Between Peretz and Kanaan: Who will take Kangwa's spot?
Even after Hapoel Be'er Sheva's final training session in Hungary, coach Ran Kozuch has still not decided who will start in place of Kings Kangwa in the first match tomorrow (Tuesday, 20:30, Sport 3) against Red Star Belgrade in the third qualifying round of the Champions League. Similar to yesterday's training, this evening the coach is deliberating between Eliel Peretz and Hamudi Kanaan. Peretz came on as a substitute in the victory over Vikingur last week and was one of the team's standouts, but Kozuch still has his doubts and he also practiced with Kanaan intermittently alongside Lucas Ventura and Niv Yehoshua. The decision will presumably be made only tomorrow, ahead of the match.
Even after Hapoel Be'er Sheva's final training session in Hungary, coach Ran Kozuch has still not decided who will start in place of Kings Kangwa in the first match tomorrow (Tuesday, 20:30, Sport 3) against Red Star Belgrade in the third qualifying round of the Champions League. Similar to yesterday's training, this evening the coach is deliberating between Eliel Peretz and Hamudi Kanaan. Peretz came on as a substitute in the victory over Vikingur last week and was one of the team's standouts, but Kozuch still has his doubts and he also practiced with Kanaan intermittently alongside Lucas Ventura and Niv Yehoshua. The decision will presumably be made only tomorrow, ahead of the match.
Regarding other positions, Itay Rotman, who came on as a substitute for Djibril Diao in the first half last week, is expected to continue receiving credit in the center of the defense alongside Miguel Vitor. In the attack on the right, Javon East is expected to continue in the starting 11 at the expense of Muhammad Abu Rumi. Zahi Ahmed, who started and was one of the standouts with a goal he scored against Vikingur, will start again on the left wing and Amir Ganah will only come off the bench. The new defender Pedro Amador will be in the squad for the first time.
The coach emphasized to the players the importance of tomorrow's home match in Hungary and the obligation to arrive at the return leg in Serbia with a good result that will leave Hapoel Be'er Sheva a chance to advance to the Champions League playoffs.
Predicted lineup: Ofir Marciano, Guy Mizrahi, Miguel Vitor, Itay Rotman, Matan Baltaxa, Niv Yehoshua, Lucas Ventura, Eliel Peretz (Hamudi Kanaan), Javon East, Zahi Ahmed, Igor Zlatanovic.
We will remind you that if Hapoel Be'er Sheva surprises Red Star, in the playoff stage of the Champions League qualifiers it will meet the winner between Denmark's Aarhus and Azerbaijan's Sabah. If it is eliminated, it will play in the Europa League playoffs against the Czech Republic's Viktoria Plzen.
