Maintains a stable livelihood. David Gordana/courtesy of the photographer
"Those were unforgettable days, I was then admired and loved in the neighborhood - free car repairs, in our great restaurants they refused to take money, everything was free. It was a period I didn't realize would not last forever, that there would suddenly be an unexpected break."
The speaker is David Gordana, from Kochavi Bnei Yehuda in the 80s. He was born on January 17, 1967. "Father Ezra and mother Betty were born in Iraq and immigrated to Israel after the establishment of the state. Eight sons and one daughter were born. Saleh, Menashe, Yossi and I went to the senior team of Bnei Yehuda and played, the others were content with reaching the youth team. I am married to Iris Plus two sons and two daughters and seven grandchildren, lives in Holon, has been working for 30 years in the municipality of Tel Aviv, in the sanitation department, a job I got with God's help without help from football."
Your nephew Roy is a famous footballer in Hapoel Beer Sheva.
"I would like to point out here that Roy is getting stronger in the Torah, a great boy and an excellent soccer player. I have not seen him play on the field, but I hear around and they show me clips of Roy's games at work. He is the son of my brother Selah, who, as mentioned, went up to the senior team at the time."
David Gordana in the heyday against Maccabi Haifa/Maariv, Adi Avishi
And what about your boys and football?
"They had a love for the game, but even as children I didn't agree that they would kick the ball and play on Saturday, they quit football, they didn't make an issue of it."
Today you study Torah, strong in the religion.
"I study Torah and good deeds and kindness. I learn to be a wise student, learn about the meaning of life, what is the role of the Jew in this world."
As an actor where was the religion?
"Even as a soccer player I kept Shabbat, with the exception of traveling to games in the teams I played in because there was no choice at the time."
How did your wife take it?
"In the beginning it wasn't easy, she always asked where I was going and disappeared to her. Today she accepts the religion with love, telling me 'go and study Torah as much as you want,' and that's what I do."
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No more football on Saturday. Gordana vs. Sami Malka of Beitar Jerusalem/Maariv, Adi Avishi
He studied at Aviel and Uziel schools and at Bashach High School. "We lived in the Hatikva neighborhood, right next to the wall of the field. I remember as a small child we saw half the field in action from the window at every game. Later I went to Bnei Yehuda following my brothers, there was nothing in the neighborhood at that time except football for the children, from morning to night. When I played for children and youth right after training I moved to Beit Danny next door, where I played cat-foot until 11:00 p.m., the time the lights on the court were turned off."
Young teams?
"I played in all the youth teams, from the chicks team to the under-21 team. Coach Jacob Grundman brought me up at the age of 15 and a half to train with the senior team, the excitement was great, but in training I was calm, I learned from every moment."
He held his first performance in 1983/4. "Bnei Yehuda was coached by Yaakov Grundman, who at the age of 16 and a half placed me in the starting lineup against Hapoel Beer Sheva in the neighborhood. I scored both goals in a 0:2 victory, I had an excellent game. At the end of the game, thousands of the team's fans were waiting for the players, they waved me on their shoulders. I remembered the sights I saw To do this to Ehud ben Tovim, the king of the neighborhood. I felt like a star, being honored like Ben Tovim."
His first goal was away against Maccabi Netanya. "I was warned about the brakeman Haim Bar who plays very tough, who could break my leg. The truth is I was scared, but I scored the first goal. Bar did not play stiffly in front of me, they were an excellent team, they beat us in the end 1:3".
He played in all the youth teams. Gordana/Maariv, Adi Avishi
At the end of the season, Bnei Yehuda was relegated. "We had a very good team, with names including Ben Tovim, Hillel Kaplan, Uri Luzon, Doron Rosenthal and others who are unmatched today. We went down to the national level together with Maccabi Ramat Amidar and Hapoel Yehud, I felt crushed. After only one season we climbed back from first place."
He met his wife after one of the games: "A fan named Shirit asked for a photo with me, she offered me to meet her sister Iris, who turned out to be our neighbors in the neighborhood in the past. We've been together for 30 years."
Bnei Yehuda almost managed to finish the 1986/7 season without a loss. "This was Beitar Jerusalem's historic championship season. We finished in second place after the group of Kashtan, Malmilian and Ohana with a big points gap. The only loss was to Maccabi Haifa 5:2, we drew 18 games."
Much has been said about the financial contracts at the club during the time of the Solmi brothers. "Always before signing a new contract there were anger and fights, the management behaved towards most of the players, and I among them, like a kindergartener. Before the championship, I signed a long-term contract with Gad Solmi in which I would get an apartment at the end, but later it did not materialize."
Then came the historic championship. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing, Giora Spiegel built a tremendous and connected team that grew stronger as the season progressed. Moshe Sinai was passionate and the leader with great players who came, such as Rui Hadad who is all heart and soul, Yossi Zana from Hapoel Tel Aviv, the great Roni Levy, and the legendary acquisition pioneer from Argentina Gerardo Gonzalez. All of these alongside Salman, Roni Bambi Meir, Alu, Guy Sharabi, Eil Chaim, Nir Menachem, Shirazi, the goalkeeper Assay, myself and my brother Yossi and a first introduction to the Alon Mizrahi air force."
Not a simple injury. Gordana in the hospital/Maariv, Adi Avishi
But that's when a fatal injury came. "At the peak of my fitness and fame, I was injured in a match in the neighborhood against Hapoel Jerusalem. I made a wrong glitch on the new grass. I broke my ankle, so it was God's will, the leg was cast for several weeks. The rehabilitation was not good, and I wanted to quickly return to play and be in the lineup again in the season that the neighborhood and the fans They were crazy. I probably came back too soon, Bnei Yehuda continued to race for the championship title, but I wasn't the same player."
So let's really talk about blowing up the contract with Bnei Yehuda.
"After returning from the injury and the end of the season, there was a problem with the contract, there were changes. They advised me to give up the contract and in exchange to receive my player's card, they told me that a free card is better than an apartment for the rest of the way. It turns out that this was not the right intention, my mistake for agreeing."
What was next?
"I moved to Hapoel Ashdod of David Schweitzer, and it didn't work out for us there. We didn't live up to expectations, I sat out without a team, and then I moved to Hapoel Rishon Lezion of Gidi Damati, from there to Hapoel Bat Yam of Gili Landau, and to Hapoel Ashkelon under coach Gigi Cohen, with whom we climbed the league At the age of 28, I retired from football, I joined Bnei Yehuda's seniors as a child, I finished my career as a child, a big miss."
David, you remember my visit to your place in Ichilov and you are wearing a cast. Tell me what you told me.
"You were perhaps the first to reach me. I remember your curled signature on the cast and my statement that became a headline in a news newspaper: 'My brother Yossi will replace me and we will play together in Bnei Yehuda.'"
Big miss. Yossi Gordana/Maariv, Naor Rahab
And what is more natural than moving to Brother Yossi? "I am 52 years old, the younger brother of the Gordana family. Married with three children and two grandchildren. I work at the Ichilov Hospital, director of the MRI and CT disc department. I coach the Beitar Tel Aviv team in the B League."
What do you say about the statement of David then, will you be his heir?
"It turns out that not every statement or wish comes true. I trained at Bnei Yehuda with David after the injury, we played a game or two as part of the State Cup, I did not become his successor despite expectations."
He also remembers, of course, the championship season as a defining moment. "The team of Spiegel and Rami Levy was the most professional in Bnei Yehuda's history. Spiegel let me at the age of 17 and months play in the starting lineup, against Hapoel Petah Tikva, and I also scored. I played in the Toto Cup final against Hapoel Petah Tikva, we lost 2:1. Being under Spiegel the manager was a tasteful experience to this day. After the championship, the management lowered salaries, I left Bnei Yehuda, that's not how I saw myself disappearing from the club."
Yossi Gordana today/courtesy of the photographer
He also met Schweitzer further down the road, in Hapoel Ramat Gan, then moved to Rishon Lezion and from there to Hapoel Bat Yam nationally: "I finished the season as the top scorer in the national league with 19 goals like Yaniv Ofari from Shimshon Tel Aviv."
In Kiryat Gat through his star anew. "It was under coach Gili Landau, a historic promotion to the top league, in the 2000/01 season. My goal from a corner kick into the Beit Shan net made history, we went up together with Hapoel Beer Sheva, a season in which I scored 18 goals."
In the following season, he remembers, of course, the 0:4 in Kiryat Eliezer ("It's a shame that at the end of the season we were relegated") and then continued to wander: "I had teams where I had fun, such as Hapoel Lod, Hapoel Beer Sheva with Landau, Zafarir Holon with Eli Cohen, the brakeman of Maccabi Haifa as a coach, and again Hapoel Ramat Gan under coach Itzik Baruch. I retired from football at the age of 33. It may have been a mistake in general, but we don't cry over spilled milk. The task now is to get Beitar Tel Aviv back on the road to the glory days".
continues the way. Roy Gordana/Danny Maron
And a final word about Roy?
"Wonderful Roiki, he could play in a respectable European club, reminds David in his dribbling and body tricks, but faster than him. Every goal of his is a goal in the paint."
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