Football Palestine Extra! Ataa Jaber Interview

This interview was used to write a piece for Arab News which you can read, here.

For non-Arabic speakers a transcript follows below:

Football Palestine:

Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of Football Palestine Extra. And in our ongoing series, we have another national team player sit down with us for an interview. Just a point of procedure, this interview is going to be in Arabic, so if I've done my job correctly, you'll see the subtitles somewhere down here.

For this conversation that we're going to have with our new national team midfielder, Ataa Jaber.

OK, first things first- new players in the team are usually asked to sing an initiation song during their first team dinner. I want to know if you sang and if you did, what was the song?

Ataa Jaber:

Welcome to all the viewers, I am very honored to have you here. I was not asked! It was for the better because if I sang, I would have disturbed the team. And everyone would have run away. So it's good that they didn't ask for it and I didn't sing.

FP:

If you had to sing any song in the future, what would it be?

AJ:

I love Tarab, so I will look for a song in that genre that I can sing.

FP:

Okay, great. Let's get into this conversation and let's know more about you and your background in football. I want to know how you started playing football. I think most of the youth in the Palestinian society have this dream of being football players. But the group that succeeds in this dream is very, very, very small. So tell me how did you start and how did you get into professional football?

AJ:

I started out with a Maccabi Haifa team. I hadn't played anywhere before I was ten years old or so. The family saw my talent and supported me. I started there, got my professional debut an left when I was 22 years old. Then I moved to Abna Sakhnin, and then to Ashdod. And from Ashdod, I moved to Azerbaijan, to Baku, and this is my second year. It was a difficult start. I went through a lot of difficulties, injuries, and operations. But, thank God, I am in this position today. I am satisfied with everything I've done and looking forward to better things to come in the future, God willing.

FP:

In June, you played your first match with the national team I think it was a real Asian experience because you played in Indonesia, you played in China you haven't had the chance to play in Palestine with the national team.

I want to know your impressions of football in Asia. Is there a big difference between the levels in Asia and Europe? Because I think, as supporters, we always enter this discussion that the European level is the European level, that is almost unacheiveable.

But the first matches were against teams from big countries, Indonesia and China. And this is a great atmosphere, especially in Indonesia. So, tell me what were your impressions and how did you see the level of football in Asia?

AJ:

Honestly, I didn't play against senior national teams in Europe. The last time I played was at U21 level but I play in a top level in Europe. The level is very high. The physical strength, speed, thinking, performance. If I have to compare it to Asia, in my opinion, Asian football is progressing. From year to year, I watch it, I see it on the field. It's progressing well.

The teams are still improving. There are still differences in the level, in the thinking, in the performance. But year after year, it's clear that the Asian teams, even the African teams, all the national teams are competitive and it was not easy to travel and travel and play those games.

I think Palestine will be much better in the coming matcehs and the games as an experience, a beautiful, motivating and encouraging experience.

FP:

Tell me a little about your role in the election. I think you are playing as an 8 and Mohammed Rashid is the 6. Mohamed Rashid is more of the holder, and your role in the team is to connect the defense and the offense. Is there a big difference between your role in the team and your role in the club in Azerbaijan with Nafchi Bako?

AJ:

Football is not about just the one position anymore. It's an organization that should work according to the coach's idea. And the idea that he delivers during the practice. Depending on how you work it, every week you apply it in the team is not only to connect the defense and attack, but also to create spaces for the second player, to be always there so that the defenders are not there, to know how to connect the defense and attack, as I said.

So, there are many jobs, but they are not applied to me only. I mean, sometimes in the field, I am a right back. But not only as a midfielder. Today, the player has to be able to play in several positions in the pitch. I see the same thing with the team. With Mohammed Rashid, he was number 6 and sometimes the number 8. These numbers exist on the board. But during the match, if I move to be Mohammed’s place, I will be number 6 and he will be number 8. If I was a striker for a moment, I must be in Oday Dabbagh's place.

I need know how to play the ball, I need know how to be in position. That is not only on the responsibility of the players who are in the defense.

FP:

Of course. I want to ask you more about your team in Azerbaijan. This is your second year with Neftchi Baku, there were many changes during the previous perio The team was in a new coach- a legend of the Romanian football, Adrian Moutu, (ex-Chelsea, Juventus, Fiorentina).

I want to know what has changed in the team? What is the philosopgy of Adrian Mutu with the team? I know that even the players have changed, they brought new foreigners into the team.

So my question to you is, can the club compete in the league this season?

AJ:

100%

The competition will be 100% The players are on a high level We played with Besiktas in the final stages of Conference League qualifying. We finished the game 2-1 and we were close to winning and Besiktas is a big team.

The level of the players is excellent. But whomever says the players themselves can apply themselves on the field but without a coach- is wrong.

Adrian Mutu added a lot to this team. The way he deals with the situation and his approach to the game always motivates us to succeed and to win all the titles we can win. Mutu always gets into the game and does not leave any stone unturned he looks at every player and team in their eyes. He added a style that I hadn't seen before. He added a tactics that I haven't done before. He added analysis to the most precise details in the videos. After the match, before the match, we would go into the details of the opposing team and tell us what we had to do, so he added a lot.

So, I wouldn't say that the player is more than the coach but it is 50-50.

FP:

I want to understand the difference in levels. It's your first experience abroad. But if we look at the UEFA coefficient and compare the Azerbaijan League and the Israeli league there is a gap of 13 places. How do you see the difference between the two competitions? Because we are talking about a smaller league as well. So, how do you see the difference between the levels?

AJ:

Honestly, my experience is better for several reasons. First, the infrastructure and the stadium. Second, the fans. And third, of course, the money. In the current round, there are 10 teams, but the ones that have the money are 3 teams, maximum 4. So there will be 4 teams that are very competitive, and everything will be close and expected. And 6 teams that will just bunker on you, and you won't be able to play as you want.

In the [Israeli] league, the competition is bigger, it's not limited to 4 teams. And the fans, as we said, the 14 teams, you can find 9 teams that are not big teams but are well supported and closer to each other in level. So it adds to the competition, we play for the fans, for the excitement. and the passion so it's easier to bring players from abroad to play in a better league like that. You pay them better so the level goes up. If we want to compare the first three team that we have in Azerbaijan let's say the first three teams in the [Israeli] league the difference is not big I think it's the same

If you want to take the teams from lower in the table, there is a difference.

FP:

Okay, Now I want to talk about how you got to the national team. Maybe people don't know much, but you were the first Arab captain of the Israeli U21 team.

In general, I don't like to distinguish between people, that this one is from Gaza, that is from the West Bank, that is from the inside the Green Line, because the national team representes all Palestinians around the world, even people in the diaspora.

The question I want to ask you is that I want to know more about how the decision was made to represent the Palestinian election came about. Usually, the PFA denies or does not talk to players who are in the Israeli Leagues. So, it is very rare to see players who were playing in the Israeli League play for Palestine: Omar Nahfawy with the Olympic team, for example Reebal Dahamshe with the Olympic team and the first team- there are exceptions.

So the rule is not very clear.

In any case, I want to know how did this happen? When did you realize that there is a Palestinian team and you can represent it?

AJ: