José Rodríguez: “Israel is one of the best countries in the world”

The outstanding season of Joseph Rodriguez at Maccabi Haifa it has not gone unnoticed by anyone. “It has been my best year by far. I have felt a special connection with the fans. 100% love me. The club loves me, the coach loves me … For a player, that is very special,” discovers the Alicante after join your club's preseason in Israel. Rodríguez, who debuted with the Real Madrid first team under the guidance of José Mourinho, has one more year of contract with Maccabi Haifa and several firm proposals on the table. As AS has learned, teams from Mexico, Greece and China – all of the First Division – are behind the midfielder. “We are valuing them. Other years I have hardly had options and now, that I do not want to move from Israel, several proposals are emerging,” confirms the footballer himself.

And it is not surprising, since José Rodríguez played a fundamental role in the conquest of Ligat ha'Al by Maccabi Haifa, which Israeli champion had not been proclaimed since 2011. “The objective was different, but they brought in the best coach of Israel [Barak Bakhar] and signed very important foreign players. We started to win and we ended up believing it. We are Atlético de Madrid from Israel because there are teams with much more budget.or. That is why what we have done has so much merit “, explains a José Rodríguez who was already a target of Club América and CSKA Moscow in December:” It didn't matter what they paid. Maccabi Haifa said that I was not going to leave here, that they did not put a price on me. “In his first course in Israel, the Spanish achieved a 90% success in the pass, won more than 60% of his aerial duels and recovered 10 balls per game. He scored a goal and did it while, in Spain, his family said the last goodbye to his cousin, who died of Covid-19: “It was the best goal of my career. Precisely that day. It was God who was with me at the time. There is no other explanation. “

“Israel has given me the best moment of my career. Winning the league and celebrating it with 30,000 fans in the stands was incredible, “discovers José Rodríguez, who will not continue at Maccabi Haifa at any price. The player has offers that are five times his current salary, so he hopes to renew his contract upwards and dispute with the Israelis the previous phase of the Champions League, in whose first round the Kairat of Kazakhstan will be measured. “At 70%, I stay in Maccabi Haifa, but not in these conditions,” he confesses after spending the holidays in Villajoyosa. Rodríguez hopes, therefore, to continue in a country with which he identifies: “Israel looks out for the well-being of its people. I, who am 26 years old, received the Covid vaccine in January. They do not care about the economic issue If they have to pay three times more for vaccines than other countries, they pay it. And they save lives, which is the important thing. It has defects, of course, but it thinks of its people. ” José Rodríguez has the flag of Israel as the header image on Twitter. And it received criticism. “People speak of Israel from ignorance. It is one of the best countries in the world,” he defends.