Ramat Gan Stadium, Tel Aviv.
I'm not sure if it's decided where the away game will be held next March, but let's hope it won't be in the Israeli National stadium in Tel Aviv !!
Heres a little report from one of the wierdest football matches I've ever seen, that may be of interest for us against Israel.
Rosenborg FK (Trondheim, Norway) played the second CL qualifier yesterday against Macabbi Haifa and the whole thing developed into a bit of a farce. The lights in the stadium went out twice in the second half. The first time for 8 mins. A little bit shorter the second time. Macabbi were down to 10 men and under enormous pressure when the first break came. The second was just before 90 mins. I know this is the age of conspiracy-theories, but if Haifa had sent a man down to the power-plant, he couldn't have flipped the switch at a better time for them. It didn't help though, RBK went through after extra-time.
Haifa is the biggest team in Israel. There aren't as many national players on the team as before but we can perhaps get a little inkling of what lies in store for us in the qualifiers.
The Haifa team were individually technically good, but fairly badly organised collectively. They play intense pressure football, but didn't last 90 mins let alone 120. The season is just begining there though. They were 'Italian' in the sense that there was an lot of diving, rolling around, throwing away the ball and moaning at the ref etc. Together with the power-cuts they managed to break up the game something shocking.
The supporters were fairly lively while it was going their way. But we've played in a lot worse atmospheres before.
The interesting thing though was how they folded mentally. RBK managed to level the match on 92 mins. (Not just the team: the stadium (20,000 holds 40,000) began to empty after the equaliser came)Macabbi just threw in the towel and walked around the pitch waiting for the winner to come, which it did.
If this in someway reflects the psychological makeup of Israeli football, it's quite encouraging. Based on the 4-5 national players that I've seen n ow over 2 legs, I think that we should manage them faily easily home. Away may be difficult at the start, but might fold if it doesn't go their way. Let's just hope they pay the electricity bill before we play them!!
Ramat Gan is a suburb of Tel Aviv and easily accessable from the city with regular bus-services.
