Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv will get the Youth Premier League Ligat Ha’Al underway this Saturday at the Toto Ramle Stadium at 11:00 when they host Beitar Jerusalem. Just ahead of the opening whistle, the 19-year old captain, Tomer Altman who recently signed a 5 year contract with the club spoke about the upcoming campaign:

How do you feel about beginning the new season?
“I feel great as it’s always fun to begin again anew. This will be my 3rd season with the U19’s and I’m still excited to start the new campaign. We have a lot of good feelings, a lot of desire and we are hungry to get going in league action and get off to a good start.”

How do you feel about the new squad this season?
“We do have a new team and it’s different than last season’s. I believe that we have a good group of players who are continuing with the team from last year such as Fadi Najar, Or Dasa, Ran Vaturi along with Eylon Almog and Eden Kartsev who are veterans. We have also added some players who were born in 2000 and for them it will be their first season with the Under-19 side. The new players are working hard and they all want to learn as many of them won the Double last season with the U17’s and that says a lot about these guys. I’m sure that this will help us achieve success this season and I feel that we can really go far.”

How do you feel about the first match of the season?
“Of course I’m excited. Even though I’ve been with the team for 3 years, I’m still thrilled to get things going and I believe that the players can’t wait as well. We are opening the season against Beitar Jerusalem on live TV and I don’t think that we could have asked for a more challenging contest to begin the campaign. I’m certain that all of the players are coming into this game motivated and ready to go.”

How does it feel to be the Captain of the Under-19 club?
“It’s a huge honor to be the captain of the club and to be its leader. When you are a captain of a team you are very proud and the fact that I am a captain at a big club like Maccabi Tel Aviv makes me even prouder.”

What are your expectations for this season, both personally and for the club?
“I’ll begin by talking about my expectations for the club. A team like Maccabi Tel Aviv always wants to win and take home titles. So I am not embarrassed to say that the goal is to win titles especially since this is my 3rd year with the team and over the past two seasons unfortunately we have not won anything. On a personal level it’s very important for me to win a title in my last season with the U19 side. For myself, as a midfielder who likes to join the attack I want to score some goals and assist on others, more so than in the past two seasons that I was with the squad. The main goal of course is to be able to join the first team and prove that I can be a legitimate player with them.”

The summer break will end next Saturday for the Club’s Under-19 squad as they will begin the 2017/18 season with a date with the newly promoted Beitar “Oren” Jerusalem. For the second straight campaign Guy Tzarfati will be at the helm of Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv.

On Matchday 6 the Yellow & Blue will play a Derby against Hapoel Tel Aviv while the following week Maccabi “Shachar” will visit Maccabi Haifa for a tough away clash. A trip up to Kiryat Shemona will end the first round of matches.

The main goal of the U19’s and the Club as a whole will be to continue to help promote players to the senior squad. An example of that took place on Matchday 5 of the Toto Cup when Fadi Najar and Eden Kartsev, both Maccabi “Shachar” players made their first team debuts.

Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv Roster

Goalkeepers: Daniel Peretz, Roy Man

Defenders: Amit Mordehayov, Amit Glazer, Alon Shtrozberg, Tomer Machluf, Bar Levi, Fadi Najar, Noam Cohen, Moshe Peleg, Ran Vaturi

Midfielders: Ron Zamir, Yoav Hofmayster, Tamir Glezer, Omer Barami, Prince Thomas, Tomer Altman, Eden Kartzev, Netanel Peretz

Strikers: Neil Goldberg, Muflah Shalata, Yones Gabrin, Sahar Barami, Adir Hardon, Hen Eyal, Or Dasa, Eylon Almog

The final day of the Under-19 Club’s Kiev Training Camp bore fruit as the side played well in both friendlies. In the first match Maccabi “Shachar” defeated Shakhtar Donetsk thanks to goals by Eylon Almog, Or Dasa, Eyal Chen and Tomer Altman. Later in the day the squad drew 2:2 after coming back from a 2:0 deficit on strikes by Eyal Chen and Nadav Nidam.

Head Coach Guy Tzarfati summed up the pair of contests: “I’m happy that we had the opportunity to play against two big European clubs and we gained some international experience while putting in a good performance. We were organized and played at a high level. In the two matches we played 3 different age groups and we gave everyone the chance to play at this level and gain experience. All in all it was a very successful training camp and we are happy to now return to Kiryat Shalom as a team and even stronger.”

The Under-19 side departed for their Ukraine training camp about a week ago and defeated Arsenal Kyiv 4:0. The camp continued with very intensive training sessions with the goal of improving and preparing the club for the 2017/18 season. The last day included two matches against strong European opponents, the Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk youth teams. The young Yellow & Blue’s camp was a success that included solid results as as it ended on a high note.

One of the main goals of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Department is to help players advance to the first team and on Saturday night two youth players did exactly that as they made their first team debuts on Matchday 5 of the Toto Cup. Fadi Najar who has played as a central defender for the Under-19 side entered the contest in the 67th minute and played as a left back while Eden Kartsev played 18 minutes in his natural position of defensive midfielder.

The 19-year old Najar who scored 2 goals in 30 appearances as a central defender last season spoke about his debut: “I was very proud to be able to play with the Maccabi Tel Aviv first team. I feel like I had a good debut and I was excited at first, but I got into the rhythm of the game very quickly. I hope that I will continue to perform well with the Youth club.”

Kartsev who is 17-years old has played for the Under-19 squad for the past 1.5 years making 39 appearances while scoring 8 goals. The young midfielder spoke about his first match: “I’m very happy to have made my debut for the best club in the country. I’ve waited for this for a long time and I have worked very hard to get to this point. I’m very happy that the club trusts me and has given me the stage to prove myself. I hope that I’ll get more opportunities to prove myself in the future. The match itself was fine and I was very excited but after a few minutes on the pitch I felt fine.”

Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv opened up their Kiev Training Camp on the right foot on day three as they defeated local outfit Arsenal Kyiv 4:0. Eulogy Almog scored the Under-19’s first goal in the first half while Prince Thomas, Adir Hardon and Sahar Brami all added markers in the second half.

The Under-17 and Under-16 squads joined the camp yesterday as they will also be playing Arsenal Kyiv, Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk.

Guy Tzarfati, the team’s Head Coach spoke about the match: “It was a great way to begin the training camp and we played a good match. We are continuing to get to know one another and we’re working hard.”

Tomer Altman signed a new 5-year contract this afternoon that will keep the 19-year old midfielder who scored 6 goals in 53 appearances over the last two seasons with Maccabi Tel Aviv until 2022.

The Club’s Performance Director, Patrick van Leeuwen spoke about the signing: “Tomer Altman is a talented midfielder and we are happy that he signed a new 5-year contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv. Now the ball is at Tomer’s feet as he begins his professional career and has the opportunity to impress in order to make the first team.”

Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv has their first test of the young season when they met the first team of HaKoach Ramat Gan in a friendly at Kiryat Shalom. The Yellow & Blue win by a score of 3:1 on goals by Or Dasa, Prince Thomas and Mufleh Shalata. The senior staff of the Youth Department including Performance Director Patrick van Leeuwen was also present at the match.

The Starting XI: Haviv Ohayon, Alon Strosberg, Fadi Najar, Ran Vaturi, Tomer Mahluf, Prince Thomas, Tomer Altman, Omer Brami, Or Dasa, Adir Hardon and Sahar Barami. During the second half the following players also took part: Roie Man, Tamir Glezer, Amit Mordehayev, Mufleh Shalata, Yoav Hopemeister, Riki and Kadira Avis.

Match Summary:
The 38th minute saw the Yellow & Blue take the lead as Or Dasa took a rebound and volleyed the ball home to give the hosts a 1:0 advantage. Four minutes later, Ramat Gan drew even after a nice team effort, however, Prince Thomas helped Maccabi retake the lead after collecting a nice ball from the right side and found the back of the visitor’s goal. Mufleh Shalata increased the Under-19 side’s advantage in the 75th minute as he beat two defenders to give his squad a 3:1 victory.

Head Coach Guy Tzarfati summed up the contest: “This was a friendly which featured many good things, but of course there are plenty of things that need improvement. Two items that stood out today was the club’s determination and method of play. Those are both things that will be emphasized this season. I enjoyed the way we won as well as the attitude of the players and the style of the game itself. Of course, this is just the beginning of the path and there is plenty of work ahead.”

The 2017/18 Youth Ligat Ha’Al Premeir League campaign is right around the corner as the first matches will be played in September. The fixtures have been released as Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv will play Beitar “Oren” Jerusalem on Matchday 1, September 9th. The Derby against Hapoel Tel Aviv will take place on Matchday 6 while the following contest will be away at Maccabi Haifa. The last Matchday of the first round will feature Kiryat Shemona hosting the young Yellow & Blue.

For the 2017/18 Fixtures – CLICK HERE

The Under-19 Club, Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv began training this past Saturday at Kiryat Shalom and next month they will head to their training camp in Kiev. Guy Tzarfati will begin his second season as head coach and will look to keep up the positive momentum to lead the young Yellow & Blue to successful season.

The Club’s Youth Department season has begun and the first team to begin training is the Under-19 squad, Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv. Head Coach Guy Tzarfati conducted the first session along with his staff and next month the club will head to Kiev for an extended training camp in order to continue their preparations for the 2017/18 campaign.

Check out the BRAND NEW Youth Department section on the Official Website. All of the updates, photos, video clips and the latest news about all of the departments can be found RIGHT HERE

The Under-19 squad is composed of both veterans and newcomers that moved up from the Under-17 club that won the Double last season while last month five players from the Youth Club took part in the First Team’s training camp in Austria. Patrick van Leeuwen, Raymond Atteveld and Robin Verheul were also present at the opening training session of the campaign.

Head Coach Guy Tzarfati, who is beginning his second season with the Under-19 led the session and commented: “It’s always a good feeling to get back onto the pitch and I always have the passion to be the first one to arrive at the facility and get to work. We are beginning the year from a good point due to the work that was done last season from an organizational point of view, squad, work plan and the quality of play. I believe that we can continue to improve this season and develop even more players and make the club into a winner. The training session went well and there was a good atmosphere. We will try to keep this up for the whole season.”