Old rival stands between Beitar and historic double
By Moshe Boker
Hapoel Tel Aviv Captain Walid Badir vowed his team would do everything it can to beat Beitar Jerusalem in the State Cup, set to take place in front of a packed Ramat Gan Stadium at 8 PM today.
Badir said that it was doubly important for Hapoel Tel Aviv to win because of its disappointing season.
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"This is the match of the season," Badir said. "We'll prepare for it and show up ready."
Badir spoke at a special news conference organized by the Israel Football Association, which he attended alongside his coach Eli Gutman and Beitar Jerusalem coach Itzhak Shum and captain Arik Benado.
During the news conference, Benado referred to the historical rivalry that exists between Beitar Jerusalem, which is often associated with the right, and Hapoel Tel Aviv, which traces its origins back to Israel's socialist movement.
"Beitar is a big club with a long history," Benado said. "We all know about the rivalry with Hapoel. Every training session supporters come up to me and ask us to beat Hapoel. It's not every day you get to the finals."
Added Beitar's Shum: "The two teams that most deserve it made it to the finals. I am excited and will always be excited ahead of such events, no matter how many times I take part in them."
Sold out crowd
Meanwhile, the Israel Football Association announced it had sold 39,000 tickets for the State Cup final. IFA Officials said tickets ran out faster than for any matches by the national team in recent years. About 1,200 police and security personal will secure the stadium, and police have decided to completely separate the two camps of supporters. Large flags will not be allowed to be brought into the stadium, and ticket holders will be thoroughly searched.
In light of the incident in which Beitar fans burst onto the field last month, organizers said they have taken precautions to avoid such an incident from reoccurring in today's match.
One of the measures taken by the IFA in order to prevent ticket forgeries has been to print the name of the ticket holders on the tickets themselves.
President Shimon Peres will hand out the trophy to the winning team as stipulated by tradition, accompanied by a fireworks display.
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