Age-old rivalry with Beitar waned at State Cup final
By Eitan Beckerman
Cars adorned with Beitar Jerusalem's yellow and Hapoel Tel Aviv's red converged at Kibbutz Galuyot Junction on Tuesday on their way to Ramat Gan Stadium where the two teams played in the cup final. Long gone are the days when old pickup trucks packed with people were a regular part of the soccer scenery, back in the 1970s and '80s. Nowadays, brand new vehicles zoom by and vanish into the urban, high-rise landscape.
At the stadium, the band played "We Will Build Our Homeland", a workers' tune but suited to Beitar sensibilities. When President Shimon Peres ("a leftist"), Sports Minister Raleb Majadele ("an Arab") and Israel Football Association chief Avi Luzon ("a Beitar hater") were introduced, Beitar's crowd split between those who booed and those who applauded. Indeed, the old biases seem to be coming to an end.
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The stadium was calm, sane; the vitriolic hatred between Beitar and Hapoel that symbolized the political rivalry between right and left is no more. On the field, too, both teams looked pretty much the same, both playing in the classic 4-4-2 formation, though Hapoel's coach Eli Gutman was holding his midfielders back. By the end of the match he sent in two more defensive midfielders.
Beitar's coach Itzhak Shum put the offensive weight on young Hapoel defender Omri Canada, but his players Idan Tal and Yoav Ziv failed to take advantage of the strategy. Michael Zandberg and Toto Tamuz were sent in to add offensive flair, but neither succeeded.
Both coaches were mostly afraid of losing in regular time or extra time, because losing by a penalty shootout is considered only half a loss. Only a fan either stupid, crazy or both would bet against 0-0 after 120 minutes being an option. After all, Hapoel is Hapoel and Beitar's lineup is still noticeably rusty.
When the penalty shootout began the stands came to life. Not only did Beitar win, but it did so in a tumultuous way. Hapoel's Baruch Dago managed to prove to Beitar's Tamuz that he was a bigger loser and missed his kick.
Despite the loss, Hapoel laid a building block for next year. It turned an awful year into a reasonable one, found a coach suitable to its needs and raised its value.
Meanwhile, Beitar returned to playing good soccer, stopped its losing streak and proved it was the best team in the country. It's hard to imagine it will fail to take the championship.
But despite the expected double, it seems that the precept that stood until not too long ago, that Beitar was to become to soccer what Maccabi Tel Aviv is to basketball - a powerhouse - is mistaken.
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