Wednesday, October 24, 2007

New defender offensive?

Danish media are reporting we're buying Israeli defender Yoav David Ziv from Beitar Jerusalem, the club we eliminated to play European football this year. Price is supposedly around 500,000€. [Danish sources: forza.dk / FCK lun på israeler, bold.k / Israeler koster FCK 3,7 millioner kroner] As far as I remember from our games against the Israelis, he's pretty good.

I have tried to find an English language source for the story with no luck. What I did find however, was a Jerusalem Post story about Zionist settlers doing illegal construction work on "historic Israel" territory aka Palestinian territory occupied by Israel. As the land is the subject of ongoing peace negotiations the Israeli authorities work to stop these activities. And here is what - quite frankly - stuns me:

According to Yitzhaki, the settlement drive also has the support of seven players from the Betar Jerusalem soccer team.

Strikers Totu Tamuz and Amit Ben-Shushan, defenders Arik Benado, Yoav Ziv and David Amsalem, and midfielders Aviram Bruchian and Idan Tal did not plan to participate in Sunday's events, but had signed pledges of support, Yitzhaki said.

Hmmm... that's pretty extreme. Gee, I'm happy they don't "plan to participate"! Looks like we're getting a Zionist on the offense for our defense. I wonder if we'd buy a public Hamas-supporter? I guess we would.

But someone needs to scholar this guy about the only West Bank he's allowed to attack as long as he's with us: Brøndby IF aka "Vestegnen" ;-)

3 comments:

Benno said...

AP / Some Israelis Boo During Rabin Moment

Later Sunday, when the announcer at a soccer game paid tribute to Rabin over the stadium sound system, hundreds of fans of the Beitar Jerusalem team erupted in loud boos. It was a public show of disrespect that would have been unthinkable not long ago.

The fans' behavior infuriated the game's TV commentator, Yoram Arbel, who fumed during the broadcast that the fans "should be ashamed of themselves."

Beitar Jerusalem's supporters have a reputation for ultranationalist politics and racism, and it remains one of the only clubs in Israeli soccer never to have fielded an Arab player.

Avi Luzon, head of Israel's soccer federation, acknowledged that a large number of fans booed Rabin.

"It's not just a handful. That's what's so appalling," Luzon said in an interview with Army Radio. "It was, I'm afraid, the majority of the crowd that was there."

Anonymous said...

Beitar facing 'January sales' crisis
Yoav Ziv, a key team member who was in the opening lineup in all the club's 13 league games, and is particularly renowned for his fighting spirit, is now weighing a move to either FC Copenhagen or Belgium's Bruges.

[...]

"When you're happy at a team, it's not easy to switch. But the financial matter is a very important element for a player weighing whether to transfer overseas," Beitar defender Yoav Ziv said. "I haven't received a formal proposal from Beitar to improve my contract. With all due respect and goodwill, I expect that even after any upgrade they offer, I'll still be earning 50 percent less than I would be in Europe."

At the moment, Ziv earns $140,000 a season, but Eisenberg has vowed not to offer anyone a pay raise "under pressure."

"We're thinking about raising his salary," the Beitar chairman said. "But we will not compete with all sorts of numbers thrown into the air by other clubs that have not made any concrete offers. Every player will get from us just what he deserves."

"I understand that if they had to match the offers they'd go crazy, and that's their consideration," Ziv responded. "That's why each player must weigh his own personal considerations and make decisions. At the moment, I'm considering the Belgian league as an option because lots of scouts will come see me in matches, and it's a great opening to the really big leagues."

Benno said...

Shum fumes over press leaks:
"Beitar Jerusalem has not yet closed the deal on Yoav Ziv's contract extension after upping the offer by tens of thousands, as it wants to prevent him from being released this winter or at a later stage in the summer. Ziv's agents agreed to cancel his opt-out clause for the winter, but they want the option of transferring him to a foreign club at any time over the summer."

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