Braces by striker Dor Jan and midfielder Matan Hozez produced an unqualified 4-1 victory for Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-19s over their municipal rivals in the derby

After building up a head of steam from two wins and a draw from their last three outings, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" came into their home tie against municipal rivals Hapoel Tel Aviv with high hopes of a continuation of their good form. The terraces bulged with the Maccabi faithful and they were treated early on to a concerted Maccabi attack on the visitor's goal, which within minutes resulted in a free-for-all at the Hapoel goalmouth and nearly an own goal by their defender Daniel Lazar. At the ten minute mark the pressure paid off when a measured pass by midfielder Matan Hozez found team captain Dor Jan alone with the Hapoel keeper and the striker slammed home without hesitation.

The Maccabi advantage lasted just a quarter of an hour as Hapoel found an equaliser when Avitar Yagoni headed in from a corner kick. But Maccabi Under-19 head coach Ziv Arie's charges refused to panic and kept up the pressure that enabled them to regain the lead eight minutes before half time. Dor Jan's run into the area was halted but possession fell to Matan Hozez who volleyed in from outside the area. 

After the restart the visitors had two good opportunities to draw level but Maccabi held on to their 2-1 advantage. At the other end, Jan, Hozez and midfielder Daniel Gretz all came close to widening the home side's margin, but it was not till twelve minutes before time that Hozez succeeded. Passing the last defender in the area to his right, Hozez shot back high into the net beating the Hapoel keeper for the second time in the match. Two minutes later the visitors were down to ten men after a straight red card to midfielder Nir Laks for a foul on substitute striker Sohil Armeli. And in the dying moments of the match they were down to nine when defender Idan Cohen also saw red for clearing a Dor Jan strike off the line with his hand. It was Jan himself who converted the resultant penalty for his second goal of the match and his seventh of the season. The game ended moments later with Maccabi Tel Aviv on the ascendant end of a 4-1 victory. 

Next Saturday Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" head for the nation's capital for an Under-19 State Cup encounter against Beitar Jerusalem.    

 

The draw for the next round of Youth Division State Cup matches has handed Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-19s an away tie at Beitar Jerusalem, while the Under-17s will also be on the road at Beitar Tubruk

Today the Israeli Football Association held the draw for the next round of matches in the prestigious Youth Division State Cup competitions. Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar", the club's Under-19s, will travel to the nation's capital for their all-U19 Premier League tie against Beitar Jerusalem. After this Saturday's parallel league fixture between the sides was postponed till the 7^th of January 2014, this draw means the two sides will face one another twice in the space of just over a week and a half, with the State Cup encounter taking place first on the 28^th of December, when the entire round of Youth Division State Cup matches will be played.

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-17s have also drawn a difficult tie, an all-U17 Premier League encounter away at Beitar Tubruk. The club's Under-16s will also be on the road to play for the right to advance to the next round of the U16 State Cup competition, facing the winner of the match between Hapoel Rahat and Maccabi Netivot. The club's Under-15s, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eldad", will play at home to Maccabi Amishav Petach Tikva, with the Under-15 Team 2 setting out to face their namesakes in Herzliya.

Here follows a list of the remaining Cup fixtures for Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Division teams:

Under-14 North – Maccabi Yaffo "Kabillio" (home)

Under-14 South – Hapoel Rishon (away)

Under-13 North – Hapoel Hadera (home)

Under-13 South – Bnei Sakhnin (away)

Under-12 South – Hapoel Hadera (home)

Under-12 North – Maccabi Haifa (home)

Under-11 South – Nesher FC (home)

Under-11 North – Hapoel Ra'anana (home)

Under-10 South – Maccabi Netanya (home)

Under-10 North – Hapoel Tel Aviv (away)

   

 

 

Due to the stormy winter weather conditions, all of this week-end's matches in the Youth Division have been postponed

As the week-end is approaching, so is a front of stormy winter weather. Today (Thursday), the Youth Department of the Israeli Football Association have decided to postpone all of this week-end's matches. That includes all of the youth teams from the Under-17s all the way down to the Under-10s.

One match to be postponed without connection to the stormy weather is that of Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-19s against Beitar Jerusalem. This is due to the participation of a number of players on the Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" squad in matches scheduled for the Israeli Under-18s next week. The new date set for the Beitar fixture will be January 7^th of the new year.   

 

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-19s have held their first practice at the brand new physical fitness complex built on the model used by Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam

Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club continue their efforts to develop and expand the training complex of the Youth Division. Last night a brand new physical fitness complex, with a synthetic base, was opened at the southern end of the eastern pitch and signposted for its special purpose. This particular model was inspired by the format of the training complex of the Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam and has been adapted to the needs of Maccabi's Youth Division with the help of Dr Buki Yaron, who is in charge of the Youth Division's physical fitness programme. A staff of four physical fitness trainers, headed by Dr Yaron, will assist in the implementation of the programme and the integration of the new complex into the training programmes of the Youth Division teams. In fact, with the synthetic based complex's opening yesterday, the various teams will begin to devote the lion's share of their daily practices to physical fitness training.

This integration will be applied in all the Youth Division teams, from the Under-10s to the Under-19s, and will include the goalkeepers as well. In this way the new complex will offer a solution to the shortage of training area and enable the youngsters to devote more time to training without damaging the training surfaces. During those trainings special attention will be paid to developing co-ordination, agility, break-away capacity, total field awareness and speed. With such advanced facilities, Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Division will join the ranks of the top soccer schools of Europe who also devote significant training time and space to the development of the physical fitness of their young players.  

 

 

The visiting team from Ramat Hasharon equalised twice in the first half but Dor Jan's hat-trick and individual goals from Matan Hozaz and Sohil Armeli ensured Maccabi's Under-19s an impressive home victory

Matchweek 10 of the national Under-19 Premier League saw Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-19s hosting Hapoel Ramat Hasharon. Head coach Ziv Arie's charges knew that only a win would keep them in touch with the top of the table and after 90 minutes of play the lads had achieved the desired result and taken all three points with an impressive 5-2 victory. Early on there were already signs the match would offer many scoring opportunities as Maccabi captain Dor Jan found the net and put his side ahead in the opening minutes of the match. But the visitors were not to be easily dispatched and just before the quarter hour mark Ramat Hasharon's Liran Travis scored from the spot to level the match. Ten minutes later though Dor Jan took advantage of the opportunity to score his second goal of the match and put his side back in front 2-1. But before the half finished Ramat Hasharon had once again equalised courtesy of an effort by Shalom Edri that Maccabi keeper Sahar Hason failed to stop. And despite a shot by Maccabi midfielder Eliel Peretz that hit the woodwork, the score remained locked in a 2-2 draw as the halftime whistle blew.

The second half began much as the first, with Maccabi waiting just three minutes to break the deadlock with Dor Jan this time turning provider for midfielder Matan Hozaz, who had just come off the substitute's bench. Maccabi kept up the pressure and Hozaz came close to scoring a quick brace but the Ramat Hasharon keeper came off his line to block his shot. Dor Jan saw his first chance to complete his hat-trick go wide but would not let another opportunity go begging. This time it was Matan Hozaz who was the provider by placing a ball just above the striker who then headed into the opposition net to increase his team's advantage to 4-2. Maccabi had time for one more goal and it was striker Sohil Armeli who put the icing on the Maccabi cake by mastering a ball in the area and rounding the keeper for his first goal of the season. The 5-2 result was Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar"'s fourth home victory and brought their season's total to 17 points.

Next Saturday Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-19s will follow in the footsteps of their senior team counterparts this week-end and head for the nation's capital for an away tie against Beitar Jerusalem.     

 

Members of Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-19 squad came to the Tel Aviv community complex Beit Dani to participate in a special festive candle-lighting ceremony for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah

As part of Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club's ongoing commitment to the community, the Youth Division jumped at the opportunity to help one of Tel Aviv's more underprivileged communities to celebrate the festive Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Under-19 squad members Daniel Gretz and Maxim Gretchkin arrived at Beit Dani, a large community service complex in Tel Aviv's "Tikva" neighbourhood, and celebrated the lighting of the holiday's seventh night candles with the centre's neediest visitors: the elderly, the poor and those neighbourhood residents unfortunate enough to have no family to celebrate the festival with. Together with the Youth Divison's educational advisor Chen Abdu, the young players handed out gifts of sweets that all the children of the Youth Division had collected in honour of the holiday.

In addition the youthful footballers visited Avraham Avraham, holocaust survivor and Maccabi Tel Aviv fan with whom the club have maintained close relations over the past two years. He served in the Jewish Brigade during the Second World War and also helped illegal immigrants to reach Israel during the period of the British Mandate. Avraham also served in Israel's post-independence army and received no less than six medals for his bravery. Every since hearing of Avraham's personal history and his difficult economic circumstances, the club have been sending him each month a parcel containing basic daily needs.  

 

 

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Division teams played mid-week matches which included six State Cup and two league encounters

After successful outings last Saturday for Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Division teams, the feat was repeated yesterday (Tuesday) in mid-week State Cup fixtures. In all, six Youth Division teams played in Cup ties, whilst another two participated in league matches. The Under-16s, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eli Fuchs", overwhelmed Hapoel Herzliya 8-1 in their third round Under-16 State Cup encounter. Ofri Mashata scored a hat-trick, Salem Al Abad Salame scored a brace and Omer Lakau, Lenny Aharon and Ittimar Shaviro all contributed individual efforts. Both of Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-15 teams played league matches yesterday, with Team 1, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eldad", finishing in a goalless draw in a derby against municipal rivals Hapoel Tel Aviv. Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-15 Team 2 beat their Haifa namesakes 2-0, courtesy of a brace by Daslin Bellachau that raised his season's goalscoring total to twelve.

The remaining matches in the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Division were all Cup ties, and all impressive victories. The Under-13 Team South scored a dizzying 13 goals away at Hapoel Jerusalem and conceded only one goal in reply. Team North did them one better, managing in 90 minutes to land 28 balls in the net of Or Yehuda FC without conceding at all. Maccabi's Under-12 Team South were also not to be outdone and sent 17 balls flying past the keeper of Ironi Kiryat Gat while conceding only two. The Under-11 Team North (the class of 2003) joined in in the goalfest as well, outscoring Beitar Tel Aviv Ramle 14-3, while Team South also enjoyed a stellar performance, winning 25-1 against Sportsclub Ramat Eliyahu.      

 

Midfielder Daniel Gretz scored from the penalty spot just after the restart to bring his Under-19 side on level terms in a match that ended 1-1 at Maccabi's municipal neighbours Bnei Yehuda

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-19's registered their second draw of the 2013/14 season after finishing 1-1 at their municipal neighbours Bnei Yehuda. After a home victory against Hapoel Rishon Lezion last week, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" hoped to repeat the feat today against another orange jerseyed team, but found the going against Bnei Yehuda more daunting. Before the start of the match, members of the youngest youth teams of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Bnei Yehuda participated in a short ceremony held in the memory of Israel's legendary singer and screen actor Arik Einstein. The ceremony was crowned with the release of balloons and a minute of applause for the great Israeli cultural idol, who died unexpectedly last week aged 74.

After a hesitant start in which Maccabi dominated possession but created few chances, it was the opponent who scored the opener. With 20 minutes on the matchclock, Bnei Yehuda's Itai Habri latched on to a long ball in the Maccabi area and shot from close range past keeper Sahar Hason on the half volley. Maccabi tried to get back into the match and five minutes before the break midfielder Matan Hozaz cut across after a run down the right flank and left-footed a strong shot that fizzed just past the post. Just before half time, strikers Dor Jan and Raz Yitzhak marshalled an attack that ended in the latter receiving a pass from defender Guy Aviv but the finish went begging. But the miss of the match occurred at the other end, where keeper Hason's parry of a Daniel Avital kick landed for Or Shimoni in front of an open net but his shot flew over.

Two minutes after the restart it was Maccabi midfielder Daniel Gretz who ultimately did find the net and drew the sides level when Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" were awarded a penalty after Raz Yitzchak was brought down in the area. "Shachar" head coach Arie Ziv brought on all his attacking options from the bench as his charges continued to press for the winning goal. One of those substitutes, midfielder Eliel Peretz, came close but Bnei Yehuda keeper Almog Busani  came off his line to block the effort. Afterwards Matan Hozaz and substitute striker Yonatan Cohen both had goes with left-footed strikes from outside the area, but both missed their target. The winning goal continued to elude them whilst at the other end Sahar Hason kept Maccabi's hosts at bay. The match ended 1-1, bringing Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar"'s total to 14 points from nine league matches.

Next week Maccabi will host Hapoel Ramat Hasharon at the Kiryat Shalom training ground in matchweek 10 of the national Under-19 Premier League.     

 

 

Striker Raz Yitzhak's maiden season goal sufficed to hand Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-19s a 1-0 victory over Hapoel Rishon Lezion

After a three week re-seeding break, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" returned to league duties in matchweek 8 of the national Under-19 Premier League this Saturday by hosting their counterparts from Hapoel Rishon Lezion at the Kiryat Shalom training ground. The Maccabi side were looking to recover from their last outing before the break, a loss at Ironi Kiryat Shmona, and from the very start of the match the hosts indicated they were headed in the right direction. Head coach Ziv Arie's lads dominated possession and rarely missed an opportunity to threaten the goal of the Rishon keeper Ofir Carso. After some off-target attempts by forward Raz Itzhak and midfielder Eliel Peretz, the latter came closest in the first half hour, but Carso managed to parry his close-range effort. "Shachar" redirected their intentions and with eight minutes remaining in the first half Itzhak rose to meet a long ball down the right flank by midfielder Matan Hozaz and headed in to put his side ahead 1-0. For Itzhak, who just turned sixteen this week, it was his maiden goal for "Shachar" after starting the season with the Under-17s. A minute later, provider Hozaz tried his luck as goalscorer, but his curled effort was deflected by Carso thus denying Hozaz's attempt to double the Maccabi advantage.

After the restart, Maccabi continued to dominate proceedings and defended admirably as well, preventing their rivals from creating chances in front of Maccabi keeper Sahar Hason's goal. Maccabi midfielder Dor Peretz came very close but an onrushing Carso managed to deflect his shot. At the other end the visitors managed one chance but Hason saw the danger and kept Rishon's Yaron Avliev from getting his shot into the net. After a three-pronged Maccabi effort ended in Eliel Peretz missing a golden opportunity, substitute striker Dor Jan tried his luck but his powerful shot hit the woodwork. After a good long-range effort by another substitute, midfielder Shaked Azulay, Jan, who started his army training this week, had another go towards the end of the match but his shot sailed over the net leaving the final score at 1-0 in "Shachar"'s favour.

With thirteen points, Maccabi's Under-19s have now leap-frogged Hapoel Rishon Lezion in the table and will head off next week to face Bnei Yehuda away with an eye on increasing that total.    

 

Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Paulo Sousa paid a visit this week to a match of the club's Under-11 Team North and to a practice of eight-to-a-side teams in north Tel Aviv

Maccabi Tel Aviv's senior team head coach Paulo Sousa is very keen on keeping abreast of what goes on in the club's Youth Division. Last Saturday he attended a match of the club's Under-11 Team North (class of '03) at Maccabi's Hadar Yosef youth facility in north Tel Aviv. He returned the following day and stayed the full two hours to watch the youngsters engage in eight-to-a-side practice. Sousa spoke with all of the coaches and at the end of the practice met with all the youngsters of all three of the teams involved. He spent time answering their questions but also set them a homework assignment for their next meeting – to prepare additional questions as well as two player profiles, one from Maccabi and the second of an international player of their choice, whom they chose as models and to explain why.

Micha Dahan, in charge of the eight-to-a-side teams at Maccabi's North Tel Aviv youth training facility, agreed with other Youth Division staff members in declaring the visit a great success: "I expressed my gratitude to Paulo on behalf of the entire division. His visit, his attentions and his charisma were all an extraordinary experience for the kids in particular, but for us as staff members as well".