shirt?
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- Rune Hauge er ingen kjeltring, men tvert i mot en grepa kar. Han er den ærligste mannen jeg kjenner. Jeg har aldri vært i tvil om at han var uskyldig, jublet Stig Inge Bjørnebye og fulgte opp:

- Rune var forut for sin tid.

[Gerrit]

Netanya has a great club logo as well, with that diamond and sparkle. The shirts look a bit odd but it isn't bad.

And it does seem Reebok, at least the logo looks like Reebok?
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[Green Apes]

The new logo:



compared to this:



the shirts I couldn't find.

And I really have no idea if its a reebok shirt..

Today Beitar Jerusalem plays Wisela from Poland in CL qual in Teddy Stadium, from what I heard they are 100% antishem (hate jews) so today I'm with Beitar.
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~GA

[Gerrit]

Same here, I cannot stand racism. Even though I know Beitar are no angels themselves... Wisla have a racist element in their fanbase, on their website some "fans" posted that they would never accept a Jew in their team. The comments were deleted by the club of course, who clearly feel ashamed because of their fans' racist outings.

Beitar should make it, 2-1 win at home... I expect a draw in Poland, 1-1 or so.
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[Green Apes]

It was a good game actually Wisla is not a good team at all, they played bunker the whole game and thanks to Beitar's keeper (again) they managed to score an important away goal, I believe in Poland it will be harder for Beitar with Wisla's fans.
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~GA

[Recon]

[Green Apes]

Dude calm down if you don't have anything better to say don't post, I don't want you in my thread.

There are some people in Israel that do not believe in god also, but they are still my friends heh.

Anyway, Beitar Jersualem will get Barcelona if they pass Wisla in Poland(need a tie).
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~GA

[Recon]

[Brady]