Maccabi Tel Aviv’s youth academy will host a three-day international youth tournament next week for the third year in a row after two very successful previous events.

England’s Crystal Palace, S.B.V. Excelsior of Rotterdam, The Netherlands and Grasshoppers Zurich from Switzerland will participate alongside the hosts, Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Beersheba. The event will take place at Maccabi Tel Aviv’s PenguinPickUp training facility at Kiryat Shalom between January 23-25.

Here is a brief look at S.B.V. Excelsior of Rotterdam, who like Crystal Palace, are returning for the second year in a row. The club have ended the first half of their current youth campaign in seventh place in the Eerste Divisie U19. Last season they had success in the Dutch Cup, getting past fellow-Rotterdam outfit Feyenoord, and Twente before falling to Ajax Amsterdam in the semi-finals.

These are some of the most notable players to have turned out for Excelsior:

Robin van Persie: The striker played for Excelsior’s youth side before moving to Feyenoord. He is the top scorer for the Netherlands national team. Born in Rotterdam, Van Persie joined Excelsior when he was five but left for Feyenoord’s youth academy when he was 16. He made his full team debut at the Rotterdam outfit because of an injury crisis at the club and was quickly promoted into the first team. He made his debut for the club at 17, the first of 15 total starts during the 2001–02 season. After starting for Feyenoord in UEFA Cup final, he received the KNVB Best Young Talent award. After five years at Feyenoord, in 2004 Van Persie moved to Arsenal where he was a prolific striker, scoring  132 goals in 278 Premier League appearances. He moved to Manchester United in 2012 where he made 105 appearances and scored 58 goals. After leaving England in 2015, he moved to Turkey and joined Fenerbahce before making the final stop of his career back at Feyenoord in 2018 where he retired in last May.

Mounir El Hamdaoui: The Rotterdam-born striker joined the Excelsior youth academy in 2001 and played together with his youth friends Robin van Persie and Saïd Boutahar. In the 2001–02 season, he made debut for the Rotterdam side under manager Adrie Koster, scoring two goals in six appearances. El Hamdaoui played a total of 74 league matches for Excelsior, scoring 32 goals. He has gone on to play at Derby County, Willem II, AZ Alkmaar, Ajax Amsterdam, Fiorentina and Malaga.

As an under-21 he played for the Netherlands but switched allegiances and played for Morocco 16 times, scoring three goals. He is currently seeing out his playing career in Qatar.

Luigi Bruins: Attacking midfielder Bruins started playing at age six. He was initially turned down by Feyenoord and joined Excelsior instead. Bruins went through the complete Excelsior youth academy, until he made his professional debut in 2005. He played for Feyenoord, Red Bull Salzburg and Nice before returning to his boyhood club. He played 294 matches and scored 33 goals during his adult career and is currently still active as a player as well as taking on coaching duties of Excelsior’s  under-13s.

Maccabi Tel Aviv “Shahar” 2, Hapoel Ramat Gan 0: The under-19 side dominated throughout in Saturday’s league clash against Hapoel Ramat Gan but only secured their 2-0 victory thanks to very late goals scored by substitute Shaked Navon who struck in the 89^th and 91^st minutes.

Maccabi have now won nine of their 17 league outings this season and have amassed 34 points to put them in second place in the standings but they have played one more game than leaders Maccabi Haifa, who are on 39 points and Hapoel Tel Aviv in third, who are on 31 points.

Maccabi Tel Aviv “Eli Fuchs” 7, Maccabi Ahi Nazareth 1: U16 were mighty impressive against Nazareth in the 18th round of the league and remain in second place in the standings three points off the pace. Maccabi’s goals were scored by Oscar Gloch who netted a hat trick, Bar Lin with two and Lior Aloni and Orel Baya.

Maccabi Tel Aviv “Eldad” 4, Holon Yirmiyahu FC 1: More success for U15 in the 14th league round keeps them in fourth place in their division. Goals were scored by Agam Hanoun with two, and Osher Bruchim and Ron Rabinovich.

U17 did not play this weekend because the national team was in action.

Hapoel Rishon Lezion – MTA U14 South 1:0

Hapoel Tel Aviv – MTA U14 North 1:2

Ashdod FC – MTA U13 South 1:2

Hapoel Raanana – MTA U13 North 1:5

MTA U12 South – Beitar Maale Adomim 19:3

Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv – MTA U12 North 0:7

Hapoel Tel Aviv – MTA U11 South 3:10

MTA U11 North – Ness Tziona 11:1

 

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s under-19 side were in complete command of their youth league clash with Hapoel Ramat Gan at their Ness Ziona home base on Saturday but only found the net with two very late goals to set them back to winning ways.

Maccabi had more than a handful of chances in the first half, as the dangerous Parfait Guiagon looked particularly potent but none of his four attempts managed to find the target. At the other end, Ramat Gan had a solitary attempt.

The second half was a similar affair, as Maccabi piled on the pressure to set up a similar number of chances, but the breakthrough came only in the 89th minute when Shaked Navon, who came on as substitute six minutes earlier, tapped in for 1-0 after an excellent pass from Or Roizman.

Guiagon provided Navon with his second goal seconds after the game entered injury time and he made no mistake once more.

Maccabi have now won nine of their 17 league outings this season and have amassed 34 points to put them in second place in the standings but they have played one more game than leaders Maccabi Haifa, who are on 39 points and Hapoel Tel Aviv in third, who are on 31 points.

Lineup: Tomer Alon, Guy Itzhaki, Mikel Mor, Itay Ben Hemo, Rotem Yatzkar, Afek Sapir Navot (Niv Berkovitz, 75), Shai Balahssen (Or Roizman, 45), Asaf Hershko (Nadav Nidam 61), Tal Torgeman (Omri Ram, 45), Parfait Guiagon, Ronen Hanchis (Shaked Navon, 83)

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s youth academy will host a three-day international youth tournament next week for the third year in a row after two very successful previous events.

England’s Crystal Palace, Excelsior Rotterdam of the Netherlands and Grasshoppers Zurich from Switzerland will participate alongside the hosts, Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Beersheba. The event will take place at Maccabi Tel Aviv’s PenguinPickUp training facility at Kiryat Shalom between January 23-25.

Here is a brief look at England’s Crystal Palace, who are returning for the second year in a row.

The club play in the English Under-18 Professional Development League Group B (southern section) and after 16 matches, were in fifth place in the 10-team division with 25 points from 16 matches, including seven wins, four draws and five defeats.

Midfielder Brandon Pierrick is one to watch. He became the club’s second-youngest Premier League debutant when he came on to help his side defeat Norwich City on Jan. 1. Pierrick has been with the club for just under a decade and has progressed through the ranks in the Crystal Palace Academy from the Under-9s team to the Under-23s.

The Premier League club’s Academy has an esteemed reputation for producing outstanding footballers, including Wilfried Zaha who has played 334 times for his boyhood club, scoring 53 goals, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka (49 Premier League appearances).

Other Academy graduates who have starred in the Premier League include Victor Moses (220 Premier League appearances), Nathaniel Clyne (185 Premier League appearances), Ben Watson (145 Premier League appearances), Wayne Routledge (297 Premier League appearances), and Jonny Williams (12 Premier League appearances; an integral part of the club’s promotion to the Premier League in 2013).

The current England manager Gareth Southgate is also a Palace Academy graduate.

Hapoel Beersheba 1, Maccabi Tel Aviv “Shahar” 1: Maccabi Tel Aviv “Shahar”, the club’s under-19 outfit held most of the possession in their away clash against Hapoel Beersheba on Saturday but were unable to convert their advantage into victory and ended their league clash in a 1-1 draw.

Maccabi, placed third in their division, scored in the 15th minute when Tal Torgeman chipped the Beersheba keeper after receiving an excellent through ball from Shai Balhassen. But the lead lasted until seconds before halftime when Maccabi goalkeeper Ben Musayof was adjudged to have fouled a Beersheba player in the area and the hosts converted the resulting penalty taken by Netanel Askias.

Hapoel Tel Aviv 2, Maccabi Tel Aviv “Oded” 1: U17 could not continue their good away win over Beitar Jerusalem and were knocked out of the State Cup by city arch-rivals Hapoel in the third round. Hapoel took the lead in the ninth minute, Elad Kaplan equalised in the 23rd but Hapoel scored the winner in the 53rd minute to advance to the fourth round.

Maccabi Amishav Petah Tikva 0, Maccabi Tel Aviv “Eli Fuchs” 8: U16 were overwhelming winners with Lior Aloni, Oscar Gloch, and Matan Jerozolimski each scoring two goals and Ido Mizrahi and Natan Buzaglo adding one apiece.

Hapoel Raanana 0, Maccabi Tel Aviv “Eldad” 11: U15 maintained their positive momentum from the league with a whopping win. Osher Bruchim scored four goals, Nikita Alexienko scored twice and Maor Ben Nun, Ron Rabinovich, Agam Hanoun, Omer Dinar and Liad Barda added the others.

Maccabi Tel Aviv “Shahar”, the club’s under-19 outfit held most of the possession in their away clash against Hapoel Beersheba on Saturday but were unable to convert their advantage into victory and ended their league clash in a 1-1 draw.

Maccabi, placed third in their division, scored in the 15th minute when Tal Torgeman chipped the Beersheba keeper after receiving an excellent through ball from Shai Balhassen.

But the lead lasted until seconds before halftime when Maccabi goalkeeper Ben Musayof was adjudged to have fouled a Beersheba player in the area and the hosts converted the resulting penalty taken by Netanel Askias.

Maccabi’s players had almost all the chances to score in the second half but were unable to convert at least a handful of decent chances.

Maccabi’s lineup: Ben Musayof, Guy Itzhaki, Mikel Mor, Itay Ben Hemo, Rotem Yatzkar, Nov Berkovitz, (Afek Sapir Navot, 61), Shai Balhassen (Or Roizman, 82), Asaf Hershko (Nadav Nidam, 85), Tal Torgeman (Shaked Navon, 72), Parfait Guiagon, Ronen Hanchis.

Hapoel Beersheba v. Maccabi Tel Aviv “Shahar”, Wassermill Stadium, Saturday, noon: The under-19s, who are third in the standings open the second phase of the league with an away fixture against Hapoel Beersheba, who are in tenth place. The two sides ended their previous meeting this season in a 2-2 draw.

Hapoel Tel Aviv v. Maccabi Tel Aviv “Oded”, Wolfson, Saturday, 10:45: U17 are buoyant after their away win over Beitar Jerusalem in the league last week. They are away again this week in the State Cup third round against Hapoel Tel Aviv. Maccabi also won the last meeting between the two clubs, 4-0 at home.

Maccabi Amishav Petah Tikva v. Maccabi Tel Aviv “Eli Fuchs”, Petah Tikva Sirkin Sportek, Saturday, 18:40: U16 will be looking to advance after their previous victory, 3-1 over Hapoel Kfar Sava.

Hapoel Raanana v. Hapoel Tel Aviv “Eldad”, Raanana Park, Friday 13:45: U15 will look to add the scalp of Raanana to their previous two successes in the State Cup in the shape of Hapoel Nahalat Yehuda and Hapoel Nof Hagalil.

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s youth academy will host an international youth tournament later this month for the third year in a row after two very successful previous events.

England’s Crystal Palace, Excelsior Rotterdam of the Netherlands and Grasshoppers Zurich from Switzerland will participate alongside the hosts, Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Beersheba in the event that will take place at Maccabi Tel Aviv’s PenguinPickUp training facility at Kiryat Shalom between January 23-25.

Maccabi have won the two previous editions of the tournament and last year overcame Crystal Palace, Excelsior Rotterdam, Maccabi Haifa, Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Beersheba.

The two international teams who competed last year are coming back for the second time and their Swiss counterparts will make their debut, giving the foreigners an equal representation in the event.

The event will be played as a single round robin group of six teams with each game played over an hour, two 30 minute halves. The team that tops the table will be crowned winners.

Tournament timetable

Thursday, Jan. 23
13.30 Opening ceremony
14.15 Maccabi Tel Aviv v. Beitar Jerusalem (main pitch)
14.15 Hapoel Beersheba v. Excelsior Rotterdam (synthetic pitch)
15.30 Crystal Palace v. Grasshoppers Zurich (main pitch)

Friday, Jan. 24
11.00 Maccabi Tel Aviv v. Hapoel Beersheba (main pitch)
11.00 Beitar Jerusalem v. Grasshoppers Zurich (synthetic pitch)
12.15 Excelsior Rotterdam v. Crystal Palace (main pitch)
13.30 Maccabi Tel Aviv v. Grasshoppers Zurich (main pitch)
14.45 Excelsior Rotterdam v. Beitar Jerusalem (main pitch)
14.45 Crystal Palace v. Hapoel Beersheba (synthetic pitch)

Saturday, Jan. 25
10.00 Maccabi Tel Aviv v. Crystal Palace (main pitch)
10.00 Grasshoppers Zurich v. Excelsior Rotterdam (synthetic pitch)
11.15 Hapoel Beersheba v. Beitar Jerusalem (main pitch)
12.30 Maccabi Tel Aviv v. Excelsior Rotterdam (main pitch)
13.45 Grasshoppers Zurich v. Hapoel Beersheba (main pitch)
13.45 Crystal Palace v. Beitar Jerusalem (synthetic pitch)
15.00 Closing ceremony

  

Maccabi Tel Aviv “Shahar”, the club’s under-19 side, overcame Beitar Tubruk in wintry conditions in Netanya on Saturday and registered a 1-0 victory in the 15th round of the league that ended the first phase. The winner was scored by Ronen Hanchis, who headed home in the 18th minute from an excellent pass by Shai Balahssen.

U17 beat hosts Beitar Jerusalem 2-0 at Bayit Vagan and the result has seen them climb to second place in the standings after 14 rounds of matches with the gap from the top spot now down to two points. Ariel Belson and Dor Turgeman scored for Maccabi in the first half.

Hapoel Tel Aviv emerged as 2-1 winners over U16 in the Derby clash at Hapoel’s Wolfson training ground in the 16th round of action. Ofek Sasson put Maccabi ahead, but Hapoel came back with two of their own to win.

U15 returned from Kiryat Gat with a 5-0 victory in the 13th round of action in their division. It was a second big margin away victory for Maccabi’s boys that has them fourth in their division. Osher Bruchim scored a hat trick and Agam Hanoun got the other two goals.

Maccabi Tel Aviv “Shahar”, the club’s under-19 side, overcame Beitar Tubruk in wintry conditions in Netanya on Saturday and registered a 1-0 victory in the 15th round of the league that ended the first phase.

The winner was scored by Ronen Hanchis, who headed home in the 18th minute from an excellent pass by Shai Balahssen.

Despite the difficult conditions, both sides had several chances to score throughout the match and most were in favour of Maccabi, particularly in the second half.

Maccabi’s lineup: Ben Mousayof, Guy Mizrahi, Mikel Mor, Itay Ben Hemo, Rotem Yatzkar, (Omer Itzhaki, 80), Afek Sapir Navot, Shai Balahssen, (Yalli Lazar, 77), Asaf Hershko, (Niv Berkovitz, 38), Tal Torgeman, (Or Roizman, 62), Parfait Guiagon, Ronen Hanchis (Shaked Navon, 90)