Become a Member

By

Opinion

They came to Israel as boys but they leave as men

Although the 20th Maccabiah Games in Israel was in general a well-organised and joyous celebration of Jewish sport, identity and culture, things did not go smoothly for the Team Maccabi GB under-16 Boys Football team.

July 24, 2017 14:49
2 min read

I'm not quite sure where to start, but our journey has now come to an end. I have been involved in football a pretty long time and within this time there has been a number of highs and lows from signing for Tottenham as a 16-year-old to losing FA youth cup semi-finals, but nothing quite comes close to the emotions felt on this Maccabiah trip.

It was our last group game against Brazil with destiny in our own hands - we needed to beat  Brazil by two goals to qualify to the semi-finals. Or so we thought ...

We started the game on fire and with a hunger and desire that was beyond anything I had witnessed before at any level of football I have been involved in, including as a player and this from a bunch of 15-year-olds boys. Within the first 20 minutes we were 2-0 up playing with heart, but it was more than that, we were playing the game how it should be with beautiful passing. Indeed you could excuse the spectators of being confused of which team were Brazil.

In fairness to the opposition, they did not wilt and scored. You could excuse the players from being a little deflated but this group just don't know how to give in and what transpired in the second half was quite unbelievable.