The 2024 Israeli Cup final, the curtain call on the local football season, took place in Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv Jaffa tonight between Hapoel Be’er Sheva and Maccabi Petach Tikva.
In somewhat of a deja vu, this is a rematch of the 2020 final, which also took place in the same stadium. However, the first major difference was that the stadium was close to its full capacity of 30,000 people - while four years ago, it was completely empty due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Back then, the Southerners from Be’er Sheva won 2-0 to win their second-ever Israeli Cup.
In 2022 they added their third, and aimed to make it 4 wins tonight. On the other hand, Maccabi Petach Tikva were hoping to win their first silverware since 1952, when they won the Cup themselves.
The game’s first big chance came in the 8th minute, as Colombian Déinner Quiñones burst very quickly through the Petach Tikva defence, but goalkeeper Marco Wolff stopped him. Quiñones famously scored the semi-final dramatic 120’th minute goal vs Maccabi Netanya to bring his team to the final today.
The two sides seemed to be more on their cautious side, and the game became slightly tense and aggressive with hard tackles flying around.
In the 45th minute, Maccabi’s Anas Mahamid broke into the box on the counter-attack, but Niv Eliasi denied him with his fingertips straight to the post.
Be’er Sheva coach Elyaniv Barda made the tough call to insert Eliasi into the lineup before the game ahead of Ofir Marciano, who was the team’s cup goalkeeper throughout the season but performed poorly in the final league games.
The first half ended in a goalless draw.
The most impressive part of the first half was the fans’ atmosphere. Hapoel Be’er Sheva’s fans pyrotechnic display (Photo courtesy: Nicole Liberman/BabaGol)
Second Half
In the 68th minute, yet another huge chance for Anas Mahamid, who sidestepped Eliasi but put it over the bar against an empty net.
The game’s turning point came in the 84th minute. Petach Tikva’s substitute Luka Stor, who added much energy to Ran Kozuk’s side, managed to fake Andre Poko in the box, as the Gabonian slid and deflected the ball with his hand. Penalty to Petach Tikva.
Captain Mohammad Hindy took responsibility, with all the pressure. Eliasi got a hand on it but the ball crawled in. Amazing scenes, in front of the 6000 Maccabi fans, who rocked the stadium although numerically inferior to the Reds.
Mohamed Hindy’s penalty that decided the Israeli State Cup final (Photo courtesy: Nicole Liberman/BabaGol)
Be’er Sheva threw everything they had to maybe salvage something from the game, but it wasn’t meant to be.
The second major difference between 2020 and 2024 was the result. This time out, it was the big day for the “Melaves” side, a major talent exporter team within the country but not much of a competitor for titles.
Names such as Manor Solomon and Liel Abada are products of their successful youth team but they never managed to lead the side to any trophies.
On Thursday night, Maccabi Petach Tikva finally broke this duck for the first time in 72 years, and deservedly so. They will play next season in the UEFA Europa League, a competition they have some fond memories from—especially the 2005-06 campaign when they incredibly eliminated Partizan Belgrade after a 5-2 win in Serbia.
Be’er Sheva, on the other hand, finished third in the league and will play in the UEFA Conference League for the fourth successive season and in European competitions for the eleventh time in a row. This is a small comfort on a sombre evening.
Celebrating a first cup in 72 years. Maccabi Petah Tikva players (Photo courtesy: Nicole Liberman/BabaGol)
