JERUSALEM, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Maccabi Bnei Reineh, a hardly-known football team from a small Arab village in northern Israel, on Friday became the sensation of Israeli football after winning promotion to the Premier League.
The team, which represents the northern village of Reineh near the city of Nazareth in the Galilee region, achieved an away 2-0 win over Hapoel Umm al-Fahm in the closing round of the second division, and finished in first place.
The village has only about 19,000 residents, most of them Muslims and the rest Christians, while the team itself unites Muslim, Jewish and Christian players.
In 2017, Reineh was playing in the fifth league, the lowest-level league in Israel, and within five years it had climbed to the top league.
The success came mainly thanks to the high financial investments by club owner Said Basul, former team player who co-owns a large construction company.
In the absence of a proper stadium in the village, the team hosted its matches in the nearby cities of Nazareth and Nof HaGalil.
Reineh thus became the fourth ever Arab club to reach the top league in Israel, with one of them, Bnei Sakhnin, currently playing in the Premier League.
"Congratulations to the whole village and to the entire Arab sector in Israel, we are on the map," said Reineh council head Jamil Basul.
"There is nothing sweeter than the joy of the fans. I thank my mother's prayers that had a part in the achievement," he added.
"We have been humble all season, and what we have done is historic and respectable," added team head coach Adham Hadia. "Being another Arab representative in the Premier League is worth a lot." ■
