Two members of the Maccabi Youth Division were awarded scholarships at a Tel Aviv municipality ceremony

Last Sunday a special ceremony was held at Hadar Yosef in north Tel Aviv as part of a conference of the Tel Aviv Sports Associations, during which scholarships were awarded for outstanding athletes and trainers in Tel Aviv and Jaffa. Maccabi Tel Aviv Under-19 international midfielder Dan Glazer and MTA Hadar Yosef football director and former U14 and 13 coach Arik Levi were both among those awarded such a scholarship by the Tel Aviv municipality.

Glazer, who starting this season will be the Under-19 team captain, won his scholarship in the category of outstanding and most promising young athlete. Last season he helped his side to finish second in the national U19 Premier League after an exceptional second half of a season in which he made 30 appearances, most of them as part of the first eleven.  

Arik Levi last season led the Maccabi Under-14 Team North to a second-place league finish, losing out on the championship on goal difference alone. Levi, who came to Maccabi in 2011, has coached both the Under-14 and 13 North Teams but will this year focus on his new position as football director of the Youth Division teams that train at Maccabi Tel Aviv's Hadar Yosef facility.

photographs courtesy of the Tel Aviv municipality 

For the third year running, the Maccabi Youth Division held the goalkeeping tournament in honour of Avraham Bendori

Today the recently refurbished artificial pitch at the Kiryat Shalom training ground played host to thirty-two goalkeepers from four of the leading youth academies in Israel. The young goalkeepers participated in a special tournament in honour of former Maccabi Tel Aviv and Israel goalkeeper of the successful 1950's, Avraham Bendori. As was the case last year, eight U15 to 19 goalkeepers from Bnei Yehuda, Beitar Jerusalem and Beitar Tubruk joined their Maccabi Tel Aviv counterparts in the tournament initiated and organised by Maccabi's Youth Division head goalkeeping coach Chen Abdu together with his assistants Guy Nahshon and  Eitan Chamiel. Maccabi senior squad goalkeeping coach Alexander "Shura" Uvarov was also on hand to watch the future goalkeepers perform, along with other great goalkeepers of the past: Haim Levine, one of Maccabi's greatest goalkeepers of the 1960's; Moshe Marcus, who came up through the Maccabi academy and booked 250 appearances for the team; and Ya'akov Asayag, a veteran goalkeeper at Bnei Yehuda. Uvarov and Asayag also gave a lecture to the young keepers about the importance of their role in the team squad and shared with the youngsters some handy tips for the future.

An easy derby win for Maccabi's U19s leaves them the only team in the U19 Premier League with a perfect record

After the club's Under-17s breezed past their derby opponents 0-3 in the opening match, Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-19s did them one better by defeating Hapoel Tel Aviv 0-4 on a very special evening at Bloomfield Stadium. After having won their first three matches, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" were looking to extend this early season run of form to four consecutive victories in the national U19 Premier League, and what better way to do so than against their municipal archrivals at the senior team venue, under the watchful eye of senior team head coach Pako Ayesteran.

Head coach Ziv Arie's lads dominated the match from kick-off and with twelve minutes gone striker Raz Yitzhak narrowly missed with a header off a long ball from midfielder Matan Hozez. Six minutes later midfielder Eliel Peretz turned on a ball in the area but saw his effort pushed away by a leaping Hapoel keeper Omer Hanin. On 26 minutes the Maccabi pressure finally paid dividends when a double pass between Peretz and striker Yonatan Cohen set up the latter on the edge of the area to strike neatly past Hanin for his third goal of the season. Just before the half Peretz would have a second go on his own but again Hanin made the save, this time at full stretch.

Five minutes after the restart, Cohen completed his second brace in as many matches. It began when midfielder Sohil Armeli dispossessed a Hapoel defender to the right of goal and passed back to Dan Glazer. The team captain then passed on to Cohen at the edge of the area and his shot slammed in off the post.  Minutes later Glazer himself came close to scoring but Maccabi's third came courtesy of a brilliant strike by substitute striker Stav Ben Aharon, who penetrated to within striking distance unmarked and let fly with an unstoppable effort. "Shachar"'s fourth came fifteen minutes from time when Armeli scored his fourth goal in as many matches, heading in off a looped pass back into the area by striker Mavis Chibote.

This 0-4 victory leaves Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" the only club in the national U19 Premier League with four wins in four matches and hands them the top spot in the table with a goal difference of 15 goals scored to only one conceded. In matchday 5 on October 18^th "Shachar" will host Ashdod FC at the Kiryat Shalom training ground.

 

As in the rest of life, football at the Maccabi Youth Division is now also being guided by the "Ten Commandments"

For Maccabi Tel Aviv's U19s to U15s, a new project is getting underway at team games and practices. The project is called the "Ten Commandments" and was conceived by the club's sports psychologist Noam Eyal together with Youth Division's football director Nir Levin. It is designed to improve the players' functioning in "real time" on the pitch. The "Ten Commandments" are in fact codes agreed upon by coaches and players alike designed to make it easier for the players to deal with different kinds of situations during matches. Mr Eyal provided a detailed explanation to each team about the significance of the "Ten Commandments" and each player received a card with all the "commandments" written on it. Each "commandment" consists of a number, a word printed in bold type and a short explanation of the action the player is required to take.The players carry these cards with them at all times  and learn all the" commandments", so that if a number is called out during a match each player will know exactly what to do.

Mr Eyal explained the significance of the project: "We've taken it upon ourselves to teach the lads these words in a very precise form which are designed to trigger the most appropriate action at any given moment they might need to help themselves out. From this point on, every coach can signal to any player what his thoughts should be at any given moment during a match. At any distance and under all circumstances of the game the players will be trained to react quickly and appropriately to the coach's instructions. Such communication will raise the level of training and play during matches in real time".  

   

 

 

Maccabi's Under-19s start training ahead of the 2012/13 season

Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar", champions of the national U19 Premier League of the last two seasons, today began their preparations for the upcoming league season with a practice attended not only by last year's title-winning squad but also by new faces from the club's Under-17s. It was only six weeks ago that "Shachar" rounded off a dominant season by lifting their second consecutive league trophy, but head coach Alon Turjeman knows that this season his charges will have to start all over again. "One of the most prominent characteristics of the U19 teams is the high turnover of players, those who are now too old and leave and those that have just reached the right age and join the squad. With us it's just the same so we'll also have to invest time in working out the puzzle. But that's what makes the U19 training so interesting and challenging".

The high standards set by the title-winning teams of last year and the year before mean that the current crew of Under-19s are facing a considerable challenge, not only in maintaining those standards but in maintaining "Shachar"'s position as one of the leading youth teams in Israel. Of course we won't know until next May to what extent that challenge has been met, but for the time being Turjeman and his lads will be focusing on making the best possible preparations for the league opener. "We're working on every aspect of the game, physical, technical, mental, with a view to slowly and conscientiously building up a team that will work well together. As you might expect at the first practices after the break the players are very enthusiastic and very hungry and that makes it easier for us to help them improve".

Along with the launch of the Maccabi Tel Aviv's flagship youth team, the Youth Division have now completed the coaching assignments for all the other teams and are ready to commence their pre-season preparations. Youth Division football director Nir Levin couldn't be more pleased and is looking forward to the opening of the Under-19 season. "Maccabi Tel Aviv 'Shachar' are starting a new season after winning last year's title, and their most important job remains preparing quality players for the club's senior team. They're undergoing a number of changes at the moment but we're working hard to provide them with professional staff they need to prepare the players in an optimal fashion before they move on to the seniors".    

 

 

 

This week Maccabi Tel Aviv's season 2013/14 Youth Division championship Under-16 team received their championship trophy

At an official ceremony held at "Beit Hanivcharot" in Shfayim near Tel Aviv, the Israeli Football Association awarded season 2013/14 Cup and league championship trophies to the country's Under-15 to Under-19 teams. Special trophies were also awarded to players deemed to have demonstrated excellence in the area of fair play and a lecture was held by international Israeli referee Liran Liani.

On hand to represent the Youth Division of Maccabi Tel Aviv were last season's U16 head coach Erez Belfer and striker Omer Lakou, who received the championship trophy on behalf of their 2013/14 championship Under-16 team-mates.

    

 

U19 Premier League champions Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" continue their preparations for the 2012/13 season and the defence of the title they have now held for the past two seasons. The squad now coalescing around head coach Alon Turjeman played their first pre-season friendly against Hapoel Kfar Saba and won handily 6-3. The national U19 Premier League is expected to kick off on the first of September, but even after such a handsome victory, the head coach was quick to stress that other matters take precedence: "At this stage of our preparations the result is less important. For us it was a first opportunity to try out our arsenal ahead of the coming season". Turjeman continued: "Up till now we've only trained but a game like this presents you with a better occasion to examine just which players are fully fit and which still need some work before the season starts. The players know what we expect of them, and today I saw things that pleased me and others that still require some attention". The current squad is made up of players who won the U19 championship last year, players who won the league and Cup double with the Under-17s and others who are just trying out. The objective is to reach a final squad of 25 of the best players. In the meantime the current squad will play their next pre-season friendly on Friday at their counterparts from Ashdod FC. 

 

Maccabi's U19s sweep aside Hapoel Haifa 6-1 at Kiryat Shalom as Yonatan Cohen nets two. Eliel Peretz, Sohil Armeli, Matan Hozez and Dor Galili all add on

On the eve of matchweek 3 of the national Under-19 Premier League, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" came into their home tie against Hapoel Haifa with two wins from their first two matches. Head coach Ziv Arie's charges today proceeded to make that three from three with an impressive 6-1 triumph over their northern guests at Kiryat Shalom training ground. Two of the goals came before the interval, as did the one opposition goal. But after the restart Maccabi added an additional four to achieve their highest goal tally of the new season.

Arie opened the match with an attacking formation that included three strikers up front – Raz Yitzhak, Stav Ben Aharon and Yonatan Cohen. And with just ten minutes on the clock it was Cohen who drew first blood, taking a smart pass out wide from midfielder Sohil Armeli and curling the ball with his left foot past the Haifa keeper Romeo Nofo at the far post for his maiden goal of the season. Just under the half hour mark it was Cohen once again on the scoreboard, this time from a set piece, driving a free kick from the edge of the area past Nofi to make it 2-0 for the home side. Two minutes from the break Hapoel Haifa managed to pull one back when Stanley Samson's  shot from inside the area took a deflection and wrong-footed "Shachar" keeper Sahar Hason.

After the restart Maccabi stepped up the pressure and ten minutes in Sohil Armeli threaded a pass through to fellow midfielder Eliel Peretz unmarked in the area who poked in to make it 3-1. Coming on off the bench defender Ofek Barzani and midfielder Matan Hozez each left choice opportunities go begging, but towards the end of the match "Shachar" regained their touch. Ten minutes from time Sohil Armeli went from provider to goalscorer, taking an excellent cross from fellow midfielder Maxim Gretschkin and rifling past the keeper into the bottom corner of the net. Goal number five came just two minutes from time courtesy of Matan Hozez, whose maiden goal found the near post in a fine individual effort. The final touch came in injury time, a debut goal from a debut player, as striker Dor Galili tapped in a cross to finish the scoring at 6-1.

Matchweek 4 will take place on Tuesday October 7^th when Maccabi Tel Aviv will travel to Wolfson training ground for their first season derby against Hapoel Tel Aviv.   

 

Maccabi's U19s and U17s both come up trumps at international tournament in Holland

Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" and Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded" both registered impressive pre-season results by winning separate international tournaments in Holland. The two teams are spending the week at a joint training camp in the town of Heemskerk near Amsterdam, the first part of which saw them both compete in two-day competitions with seven other teams of their age group, mostly from Europe but also from India, Japan and Panana.

The Under-19s started the group stage of their tournament on the right foot, in this case striker Mavis Chibote's, as they defeated Slovakian side FK Senica 1-0. Yesterday they played the second of their three 50-minute group stage matches against Dutch side ADO Den Haag and won 2-0 courtesy of a brace by striker Yonatan Cohen, already guaranteeing their place in the semi-finals. The question remained who would finish first in the group, Maccabi or Danish side Brondby IF. The answer came in the form of goals by Yossi Soleleich and Mavis Chibote (his second in three matches) as the Danes settled for second best.

This morning (Sunday) on the tournament's second day, head coach Ziv Arie's "Shachar" faced local amateur football club ADO '20 and impressed once again with an easily earned 3-0 win, their fourth consecutive clean sheet of the tournament. Matan Hozez, Gabriel Kanikovsky and, again, Yonatan Cohen were "Shachar"'s goalscorers. The final set Maccabi's Under-19s up once again against Brondby and Ziv Arie's lads carried on where they left off in the two teams' group-stage encounter. Mavis Chibote was on target once again but this time round he was joined by midfielder Sohil Armeli in producing a second 2-0 result. Matan Hozez turned provider for both of Maccabi's goals. "Shachar"'s Haviv Ohayon received the gong as the tournament's outstanding goalkeeper but owed a great deal to an outstanding back four that helped him keep clean sheets throughout the competition. Mavis Chibote and Yonatan Cohen emerged as the tournament's leading goalscorers with three each, with Chibote grabbing honours as the competition's outstanding player.

Maccabi's Tel Aviv "Oded" copied their older club-mates' success, also finishing first in their pre-season tournament. The  Under-17s won their first two group-stage matches by the identically impressive score of 7-0, the first against Japanese side Sanda. Roy Ronen scored a hat-trick with Omer Lakou, Or Dassa, Tomer Altman and Guy Shetach adding individual efforts. The second triumph came at the expense of a local Heemskerk team, with Roy Ronen adding a brace to Eylon Almog's hat-trick and individual efforts by Itamar Shaviro and Amit Shapira. "Oded"'s third group-stage encounter against AZ Alkmaar was for group bragging rights, and after a 1-1 draw (with Nadav Amran on target), it was Maccabi that emerged on top going into the semi-finals. There they squared off against India's Under-17 national team and Tomer Altman's spot-kick proved sufficient to send Maccabi's Under-17s into the final to face last year's winner FC Vollendam. There too "Oded" won by a single headed goal by Shay Golan and walked away with the tournament trophy.

 

 

 

A second-half goal by Sohil Armeli proved the decider as the U19s beat Maccabi Petach Tikva

In their second outing in the national Under-19 Premier League, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" recorded their second consecutive win with a 0-1 away victory over Maccabi Petach Tikva. Head coach Ziv Arie's side faced tough opponents but finally succeeded in unlocking the opposition defence to score the winning goal.

The visitors dominated possession throughout the first half but struggled to break down an expanded home-side defence. Defender Sean Goldberg, who last week featured in the senior team's "Toto" Cup match against Hapoel Petch Tikva, made his first appearance here for the Under-19s and also had the first chance of the match when he found himself in scoring position but narrowly missed the target. He was followed by Congolese striker Mavis Chibote, whose shot was saved by the Petach Tikva keeper, and fellow striker Raz Itzhak, who headed wide. These were the most significant events of a first half that ended without either side getting on the scoreboard.

Ten minutes after the restart "Shachar" renewed their intentions, with Mavis Chibote once again providing the effort in an unfulfilled opportunity. A minute later those intentions became reality as striker Yonatan Cohen served up an excellent pass for midfielder Sohil Armeli, who used his left foot to net his second goal of the season. Two minutes later, three-time provider Cohen nearly scored himself, but a near miss left him without a goal in the new season. Maccabi Petach Tikva were limited to one scoring opportunity, but "Shachar" keeper Sahar Hason saw to it that his side finished with their second consecutive clean sheet. At the other end "Shachar" mounted further attempts to stretch their advantage. Midfielder Matan Hozez, whose goals powered the national U19 team to success in European tournaments this summer, had a number of goes from outside the area and substitute defender Ofek Barzani came close as the match entered its final moments.  But the match finished 0-1 and Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" will be happy with the three points that keep them joint top of the U19 Premier League table.

Next week Maccabi's Under-19s return home to Kiryat Shalom training ground to play Hapoel Haifa.

Starting line-up: Sahar Hason, Guy Aviv, Shachar Fiban, Idan Yogev, Sean Goldberg, Dan Glazer, Gabriel Kanikovski, Sohil Armeli, Yonatan Cohen, Mavis Chibote, Raz Itzhak