Maccabi Tel Aviv FC is happy to announce the appointment of Claudio Braga as Youth Academy Director.
Braga, (46) who spent the majority of his coaching career in Holland and Portugal has been working last season as the Technical Manager at United Arab Emirates side Al Wahda FC.
Braga, who will join Maccabi’s U-19 team at their pre-season training camp in Bulgaria, told the club’s official website: “I am delighted to be joining the biggest and best club in Israel, a club with such a rich history. I Have a very strong ambition and great motivation to continue the vision of the Academy – to help develop our young talents all the way into first team. I can’t wait to begin my new job and I really feel proud to be joining the Maccabi family”.
Barak Itzhaki, Maccabi’s Head of the Football Department, added: “We are delighted to welcome Claudio to Maccabi as our Youth Academy director. Claudio has been responsible for the development of young players at major European academies for the last decade. Maccabi’s Youth Academy aspires to continue producing the next generation of players for the club and Israeli football. We are confident that the experience he gained managing academies and coaching both in Holland and Portugal will benefit the important process of developing players and professional staff at Maccabi’s academy.”
Braga, began his coaching career at the Youth Academies of leading Dutch clubs such as Excelsior (1998-01), Sparta Rotterdam (2001-04), Feyenoord (2004-06), PSV Eindhoven (2010-13) and Utrecht (2013-14).
During the 2009/10 season, Braga, was appointed as Assistant coach at Vitoria Setubal of the Portuguese top flight and after several years in Holland returned to his native country in 2014/15 as the coach of second division side Santa Clara. An appointment as VV Nieuwerkerk’s Academy Director and first team coach took Braga back to Holland in 2015 before he joining Fortuna Sittard two years later and guiding them to promotion to the top Dutch division.
In 2018/19 Braga returned to Portugal once again as the coach of first division side Maritimo before leaving to Holland for the same role at second division side FC Dordrecht. United Arab Emirates became the third country Braga had worked at taking on the role as Technical Manager at Al Wahda FC in 2020.
