Dolev Haziza spent much of the summer feeling unwanted. Now, according to one of Maccabi Netanya's most decorated former players, he has landed exactly where he needs to be to prove Maccabi Haifa wrong.
Podi Halfon, a Netanya icon from the club's celebrated sides of the late 1970s and early 1980s and now a regular sports commentator, used an appearance this week to address Haziza directly. "You arrived at Netanya - this is your opportunity to return to the spotlight," Halfon said, according to ONE. "Take the players and lead them. You can be a king in Netanya."
The message carries weight because of the manner of Haziza's exit from Haifa. After seven years at the club, the 31-year-old winger was told by sporting director Lior Rafalov this summer that he no longer figured in the team's plans - a conversation Haziza reportedly did not see coming, having believed he might finish his career in the port city. He completed a move to Netanya in late July.
Halfon suggested the psychological toll of that rejection might have hit Haziza harder than an earlier setback at Haifa, and offered him some perspective on age: "31 today is like 23 back then," he said, framing Netanya as a genuine second act rather than a wind-down posting.
The comments landed the day after Netanya's Toto Cup rhythm was interrupted. Roni Levy's side, unbeaten in their two previous outings this pre-season, were beaten 3-2 by newly-promoted Hapoel Ramat Gan at Miriam Stadium on Sunday, in round three of the competition. Luan Campos put Ramat Gan ahead before Maor Levi teed up Matias Dabbah to level, only for David Asnake and Maxim Falkushchenko to restore and extend the visitors' lead in the second half. Dabbah's stoppage-time consolation, set up by Haziza on his full debut, arrived too late.
Halfon was pointed about the manner of the defeat, singling out "a serious mistake by Grigory Morozov" on Ramat Gan's opening goal as symptomatic of the sloppiness that undid two good results.
That did not stop him using the result to press a wider argument about Netanya's ambitions this season. The club is reportedly targeting a finish in the fourth-to-sixth range, but Halfon wants more. "I would aim higher," he said. "I want to reach the day when Netanya declares it wants to compete for every title."
Levy, back for a second spell in charge of Netanya after being appointed in January 2026 to replace Yossi Abukasis, now has a pre-season audience watching closely to see whether Haziza's arrival - and Halfon's endorsement of it - translates into results once the Israeli Premier League campaign begins in earnest.
