Category: A week ago

This Week in History: A Look back at the 1970 5:0 Derby

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For many fans, the 5:0 Derby win in the first round of Ligat Ha’Al action was the best game they had ever witnessed. However, a look back in history, 47 years ago to be precise will take us to another great moment. On January 24, 1970, the Yellow & Blue defeated Hapoel Tel Aviv 5:0 which was the Club’s biggest Derby win to date. “This Week in History” takes us back to this special encounter at Bloomfield Stadium.

Right before the opening whistle one could feel that something was in the air. The weather conditions weren’t ideal for football as the rains came down on a wintery January day turning the Bloomfield pitch into a soggy field that would make things a bit more difficult for both sides.

During the day fans talked about the contest being to close to call as both sides were on equal footing. On the morning after the match, Emanuel Galili of the Chadashot HaSport newspaper wrote: “Since both clubs were battling it out at the top of the table, everyone expected an even fight with one side taking the win by a goal. However, when reality set in both sets of fans were surprised. No one thought that there would be such superiority by one club and yet by such a score in a match that should have been so much closer.”

Despite the bad weather, over 21K fans filled the stands at Bloomfield Stadium. With the pitch muddy as ever, legendary coach Dubir Schweitzer z”l realized that there would be no tiki-taka and prepared his players for the conditions that lay ahead. “They adapted to the pitch and didn’t dribble very much, sending long ball after long ball from side to side allowing the ball to do most of the work,” wrote Galili in his Derby match report.

The big hero was of course Giora Spiegel who also featured for the Israel National Team at the World Cup in that same year, as he delighted the crowd with a hat trick. Spiegel put home his first goal in the 7th minute while he doubled the score twenty minutes later via a free kick. But not only did he score, he also assisted on Rachamim Talbi’s strike in the 47th minute for the third goal and Nissim Bachar’s marker in the 54th minute. But the cherry on top was Spiegel’s third goal thanks to a Talbi helper in the 61st minute as the 5:0 scoreline held up until the end of the match as the greatest Derby win. Of course, that was until September 25, 2016 when Nosa Igiebor, along with braces from Tal Ben Chaim and Vidar Kjartansson equaled the feat.

Galili finished his piece by stating: “Thousands of fans besieged the dressing room for up to an hour following the game, cheering the Maccabi players on for one of the best and most exciting matches that had been seen in such a long time.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Starting XI: Micki Michaeli, Meir Nimni, Tzvika Rosen, Menchem “Miko” Belo, Giora Spiegel, Avraham Shatemnerg, Ezra Ozeri, Nissim Bachar, Dror Bar Nur, Rachamim Talbi, David Karako. Substitutes: Shalom Shikva. Coach: David (Dubir) Schweitzer.

The Yellow Star, Football and Maccabi: The Legend of Yossef Merimovitch

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Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day is when the Jewish People around the world bow their heads to remember those who perished throughout Europe during the early 1940’s. The relationship between the Maccabi Association and Maccabi Tel Aviv is one that will be forever intertwined due to the colors of the club’s jersey.

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Yossef Merimovitch Z”TL of Blessed Memory, is personally responsible for the deep ties Maccabi has with the Holocaust. In 1943, Merimovitch, who at the time was one of the stars in Israel, heard about the atrocities that were going on and could not remain indifferent. The striker, who had been scoring goals at a tremendous clip for the side that played in Blue-and-White understood that the Jews of Europe were forced to wear a Yellow Star in order to differentiate them from the others. He asked that the club add yellow to their uniform in order to stand in unity with their brothers and sisters who were being persecuted.

The request didn’t fall on deaf ears and from that day on, yellow has been part of Maccabi and the connection between the club and the Holocaust will always remain as one and the same. This year, Yom HaShoah falls on the exact date that Merimovitch passed away, just five years ago.

Merimovitch began his career as a footballer with Maccabi “Michael”, and immediately impressed the coaches giving him his first start in a Maccabi Tel Aviv kit.

Football was always an important part of the Merimovitch household as his older bother Menachem (Mendele) starred for Maccabi Tel Aviv as well. Menachem represented Israel many times across the ocean and eventually settled in Australia with two other National Team players. Mendele passed away while fighting in the Australian Army at the beginning of World War II.

While his brother was in Australia, Yossele became one of the stars of Israeli football. As a player, Merimovitch won six Championships and six State Cups, a record that still stands. Following his playing career, Merimovitch had plenty of success as a coach winning a title and a State Cup over three different terms with the club. He also led the Israel National Team on two occasions while taking home the Asian Cup once.

Championship Goal: Maccabi downs Beit Shean 1-0, Shukanov scores in the 95th minute

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April 1995. Matchday 26 of the Leumit League as Maccabi Tel Aviv faced Hapoel Beit Shean on a Saturday afternoon. Elisha Levy’s club was in trouble and looked to be heading for relegation but still had one goal in mind as they visited the center of country-to return home with a point. On the other side of the pitch, Avram Grant’s Yellow-and-Blue were in search of three points to maintain their position atop of the league table. Avi Nimni had been sent off the prior week in a 2:1 win over Hapoel Haifa and would be unavailable for Grant’s side.

Maccabi looked dangerous from the outset and Alon Brumer hit the bar after a poor goal kick by keeper Meir Cohen. The Beit Shean shot stopper then hurt his shoulder and needed to be replaced in the first half by youngster Maman. The Yellow-and-Blue looked to pounce on the opportunity and poured on the pressure as Noam Shoham’s scintillating effort met the post as the two sides ended the first half goalless.

Maccabi continued to press forward in the second half but Maman stood his ground and kept his clean sheet intact. Shukanov had a marvelous opportunity to score at the beginning of the half after taking a brilliant cross by Ron Nachman. However, Maman was in the right place at the right time to take away the ball from the Yellow-and-Blue midfielder.

Eli Drikes also couldn’t find the back of the Beit Shean goal as he turned in the box and sliced the ball at the keeper who blocked the shot with his fingertips.

The match referee, Danny Koren saw how the Beit Shean players had been killing time and added 6 minutes which was just enough for Maccabi to find the winner. In the 95th minute, Yuri Shukanov took the ball at midfield, advanced 20 meters and unleashed a winner shot right towards the comer of the goal as Maman couldn’t find a way to stop the ball from going in. Without a doubt the victory was one of the most important wins for Maccabi Tel Aviv that season and proved to be one of the dramatic matches of the campaign.

Haim Levine- The Legendary Yellow-and-Blue Keeper

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The year  was 1965. Two Tel Aviv sides met head-to-head in the Israel State Cup Final with Maccabi coming into the match as the defending Cup holders. The Yellow-and-Blue got onto the scoreboard first as Moshe Asis scored in the 25th minute, however the Oranges drew even before the break.חיים לוין (2)

The final then headed into extra time and Rafi Baranes gave Maccabi the lead. There were plenty of players who graced the pitch in that final but one player was head and shoulders above everyone else. Haim Levine, the Maccabi keeper who put on a magnificent performance that led to the club hoisting the Cup for the second straight year.

Haim  Levine was born 79 years ago today, March 3, 1937 and his name became synonymous with the all time great keepers as he collected two Championships and four State Cups. Due to his uncanny abilities and the fact that he wore a dark colored uniform he became to be known as the “Black Panther”. Levine played for Maccabi Tel Aviv between 1960-1969 in what was the best era of his goalkeeping career.

In addition to playing for Maccabi, the shot stopper also donned the keepers shirt for Hapoel Petach Tikva, Hapoel Kfar Saba, Hapoel Hadera, Maccabi Netanya, Maccabi Haifa, Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Jerusalem. Levine made his Israel National Team debut in a 5:0 loss to the Brazil National Team and took part in all of the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games. In total he played in 22 Israel National Team matches.

Ben Harush: “We have one of the fastest defenses”

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Omri Ben Harush, the Yellow-and-Blue left back is preparing for the upcoming Israel State Cup quarter final first leg match against Hapoel Kfar Saba that will take place tomorrow, Wednesday night away at Levita Stadium, 21:00. Ben Harush discussed the club’s defense, the team’s objectives, his own game and Sunday night’s Derby:

בוס ובן הרוש במסע”ת לקראת המפגש מול הפועל כפ”ס

“What you see on the pitch is different than what we see. We know that sometimes players waste time and it’s part of the game. But the time is valuable. There was an issue with one of their players that had gone down on the pitch and we didn’t want to give them back the ball. We want to score and win.”

On his own style of play:

“When I have a chance to attack I can, especially when there is a player like winger Tal Ben Chaim who can help out on one on ones. He’s one of the best in the league.”

Talk that the defense is slow:

“We have one of the fastest defense’s in the league. Between me, Tibi and Eli, I don’t believe that we are slow. I’ll play as long as the coach let’s me.”

The league schedule:

“I don’t think that it bothers us. Sometimes we play before Beer Sheva and sometimes afterwards. We are concentrating on ourselves. Maybe this year we may have had less chances but as the coach said we have been facing teams that are trying to really defend against us and it makes it more difficult for us to get chances. We have been a dominant team and we have to take advantage of our opportunities.”

About  the Hapoel Kfar Saba match:

“We come into every game wanting to control the ball for large portions of the match. We move it from side to side with the objective of going forward towards the opposition’s goal.”

Kubica and Kosulapov paint the town Yellow-and-Blue

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The 1999/00 season is not one that the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans would call unforgettable. The club muddled around mid table and Avram Grant couldn’t get much out of his side who also participated in the early stages of the UEFA Cup after finishing in second place the prior year.

Hapoel came into the second Derby of the season as the clear cut favorites because of their superior side and table position. Danny Koren kicked off the match at Ramat Gam Stadium as over 22,000 fans, the majority of which were Yellow-and-Blue filled the stands.

But right from the outset Maccabi had the upper hand and in the 17th minute, legendary striker Andrzej Kubica set off the beginning of the Ramat Gan celebration. Ben Luz led the Yellow-and-Blue attack and started to run with the ball after receiving a nice pass by Kubica with his back to the goal at midfield. The young midfielder continued downfield with Igal Antebi and another Red defender in hot pursuit. He stopped and saw Kubica streaking into the box and sent the striker a gorgeous pass. Kubica fooled keeper Shavit Elimelech and sent the ball right into the middle of the goal to make it 1:0 in favor of Maccabi.

The celebrations continued at Ramat Gan Stadium just 15 minutes later. David Revivo sent a left side corner kick into the box while Omri Afek was attempting to defend Alexei Kosulapov. The Russian footballer who was wearing the captain’s armband was able to break free from Afek, jumped into the air and headed the ball past a helpless Elimelech. 2:0 for Maccabi in the 32nd minute as the match would end with the same result.

16 years later at 20:55, the two sides will hit the pitch yet again, perhaps with different players but still with the magic in the air that is the Tel Aviv Derby.

This Date in History: Treble Beginnings

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Maccabi Tel Aviv ended the calendar  year in style and began their Treble run when they defeated Maccabi Haifa at the Netanya Stadium 2:1 to win the Toto Cup. The victory marked the first time since 2008/09 that the Yellow-and-Blue won the trophy and the fifth time in franchise history that they picked up this piece of hardware.

Head Coach Pako Ayestaran’s side got on the scoreboard first as Haifa’s Matan Ohayon accidentally headed the ball into his own goal in the 41st minute. Unfortunately, the Yellow-and-Blue would have a miscue of their own early on in the second half when defender Eitan Tibi slipped the ball by keeper Barak Levy to even up the score, 1:1.

However, Maccabi would find a way to bring the trophy back home in the 84th minute when Dekel Keinan pushed Barak Badash in the box, good for a Mitrovic penalty. The veteran Serbian midfielder coolly stepped up to the spot and put the ball into the back of the goal to help begin the Treble Season and send the crowd into ecstasy.