Spurs connections - Maccabi Haifa

Tonight, we face Israeli Premier League side Maccabi Haifa for the first time in the Europa League play-offs, yet, despite the lack of history between the two teams, there is still plenty to connect us.

National associates

While we may have never encountered Maccabi Haifa, we have played eight games against Israeli sides in our history, all of which took place in the Middle Eastern nation. The latest of those meetings came in 2007 when we faced Hapoel Tel Aviv in the UEFA Cup. Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov were on the scoresheet for us that night as we earned a 2-0 win – that was also our only competitive fixture to date against an Israeli team.

This evening’s clash with Maccabi Haifa will be our first home fixture against an Israeli side and the first Europa League game to be held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Former players

Only one player has worn the colours of both clubs – striker 'Rocket' Ronny Rosenthal. Born in Haifa, Israel, Ronny came through the youth system of Maccabi Haifa before going on to represent them for seven years and win two league titles. Spells at Club Brugge, Standard Liege and Liverpool followed for the Israel international before he moved to north London in January, 1994. A regular fixture in Lilywhite over the next few seasons, the forward went onto make over a century of appearances for us, scoring 11 goals – including that never-to-be-forgotten hat-trick off the bench in the fifth round at Southampton . After over three years in N17, Ronny departed for Watford in 1997. Ahead of tonight's game, Ronny will be appearing as a special guest on our pre-match show, N17 Live.

Player connections

Gareth Bale is the only player in the squad to have been team-mates with a Maccabi Haifa player during their careers to date. Gareth was at Real Madrid alongside Maccabi midfielder Jose Rodriguez for the 2013/14 season – former Spurs playmaker Luka Modric was also with the pair at Real. As it happens, it was Jose Mourinho who gave Rodriguez his professional debut for Los Blancos as the central midfielder came off the bench to score in a Copa Del Rey clash with Alcoyano in 2012. Two years later, the now-Maccabi player was loaned to Deportivo La Coruna where he played alongside former Spurs striker Helder Postiga.

Maccabi Haifa winger Yanic Wildschut has also been team-mates with several former Spurs players having spent five years of his career in the English Football League. First moving to Middlesbrough in 2014, Wildschut played alongside Jonathan Woodgate, Ryan Fredericks and Milos Veljkovic. In 2015/16, the Dutchman moved to Wigan before a two-year stint at Norwich City where he had Sebastien Bassong and Alex Pritchard as colleagues. Then, prior to his move to Israel in 2019, the left-sided winger also appeared alongside Joe Pritchard and Ben Alnwick at Bolton Wanderers.

Another Maccabi Haifa player to have spent time in English football is midfielder Tjaronn Chery, who was team-mates with the likes of Sandro, Paul Konchesky and Grant Hall in a two-year spell at QPR.

Centre-back Rami Gershon also has links to Spurs having played with two of our former players during his career. First, in his spell with Standard Liege, Gershon was team-mates with Ricardo Rocha before going on to play for Celtic, where he played alongside Victor Wanyama. The Israel international also played against us in our Europa League round of 32 3-2 aggregate defeat to Gent in 2017.

Former Spurs v Maccabi Haifa

Four of our former players have taken on Maccabi Haifa over the years in European competition with all their appearances against the Israeli outfit coming prior to their north London arrival.

The first was Dimitar Berbatov back in 2002/03 when the Bulgarian striker represented Bayer Leverkusen. ‘Berba’ came off the bench as Leverkusen enjoyed a 2-0 win.

Next, Peter Crouch came up against the Israeli side during his time with Liverpool in 2006. Facing them in the Champions League third qualifying round, ‘Crouchy’ came off the bench in the first leg at Anfield before playing 90 minutes in Kiev, Ukraine, and scoring a crucial goal as the Reds qualified with a 3-2 aggregate win.

Before joining us in 2008, former full-back Alan Hutton also played against Maccabi Haifa in 2006 with Rangers. Hutton started and played the whole game as the Gers defeated Maccabi 2-0 in the UEFA Cup at Ibrox Stadium.

Finally, former wide midfielder Lewis Holtby took on Haifa while with Schalke 04 in the Europa League in 2011. The German international played for 62 minutes against the Greens at the Veltins Arena.