This is what happens when I try very hard not to study
I proudly present: Yossi Benayoun, age 16.
Israeli educational TV used to have a weekly sports magazine called Sport TV. In 1996, they aired a segment about the "wonderkid" from Dimona Yossi Benayoun. Even though I am not a fan of either Yossi, Liverpool, Chelsea and/or the Israeli NT, I think it's quite awesome to see how much praise he got even back then, and how down to earth and humble he seems. (also, it's amazing how he looks nearly exactly the same!)
Free translation:
I tried to make is as clear as possible, but their word choice was sometimes very awkward and, well, footballers-like, so it wasn't always that easy for me to understand them as well.
Presentor: Benayoun, a good kid from Dimona [one of the poorest cities in Israel], would rather invest his time in learning Match and English and with humble dream of playing with the first squad of Hapoel Be'er Sheva. All this while famous clubs such as Milan and Ajax are already keeping an eye on him.
Man (Ze'ev, head coach of the Israeli youth team): we are talking about a very talented boy
Woman (Edna, he's school teacher): Yossi is a........ good student.
boy: he's always humble
girl: he's just really sweet, that's all I can say about him.
Edna: it was quite a long while before I found out he was a footballer and that I have a raising star in my class.
Yossi: your life shouldn't be only about football, it's also important to get your education. Don't just be a footballer and a bad student.
Edna: he has good grades. But what's more important is that he never has any demands for special treatment just because he is a football player.
Dudu (Yossi's father): I work at the city hall. I finish around 1-2pm, when he has training I take him and wait until he's finished, even if it's up until 10pm. I wait for him than takes him home and this is what happens every day. I travel around 1000km with him in a week.
Reporter (o.s): And you don't get tired?
Dudu: not for him. For my son I never get tired.
Ze'ev: he's unique in his technical abilities, his speed, his quickness but mostly his intelligence when it comes to the game. The way he reads the game, knows what will be the next move on the field.
Yossi: Become better physically and work on my mind-game.
Jacky (Hapoel Be'er Sheva youth team coach): not a lot of player grow up with the qualities Yossi has. He is a player who handle the ball with both feet, both feet are the same to him. I know he is being supported everywhere, at school, at home. He's not eager, he doesn't become coincided, he stays humble.
Yossi: it's too much noise, it's stressing. reporters and articles, I'm afraid it will interfere with the game, but I need be able to handle it somehow.
Ze'ev: dealing with pressure is part of the difficulties of being a footballer, but we try to over come such difficulties with work, including psychological work.
Ze'ev: you need to take into account he already got international experience, about 20 international games with the Israeli Youth team. The international exposure also brings recognition of his abilities.
Jacky: Yes, there might be some interest from Milan and someone also reminded me that Ajax are interested as well. But as far as I know this kid will stay here for at least 4 more years in Hapoel Be'er Sheva.
Yossi: the dream is to join the senior squad [of Hapeol Be'er Sheva], and play in the Israeli top league. It's too early to think of Europe or something like that.
Presentor: So Yossi doesn't dream of going to Europe, but we advise the father to stop counting the distance in kms and move to miles.
And now for some random tl;dr blah: I guess I also liked this cause I think even now, 16 years later, so many Israeli footballer can learn from him. As I said I'm not a fan of the Israeli NT but it still sucks to know that we do have talent (our youth teams usually do quite well) but it goes to waste. The government here really doesn't invest enough, but part of it is also the players themselves not willing to work hard on one hand and preferring to be bench warmer for big clubs rather than actually playing for lesser known ones. This summer it seems that quite a few Israeli players are making their way to those lesser known mid-of-the-table clubs in Europe so hopefully same as with Benayoun it will be a start of a long path that would lead them to actually play in well known clubs.
Israeli educational TV used to have a weekly sports magazine called Sport TV. In 1996, they aired a segment about the "wonderkid" from Dimona Yossi Benayoun. Even though I am not a fan of either Yossi, Liverpool, Chelsea and/or the Israeli NT, I think it's quite awesome to see how much praise he got even back then, and how down to earth and humble he seems. (also, it's amazing how he looks nearly exactly the same!)
Click to viewFree translation:
I tried to make is as clear as possible, but their word choice was sometimes very awkward and, well, footballers-like, so it wasn't always that easy for me to understand them as well.
Presentor: Benayoun, a good kid from Dimona [one of the poorest cities in Israel], would rather invest his time in learning Match and English and with humble dream of playing with the first squad of Hapoel Be'er Sheva. All this while famous clubs such as Milan and Ajax are already keeping an eye on him.
Man (Ze'ev, head coach of the Israeli youth team): we are talking about a very talented boy
Woman (Edna, he's school teacher): Yossi is a........ good student.
boy: he's always humble
girl: he's just really sweet, that's all I can say about him.
Edna: it was quite a long while before I found out he was a footballer and that I have a raising star in my class.
Yossi: your life shouldn't be only about football, it's also important to get your education. Don't just be a footballer and a bad student.
Edna: he has good grades. But what's more important is that he never has any demands for special treatment just because he is a football player.
Dudu (Yossi's father): I work at the city hall. I finish around 1-2pm, when he has training I take him and wait until he's finished, even if it's up until 10pm. I wait for him than takes him home and this is what happens every day. I travel around 1000km with him in a week.
Reporter (o.s): And you don't get tired?
Dudu: not for him. For my son I never get tired.
Ze'ev: he's unique in his technical abilities, his speed, his quickness but mostly his intelligence when it comes to the game. The way he reads the game, knows what will be the next move on the field.
Yossi: Become better physically and work on my mind-game.
Jacky (Hapoel Be'er Sheva youth team coach): not a lot of player grow up with the qualities Yossi has. He is a player who handle the ball with both feet, both feet are the same to him. I know he is being supported everywhere, at school, at home. He's not eager, he doesn't become coincided, he stays humble.
Yossi: it's too much noise, it's stressing. reporters and articles, I'm afraid it will interfere with the game, but I need be able to handle it somehow.
Ze'ev: dealing with pressure is part of the difficulties of being a footballer, but we try to over come such difficulties with work, including psychological work.
Ze'ev: you need to take into account he already got international experience, about 20 international games with the Israeli Youth team. The international exposure also brings recognition of his abilities.
Jacky: Yes, there might be some interest from Milan and someone also reminded me that Ajax are interested as well. But as far as I know this kid will stay here for at least 4 more years in Hapoel Be'er Sheva.
Yossi: the dream is to join the senior squad [of Hapeol Be'er Sheva], and play in the Israeli top league. It's too early to think of Europe or something like that.
Presentor: So Yossi doesn't dream of going to Europe, but we advise the father to stop counting the distance in kms and move to miles.
And now for some random tl;dr blah: I guess I also liked this cause I think even now, 16 years later, so many Israeli footballer can learn from him. As I said I'm not a fan of the Israeli NT but it still sucks to know that we do have talent (our youth teams usually do quite well) but it goes to waste. The government here really doesn't invest enough, but part of it is also the players themselves not willing to work hard on one hand and preferring to be bench warmer for big clubs rather than actually playing for lesser known ones. This summer it seems that quite a few Israeli players are making their way to those lesser known mid-of-the-table clubs in Europe so hopefully same as with Benayoun it will be a start of a long path that would lead them to actually play in well known clubs.