Ofir spies a chance for Israel
BY ROSS PILCHER
OFIR MARCIANO will be Israel’s spy in the camp this week as they prepare to take on Scotland.
The Hibs keeper travelled to Glasgow after Sunday’s 1-0 home loss to Aberdeen to meet the arriving Israeli squad ahead of Friday night’s UEFA Nations League opener at Hampden.
Marciano hopes the knowledge he’s gleaned after four years in Scotland can help Willi Ruttensteiner plot Scotland’s downfall.
The Easter Road No.1, set to start at Hampden, said: “I hope they will count on my intelligence!
“It’s good to have someone who plays in this league and knows the small bit of the game.
“Everything I can give to help our staff to prepare for the game I will give.
“We played Scotland twice last year so we know we will face a tough, physical opponent.
“There is probably a different style of playing between the teams. But in football you win matches with your heart, how you perform out there and how you use the momentum in the game to win.”
GUTTED Hibs star Alex Gogic has opened up on the Covid-19 scare that not only wrecked his international dream but also forced him to lock himself away from his own family.
The tough-tackling midfielder was on top of the world when he was officially named in the Cyprus squad for the first time on Friday.
By the end of the day, however, it was as if his whole world had collapsed around him, when he was informed he had tested positive for coronavirus.
It left the Gogic household in a state of fear and forced him to lock himself away from his two-year-old son and fiancee, before his result came back as a false positive.
Gogic said: “I got the official call-up for Cyprus on Friday night and later that night my test came back positive for some signs of Covid-19. It was a real shock as I had no symptoms and I felt great.
“My fiancee Chloe was really panicking and scared when she heard the news. She was worried about me and the family because my little boy Milan is only two and I had been playing with him.
“It is a deadly virus and everyone has seen the impact it has had on the world. She was worried and I had to try to keep her calm via FaceTime in the other room, as I was isolating in another room.
“Milan was also banging on the door and trying to get in to play with me and I was shouting, ‘I am not here’.
“It was a shame because he didn’t understand what was going on. I was in the room and I felt sick so I can only imagine if you had to self-isolate in a room for 14 days.”
The 26-year-old admitted his world was turned upside down and left him fearing the worst.
An emotional Gogic said: “Everything was going round in my head, where could I have picked it up, how could it