It’s been a week full of excitement for the city of Netanya. For more than a decade they’ve been waiting for local club, Maccabi Netanya, to qualify for a European competition once again - and now that time has come.
The Netanya Stadium has played host to some of European football’s greatest names since Maccabi’s last continental appearance - hosting both the U21 and U17 European Championships - but not at club level.
There’s been a push at the club to look back at their ‘glory days’, trying to replicate past successes. At the beginning of last season, after a bad start to the campaign, Benny Lam was appointed as the club’s new manager.
Lam was a key part of Maccabi’s legendary squad in the 80s, the last to win a trophy for the club. Despite limited head coaching experience, he led the club to 4th place in the table - their best position since 2012 - and a spot in the Europa Conference League.
Maccabi Netanya in its first European match since 2013 (Shaul Greenfeld)
They were drawn against Istanbul Başakşehir in the second qualifying round, and there’s no doubt the former Turkish champions were clear favourites from the outside.
The first leg, in Istanbul, gave hope to the Israelis. An early goal for Maccabi, followed by a late equaliser, put the two sides level pegging ahead of the second leg.
Heading into the match in Netanya, anticipation was huge. The locals felt it was possible to force a shock result at their home ground, and you could see a yellow stream of them all around the stadium ahead of kick-off.
It took nine minutes for İstanbul Başakşehir to score the first goal, with Youssouf Ndayishimiye converting a corner from the right-hand side.
The pressure inside the stadium swelled, and the pressure on Maccabi was enormous. The locals were urging the team on right until the final whistle, but it wasn’t enough, and Başakşehir saw out a 2-1 aggregate victory.
Youssouf Ndayishimiye celebrating Başakşehir’s only goal (Shaul Greenfeld)
After the game, Lam said that any team that beats his side “should kill us” but, despite making a change for the better at Maccabi, he said that his side’s lack of experience “made us finish the game in an early stage”.
But despite being knocked out of the competition, the manager believes they can do it once again: “Maccabi Haifa did it, why couldn't we?"
Edited by Alex Smith
Thumbnail photo by Shaul Greenfeld
Benny Lam, the local hero is confident in Netanya’s future (Shaul Greenfeld)
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