State Cup final: the match-up between Breda and Kozhuch will define their season

The State Cup final that will start tonight will bring together two teams with an interesting match-up between two coaches – on the one hand, Eliniv Barda who knows this position well – he won the State Cup twice as a player with Hapoel Tel Aviv, twice he took the title in the Belgian Genk uniform, and did This was also as a coach two years ago, before he also won the Champion of Champions.

Regardless of the saga of his contract (he must stand on both hind legs regarding the purchase, or leave), Breda owes this title first of all to himself – he lost the championship this season at an earlier stage than expected, with a terrible start to the season that maybe another coach would have paid for it and gone home , and there the momentum of the Reds stopped on the way to another boring season in the league – the distance from Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv was unreasonable.

Therefore, tonight is a big test for Berda – if they lose this title as well, Beer Sheva will record a disappointing season – without any important message to their fans. It did not develop new domestic players, was not particularly successful with most of the purchased players and received a humiliating six-pointer from Maccabi Tel Aviv at the beginning of the season, in the European match. Even in the Toto Cup she did not advance to the decisive stages.

For Ran Kozhoch this is a big test, because the win with Maccabi Netanya last season in the Toto Cup does not bode well. Netanya won the title without scoring a single goal. It was another achievement for Aron after 40 years in the desert, but not beyond. Kozhoch’s story began in the cup final. He brought Maccabi Netanya to the finals after a tortuous journey, handsome victories over Maccabi Haifa and Ashdod in the quarter and a half finals, but in the finals he suffered a big defeat that sent Eyal Segal thinking about whether he wanted to extend the contract with him.

Netanya failed every test in that final and Kozhoch seems to have learned his lesson. Tonight he will have to prove that he is capable of winning in such an important and stressful situation and winning the cup is important for a young coach. A victory for Petah Tikva – and it is very possible that he will be crowned as the coach of the next generation of our football. We must not forget: he overcame a difficult hurdle in the quarter-finals, Maccabi Tel Aviv, and knew how to bring the players to the ground in front of the view of the Galilee.

Kozhuch is a thorough coach, who worked hard to get to this moment. The players say that he hardly breaks distance, that he knows how to separate what happens on the field from what happens after it. This attitude is very reminiscent of great coaches who were here before him. If he wants to advance another step in his career, he must not lose the match tonight. He should return home with a trophy, continue another season at Maccabi Petah Tikva and stick a stake there, without thinking about the next challenge.