Maccabi “Doron Motors” Netanya wins 2014 Beach Soccer Championship after getting past Ironi Petach-Tiqua
The arena at Poleg Beach in Netanya, nicknamed The Lagoon, hosted the grandiose Final-Four in the 8th year of the Israel Beach Soccer League. The extremely successful Israeli league has a deep and competitive pool of 10 teams, divided into two groups of five, with each playing four games during the group stage. The knock-out stage was played over the course of the past two weeks, and the semi-finals and final were played on one day over the weekend.
The road to the final was similar for both teams as they used timely offensive strikes, more so for the Doron Motors, and sturdy defense. The two finalists earned their places with shut-outs in the semis. Maccabi Netanya defeated Hapoel Holon 6-0, while Ironi overcame Rosh Ha’ain 1-0 on a overtime goal.
Netanya, led by the iconic Israeli coach, Benny Lam, got the most out of his international players, in their 8-3 championship win, including Miguel Santiso, also known as Kuman, who scored 3 goals in the final. Kuman was rewarded for his stellar play to earn league MVP honours as well.
Petach-Tiqua was led by their international captain Tzachi Iluz and did their best to overcome the black and yellow clad supporters of Netanya in the crowd but in the end, Petach-Tiqua had to wave the white flag, losing 8-3. This was a long time coming for Netanya to win their second league title, as they won their first championship in the first ever season of the Israel Beach Soccer League in 2007.
Individual awards:
MVP: Kuman (Netanya)
Top Scorer: Badash (Netanya)
Best Goalkeeper: Lemal (Netanya)
Photo: Nimrod Glickman
