On Wednesday, the Club’s Under-16 Team, Maccabi “Eli Fuchs” Tel Aviv advanced to the State Cup Final where they will play Ahi Nazareth after defeating Hapoel Tel Aviv in a penalty shootout 4:2. The score at full time was 1:1.
Eran Sassi’s squad controlled the pace of play and took the lead in the first half. However, despite maintaining possession throughout the second half, the Reds scored on a free kick five minutes until the end of regulation time to draw even.
The contest went to a penalty shootout after a goalless extra-time where Maccabi scored all 4 of their spot kicks while Hapoel missed once and had a kick saved by the Yellow & Blue keeper as Sassi’s charges took a 4:2 win.
The head coach Eran Sassi summed up the victory: “Our first half was a bit disorganized and we played from side to side. We didn’t have the control we would have liked. However, we were still dangerous and had numerous chances as we took a 1:0 lead at the break. Our goal in the second half was to control the pace of play with quality opportunities and we had a better half. But the players began to tire and we made a number of substitutes where we saw how well prepared they were after coming off of the bench. A few minutes before the end of the match we gave up a goal and both sides were couldn’t score in the extratime period. Thankfully we won the penalty shootout and I’m the happiest person in the world for the players as they deserved this win.”
