"And more about friendlies. Ajax Amsterdam, the European Champions, went south down to Israel to meet there Maccabee Haifa, and ... lost! This was the first loss of Ajax in 8 months, after 52 unbeaten games". CNN Sports, 10/01/1996, 22:30 GMT

H: Haim Revivo (3), Haim Silbas (90).
A: Jari Litmanen (15).

GOAL PASSES:  Hosts  - Eyal Berkovich (3, 90);
              Guests - Nurheddine Wooter.

On 87th minute Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) missed a penalty kick -
Fred Grim saved.


This time, the marks are mine and not of YEDIOTH AHRONOTH, as usual.


MACCABEE:   Rafi Cohen             5.5     AJAX:   Edvin van der Sar      5
            --------------------------             (Fred Grim, 46 -       7)
            Avishai Zhano            7             ------------------------
            Alon Harazi              6             Michael Reiziger       6
            Jaroslav Kintus        6.5             Arnold Scholten      5.5
            Moshe Glam               6             Franc de Boer          6
            --------------------------             Winston Bogarde        5
            Alon Hazan               5             ------------------------
            (Jasmin Horic, 46 -    6.5)            Ronald de Boer       4.5
            Eyal Berkovich           7             Nurheddine Wooter      6
            Ronnie Levi              5             Kiki Musampah        4.5
            (Sergei Kandaurov, 46 -  6)            (Schilp, 62 -          5)
            Evgeniy Dmitriev       5.5             ------------------------
            (Haim Silbas, 46 -       6)            Patrick Kluivert       6
            Haim Revivo            7.5             Jari Litmanen          6
            --------------------------             (van der Bracx, 62 -   5)
            Eli Ohana                5             Peter Hoekstra         6
            (Offer Shitrit, 46 -     6)


THE BEST:      Haim Revivo, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa.

YELLOW CARDS:  Hosts  - NONE,
               Guests - Patrick Kluivert (16), Michael Reiziger (53).

REFEREE:       Haim Lipkovich.            HIS MARK:   6.

AUDIENCE:      11.000, Kiryat-Eliezer, Haifa.

This was a wonderful week of mine, and if everything goes on like that, the year promises to be a terrific one. It was the week of my 20th birthday, on January 7th, and even sitting several nights in Technion on AI project didn't spoil my mood. It started with the unexpected congratulations of one of my subscribers, Robert Rosenberg, on his Ariga WWW page; it continued with a surprise party and many-many congratulations from many-many people. And it ended yesterday, with a fantastic strike of Haim Silbas in the dying seconds to produce another Israeli sensation in the world of football. And again, as usual, Maccabee Haifa was the responsible for this sensation.

"Ajax is coming?" my chief asked me during the usual dinner at work. "What are they searching here for - a two-digit margin or a three-digit one?" Not being as extreme in my expressions as my chief usually is, I nevertheless was much afraid of 0:7 to return (remember, Beer-Sheva?). "Well", thought I, "it is a friendly game, so maybe it would be just 0:4 or 0:5". And so, sweeter was the sensation, though I should admit, Ajax played a disappointing game.

Talking statistics, it seems that "France Football" should warn its "Best Team of the Year" not to meet Maccabee Haifa. 2 years ago, at the end of 1993, Parma nearly fell the victim in ECWC 1/8 final, and was saved just after the penalty shootout, eventually going to the very final and losing there 0:1 to Arsenal [Parma also beat Ajax at the quarterfinals, 0:0 away and 2:0 home.] And this time it was Ajax, the invincible team of 1995 that beat AC Milan 3 times and Real Madrid twice, that crossed the Dutch League with the record of +17=1-0, but was beaten in Kiryat-Eliezer in the dying seconds by the talented youngster only 20 years old. Just like me :-)

A friendly game is a friendly game, and so, the victories of Maccabee Haifa over Parma and of Israel over France, both in 1993, will be remembered longer and mentioned more frequently; still, this is the achievement to be registered in the golden letters in the history book of the Greens. Indeed, Ajax was playing without Danny Blind, Marc Overmars, Nwankwo Kanu and Finidi George, each of them the star brighter than any Israeli player; but if Patrick Kluivert, Jari Litmanen, Michael Reiziger, Edvin van der Sar and the twins de Boer are not enough to defeat a modest European team, it's a great compliment for the Greens. That's correct, Haifa was strengthened by Eli Ohana, a personal enemy of the Dutch [in ECWC'88 final his goal pass brought Mechelen an historic victory over Ajax - 1:0], and examined the possible new foreigners, Jasmin Horic of Bosnia and Evgeniy Dmitriev of Ukraine; still, all of these men played just for one half, as also Alon Hazan, Ronnie Levi, Sergei Kandaurov and Offer Shitrit, and the Copa America Champion Edgardo Adinolfi didn't play at all. It can be said that Haim Lipkovich was "too Israeli" several times, disallowing the clear goal of Wooter and buying the pretence of Offer Shitrit in the box; but still, the winners didn't come due to him. And the most important, Haifa WAS BETTER most of the minutes, pressing Ajax; and a grade I deservedly gave to Fred Grim talks for itself. We can divide the game in a following way: first 10 minutes of Haifa, then 35 minutes of undoubtedly Ajax, and then 45 minutes of just the Greens on the pitch in Kiryat-Eliezer.

FIRST HALF

The start was amazing and caught Ajax with its pants down. Wooter was denied by Zhano (wonderful) in the box, wanting a penalty kick and not getting it (here Lipkovich was right), and Haifa got the ball and lost it at Ajax' half. Ronald de Boer tried to pass the midline, but Eyal Berkovich gained the ball and passed it greatly to Haim Revivo, who rushed forward. The defence of Ajax made an offside trap, but I tend to believe there was no offside, though the TV cameras failed to prove the decision of Lipkovich or to contradict it.

Anyway, Revivo rushed forward, with Bogarde and Scholten late after him, and reached the box. In the very similar position against France in Ramat-Gan, Revivo was denied by an excellent Bernard Lama; yesterday it was Edvin van der Sar, considered one of the best keepers in Europe, but highly overrated, in my opinion. Revivo leant left, rushed to the right, left van der Sar on the ground and shot flat to an empty net. 1:0. Just 3 minutes have passed.

From now on, it was Ajax most of the time, with Haifa creating some great counterattacks. Glam denied the ball from Franc de Boer (5), and Revivo lost the ball in the rival's box, with Ohana failing to get it (6). Evgeniy Dmitriev, in his examination game, ran forward at the left side and passed a wonderful ball to Revivo, who managed to head the ball above 3 defenders, too high (7). And at the 10th minute Revivo, pressed by a defender, managed to set himself free for a second and to shoot from from a very hard angle; van der Sar didn't move, but the ball went to the post and out.

Here came the equalizer. It began with Patrick Kluivert, who, usually very unconcentrated during the game, made this time a great pass to Wooter into the box (15). The latter, pressed by Zhano, made a pass to Jari Litmanen who stood just against the net, as Rafi Cohen got out badly and was unable to stop the ball. Alon Harazi slid and cleared the ball, but it deflected back to Wooter, who tried again. This time Litmanen reached the ball and put it in from 2 meters, with Rafi Cohen and Alon Harazi on the ground and Jaroslav Kintus (a very good debute for our new Slovakian defender, replacing Roman Pets) unable to prevent the penetration. 1:1.

From now on, it seemed to be Ajax all over, as if the early surprise of Revivo pissed them off badly enough to want a terrible revenge. Even so, the ball just refused to enter Haifa's net, as Ajax somehow preferred to play the passes up to the very end, and not to shoot from long distances. Kluivert got booked (16), after a back foul on Kintus, and Zhano sent the ball to a corner (21), after Ronald de Boer bounced it above Rafi Cohen. Wooter (22) shot imprecisely, and Rafi Cohen (24) grasped the ball sent by Franc de Boer. The only counterattack of Haifa came through Haim Revivo (27), who saw van der Sar taking his weak ball easily.

The misses of Ajax during the minutes 29 and 30 are still hardly digestible. First, Avishai Zhano denied the ball from Musampah, sending it to a corner. The corner was performed, and in the crowd of players Ronald de Boer and Kintus missed the ball, and Franc de Boer shot from 5 meters. Rafi Cohen parried it in a fantastic instinct, but the ball went to Musampah, who shot just from the range of 2 meters! And the ball went directly into Moshe Glam and was cleared away! The Dutch claimed that the ball had passed the line, but Lipkovich was right this time - indeed, Glam was standing after the line, but he parried the ball with his knee, just before it.

Kluivert tried his luck twice, first with a terrible shot from 20 meters (32) and then with a header (35), collected well by Rafi Cohen. And here came the crucial mistake of Lipkovich. Jari Litmanen sent Wooter into the box, and the latter scored (36); the goal was disallowed, but the replay showed no offside had been there. Ajax can see itself robbed in this case, but it doesn't justify its loss, the great Empire against the widely unknown Israeli team.

Dmitriev (37) passed well on the left side, but shot the ball away. The next minute provided us several good attacking developments from both sides, and we saw Peter Hoekstra in action; still, it ended with a counterattack, a finishing strike of Haim Revivo from 20 meters going 50 centimeters higher than needed.

The two last attempts to score were of Patrick Kluivert. First (40), he raised above Alon Harazi and headed it against Rafi Cohen who got out badly one more time; Rafi touched the ball, deflecting it to his left, and Avishai Zhano (in one of his best games in Haifa) cleared it away. The second trial was more threatening, as Kluivert made a powerful header from 5 meters (42); luckily, it went straight into Rafi Cohen, who fell on the ground from the might of this header, but beforehand stretched his hands well enough to parry it superbly above the bar, just a corner.

SECOND HALF

Haifa refreshed its lines during the break, substituting Eli Ohana (failing to impress in this game) with Offer Shitrit and Evgeniy Dmitriev with Haim Silbas. Alon Hazan (tired somewhat) was substituted by another examined player, Jasmin Horic from Bosnia, and the latter left a very positive impression, making a good job in the defensive line. And Ronnie Levi was substituted by Sergei Kandaurov, who was good and stabilized both the attacking line and the midfield; still, mostly he'll be remembered for the missed penalty.

Ajax made the substitution of the game, sending van der Sar to the bench and putting the 30-years-old Fred Grim into the net; Haifa played greatly, but the 2nd keeper of the European Champions made hardly a mistake and took several deadly balls, being a contender for "The Best Of The Game".

The starting minutes of Haifa were sparkling, as in the 1st half, but the positive change was that the initiative was preserved up to the very end. The first attack was in 47th minute - Eyal Berkovich sent Offer Shitrit forward, and the latter screwed himself between two players, but shot the ball wide against the rushing keeper.

The attacks continued. 49: Revivo found himself in a good position and shot, the keeper flew and sent it greatly to a corner. The corner was performed, and Zhano passed the ball to Kandaurov who shot, and Grim took it tight. 50: Grim took another dangerous ball, this time of Shitrit. 51: Alon Harazi entered the box after the pass of Kandaurov, and shot the ball wide.

The only man of Ajax to be mentioned during these minutes, besides Grim, was Michael Reiziger, who had been booked (53), after a back foul on Moshe Glam. The other one (55) was Ronald de Boer, who went on mistaking - this time he passed the ball again to Berkovich, as 52 minutes beforehand, and Eyal went a step to his right and shot from 18 meters. Grim parried it superbly to a corner. I wonder what would've happened had van der Sar stayed in the net?

Grim got out in a wonderful timing to stop the good rush of Haim Silbas (59), and here came two counterattacks of the best team in the World. 61: Peter Hoekstra made a pass into the box, Rafi Cohen slipped the ball, and Jari Litmanen bounced it above the keeper, but also above the bar. And the best attack was registered in 63rd minute: Kluivert played a great double-pass with Litmanen and entered the box, when Avishai Zhano fell to his legs superbly to parry the ball to the hands of Rafi Cohen. Kluivert fell and claimed a foul on him, but Lipkovich didn't buy it. A wonderful and neat work by Zhano.

Offer Shitrit (65), getting a great pass again from Eyal Berkovich, entered the box and shot from a very hard angle, denied superbly again by Fred Grim. And later (72), Shitrit was caught in an offside. With 15 minutes to go, Revivo earned another corner, and what developed afterwards finished with Alon Harazi falling into the box. Lipkovich didn't buy the pretence and marked to go on playing, but in my opinion, he should've booked Harazi.

Here three attacks of Ajax took place again. First, it was Ronald de Boer caught in an offside after a free kick (77). And in a minute, it was dangerous: Peter Hoekstra bounced the ball from the left side, Rafi Cohen flew superbly to parry it outside the box, and here Kluivert was too undecisive qnd had the ball taken from him after a dribbling trial. And van der Bracx was caught in an offside (82), after a header pass by Kluivert.

Haifa performed a wonderful attack (83), Berkovich - Silbas - Berkovich - Revivo. The latter, being in the box, raised the ball to himself and shot a great left-foot scissors kick; Grim was there as usual, but this time the applauses went for Revivo and not for the keeper. Afterwards (85), Shitrit went into the box, from the pass of Berkovich, and shot it wide, wasting an opportunity of passing it to Revivo just near the net. Ajax performed a quick counterattack, and Rafi Cohen grasped the ball before Peter Hoekstra.

And here came another mistake of Haim Lipkovich. Eyal Berkovich sent Offer Shitrit into the box (87), and Grim rushed against him. Shitrit threw the ball past the keeper to a hard angle and then dived all of a sudden, this dive followed by an impact between him and Grim. A clear pretence, but Lipkovich awarded the penalty kick. Sergei Kandaurov had a great opportunity to defeat Ajax, but he wasted it. He shot the weakest possible ball to his left (I'd shoot better), and Grim took it easily (I'd take it too). Well, ironic as it was, Kandaurov made the justice.

Rafi Cohen denied Kluivert (89), and everybody was sure the 1:1 draw would be preserved. "Not every day you have Ajax, and definitely not every day you waste a winner. Oh, Kandaurov, Kandaurov!" sighed the commentator Yoram Arbel. But the winner wasn't wasted. In the last attack of Haifa, Eyal Berkovich was found by Moshe Glam and, being in the box, sent the ball a bit back to Haim Silbas. The latter moved one step right and shot a great ball from 20 meters to the high left corner of Fred Grim; the latter could do nothing this time, despite his desperate flight. 2:1. Maccabee Haifa makes it again, ladies and gents! Accept the team which did what Milan, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Haiduk Split, PSV, Gremio and Casino Zalzburg failed to do! That's us, the Greens!

GIORA SPIEGEL, Maccabee Haifa's coach, sounded realistic: "We're very glad to surprise the big teams like Parma and Ajax, but this was just a friendly game, and neither of the teams prepared especially for it. We prepare the team for the League continuation, and the game against Ajax was a wonderful training for us".

HAIM SILBAS, midfielder, who scored the winner at the last minute: "I feel like dreaming. This is a wonderful goal, and I believed that if I played, I would score. I had a luck, and I'm happy to be able to score a winner against the best European team".

HAIM REVIVO, midfielder, scorer of the first goal and the best on the pitch: "I enjoyed every moment of this game. Had we played more games like this in our League, we'd vastly improve. I fulfilled a dream, to play together with Eli Ohana and to defeat Ajax. I hope to play the next season in Europe, but we have still half a season in Maccabee Haifa, which is important no less".

EYAL BERKOVICH, midfielder, who made two goal passes: "We played well, and I'm glad that the weak side of the team until today, the defence, was great. Maybe, we've found a solution".

ELI OHANA, forward, borrowed from Beitar Jerusalem for this one game: "This was a victory against an excellent team, and it's a pity indeed that it was just a friendly game. Maccabee Haifa achieved a great victory, which will give the Israeli football a lot of credit points in Europe".

LOUIS VAN GAAL, coach of Ajax, wasn't too worried by his team's loss and made a lot of compliments to Haifa: "Maccabee Haifa played excellently, and we had a bad game, that's why we lost. All the credit for this victory is deserved by Haifa's coach and the players. They pressed us at every point, played a quick game and were better than us. Their No. 10 (Haim Revivo - M.M.) is a wonderful player, he'd really caught my eye".

FRED GRIM, the second keeper of Ajax, didn't talk about his wonderful performance, but exclusively about the goal of Haim Silbas at the last minute: "This was a goal rare in its beauty. Even in Europe you don't see such goals every day. I had no chance to stop this ball".

JARI LITMANEN, forward, scorer of a temporary equalizer: "I give in every game 100% of my skill; sometimes it works more and sometimes less. In today's game, it worked less".

WIM KIEFT, one of the best Ajax and the Dutch National Team forwards of all times, was yesterday the Dutch TV commentator in Haifa and complimented throughout the game to Haim Revivo. "This is a real forward, a man to search for the net all the time", said Kieft. About Ajax Kieft said that the team of his marvellous past was very unconcentrated, and the game of Ronald de Boer, all of whose balls hardly reached the target, expressed exactly the things that happened there.

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