At his new club Maccabi Netanya they worship the ground he walks on. Superstar and honorary national team captain Lothar Matthäus has begun his reign with the Israeli league side and is enjoying an almost God-like status – and that without having done as much as won a competitive game, let alone a title. At the beginning of pre-season training on July 4th, 2008, Matthäus and his players were carried shoulder high from the pitch by 250 fanatical supporters all loudly singing “Lothar, Lothar”. The former German international had to admit: “I’ve never experienced a greeting like it. Israel is a fantastic country. The people are very open and positive.”
At the present time, the team have left the trouble stricken country to continue their preparations. There is a lot of work to be done and the second round of the UEFA Cup qualifiers lies ahead. First up though is a friendly against Werder Bremen on Saturday, 26.07.2008 at 6:30pm. The ‘Yellow-Blacks’ took up residence in Schruns some ten days ago: “The club’s owner invested quite a sum of money to make this training camp possible,” explained Matthäus. 28 players, ten of whom from their own youth academy, made the trip to Austria and the new coach, who spent time looking over Thomas Schaaf’s shoulder, has been able to get an initial picture of where his side stand: “We have the quality but not the money. Still, it’s a lot of fun. The players are looking to take their chances and are working hard.”
So far during their stay in Schruns, the Israeli side have had a 0-0 with SC Freiburg and a 3-2 win over Winterthur but also suffered a defeat on Friday, 25.07.2008 to FC St. Pauli (1-3)