Hapoel a joy to watch for Zivlin

Walid Badir scored Hapoel's opener

Caretaker manager Ron Zivlin was pleased to see Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC "enjoy their football again" as they won 2-1 at Getafe CF to reignite their Group G hopes.

Miserable season
The Israeli giants have been having a miserable season in domestic football, lying at the foot of the 12-team Israeli table following the resignation of coach Guy Luzon. However, first-half goals from Walid Badir and Barukh Dego earned them a shock win against Getafe in Madrid on Thursday following defeats in their opening two group stage games.

Makeshift duo
Veteran fitness coach Zivlin, who is working in tandem with former Hapoel captain turned scout Yossi Abuksis, said: "I am proud of the players as they beat a side which beat [FC] Barcelona only two weeks ago. You can ask them how many times I have told them to go out play football and enjoy themselves. It was important for me that these players started to enjoy their football again."

Inspiring presence
Forced to retire last year, 37-year-old Abuksis was one of the stars of Hapoel's run to the 2001/02 UEFA Cup quarter-finals, and showed his potential as a coach. Zivlin said: "Yossi watched Getafe against [Real] Zaragoza and prepared a very detailed report. Within one training session he managed to transform the side so that we had eleven Abuksises out there. He deserves a lot of credit for that."

'A bit weird'
Abuksis added: "It was a bit weird as it was my first time [on the bench]. Before the match we had one training session and to make such a debut gives you a good feeling. There was one major change today and that was the players showed belief in themselves and one could clearly see that their confidence was back. It's the same set of players who were here two and three weeks ago."

Last match
The question now is whether the new coaching duo will get more of a chance to impress. "I said before that I am proud to do everything the club ask me to do, but our main priority is the league and Monday's match against Hapoel Kiryat Shmona [FC]." It remains to be seen whether he will still be in charge as Hapoel take on Aalborg BK at home in their final Group G match on 19 December.