Ten intrepid Beth Elohim soccer fans schlepped to Bloomfield Stadium after the Sabbath ended to watch home team Hapoel Tel Aviv take on Ra'anana in a critical Israeli Premier League match. One taxi driver was a Hapoel fan, and he lamented that his team was not doing so well this year. The match started at 8pm before nearly 15,000 screaming shouting fans, after the usual hand-shake ceremony by the teams. Most of the home fans were clad in the red of their team's uniforms, some in scarves, others in red shirts or jackets. The field was well-maintained natural turf with no bare spots.

Ra'anana scored first near the end of the first half, after some not so brilliant plays by the home side, even though Hapoel dominated the play. Fans whistled derisively whenever the referee decided against their team.

Early in the match, it became clear that numerous players had had lessons from Stanislavsky or one of his disciples, as players flopped all over the field in agony at the slightest contact from a player on the other team.

The second half was all Hapoel, as their coach doubtless had some encouraging words to say in the locker room. They changed their attacking tactics, scoring twice, and holding to a 2-1 lead for the last 15 minutes. The fans cheered their heroes when the match ended, and everyone went home happy.

This was soccer as it is played in the rest of the world. Despite the meager salaries paid to the players, many of whom toil anonymously, either of these teams would compete favorably against teams in the US so-called Major League Soccer, loaded with aging stars from other countries.

Submitted by Ben Myers