Willi Ruttensteiner will remain as the head coach of the Israel National Team after taking over the helm this past summer when Andi Herzog and the Blue & White parted ways. The Austrian who was originally hired to serve as the technical director has become a favorite among the players and will lead the way when Israel begins World Cup Qualifying in March 2021.

“This was very emotional for me. To be a National Team coach of a country is a great honor and responsibility and when the best players say good things and want you to stay it’s a complement. I was satisfied with the performance in the autumn but of course I was disappointed that we didn’t make the European Championship Qualification Final.You want to qualify but the most important thing to me is the process. To come forward in the world ranking, play better and get closer to the international benchmarks.”

In addition, Maccabi Tel Aviv let go of head coach Giorgos Donis after subpar results in the Israeli league. Donis did have much success in the Europa League as he guided the club to the Round of 32 where they will face Shakhtar Donetsk in February. However, many players were unhappy with the bench boss and management decided to make a move. Once Beitar Jerusalem and Maccabi Tel Aviv played to a disappointing goalless draw and the defending champion found themselves 11 points from the Greens, the hammer fell.

The leading candidate to take over is Maccabi’s Performance Director Patrick van Leeuwen who led the team this past summer between Vladimir Ivic’s departure and the arrival of Donis. During that time, van Leeuwen captured the Champions Cup and would be an ideal candidate to take over the helm as he is familiar with the club as well as Shakhtar Donetsk having worked there in the past.

The Israel Football League was busy this past week with plenty of on field action.

Maccabi Haifa looks to be running away with the league having own six games with their list two coming this pat week with a 2-1 win over Maccabi Petah Tikva and a 3-0 victory against Bnei Yehuda. Petah Tikva got back to form with a 2-1 win over Beer Sheva as Tai Baribo scored a 90th minute winner to take the points.

Over the weekend, Beer Sheva defeated hapless Hapoel Tel Aviv 3-0 as the Reds continue to struggle mightly and find themselves mired in the league’s cellar, however they did defeat Bnei Sakhnin 1-0 later on in the week.. Maccabi Netanya has had a bit of a trouble lately drawing 1-1 with Bnei Yehuda and falling to Hapoel Hadera 2-1 while Hadera drew earlier in the week with Ashdod 1-1.

Hapoel Haifa downed Ashdod 1-0 and beat Hapoel Kfar Saba 2-1 as Bnei Sakhin dropped Kiryat Shemona 1-0.

For all of the latest soccer action read The Sports Rabbi in The Jerusalem Post!