Category: News

MACCABI BEAT ASHDOD SC 3-1 IN PRACTICE MATCH

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Maccabi Tel Aviv left it very late on Wednesday but nevertheless managed to notch a second consecutive 3-1 practice match win, this time over Ashdod SC, as they prepare for the restart of the Premier League playoff phase when play resumes at the end of the month.

Maccabi took the lead against hosts Ashdod in the 25th minute in a counter-attacking move when a Yonatan Cohen shot took a deflection off an Ashdod defender and the ball beat Roey Mishpati in the hosts’ goal.

Ashdod managed to level in the 33rd minute when early substitute Mor Edri struck from long range and left Daniel Tenenbaum no chance of stopping the rising ball.

Maccabi coach Vladimir Ivic substituted most of his players in the second half, while Ashdod coach Ran Ben Shimon changed only two players at the restart. Parity was maintained until the dying minutes, although Maccabi’s players had several chances to score throughout.

Nick Blackman converted a penalty in the 87th minute after Matan Hozez was fouled in the Ashdod area, and seconds from time, Enric Saborit sealed the result after Hozez sent in a cross from the right for the Spanish defender to tap in.

Maccabi’s first match in the playoff phase of the Premier League will be against Hapoel Haifa at home on May 30, kickoff at 20:00. With all 26 matches in the first two phases of the league completed, Maccabi lead the table with 64 points, six ahead of second-placed Maccabi Haifa, who appear to be their only realistic challengers for the title. Beitar Jerusalem are third in the standings on 49 points.

Ashdod are playing in the lower-section playoffs and will not face Maccabi again this season.

Starting lineups:

Maccabi Tel Aviv: Daniel Tenenbaum (Andreas Gianniotis, 46), Andre Geraldes (Maor Kandil, 46), Jair Amador (Shahar Piven, 65), Sheran Yeini (Itay Ben Hemo, 78), Ofir Davidzada (Enric Saborit, 46), Dan Glazer (Dor Peretz, 46), Avi Rikan (Eyal Golasa, 46), Dor Micha (Ruslan Barsky, 65), Yonatan Cohen (Eylon Almog, 65), Omer Atzili (Matan Hozez, 65), Itay Shechter (Nick Blackman, 46)

Ashdod SC: Roey Mishpati (Ron Shoshan, 70), Bentzi Moshel (Mor Edri, 31, Jimi Marin, 80), Gil Cohen, Dudi Tiram, Naor Aboudi (Montari Kamhani, 46), Hamudi Canaan (Nir Hasson, 58), Roey Gordana (Oz Bilu, 58), Shlomi Azulay, Samuel Albi (Yaakov Brihon, 70), Sagiv Yehezkel (Renaan, 34), Din David (Edgi Hyford, 46)

Youth Academy sets up international ties

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Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Youth Academy has set up ties with Australian club Maccabi FC Caulfield of Melbourne with the aim of sharing information and know-how on training and on players.

With international travel currently restricted, contact can only be made on line and the Maccabi Academy technical staff are providing recorded video seminars for their Australian counterparts.

Both clubs expect to hold events in much closer proximity after lockdown measures end with the hope of holding seminars, staff visits and training camps and possibly sharing players.

Michael Kan, Caulfield’s coaching coordinator, expressed his delight at the online seminars and said the coaches were able to benefit from the information shared about the Youth Academy’s activities.

“We have been very pleased to find similarities between our own football philosophy and that of Maccabi Tel Aviv and it is a clear indication that we are on the right track. Our coaches have learned a great deal and they will be happy to hold more such meetings in the future,” Kan said.

“Caulfield’s aim is to give all players the chance to develop and excel through bettering our coaching and tuition. There is no better way to develop than to observe and learn from other clubs such as Maccabi Tel Aviv, who work at the highest level.

“We are proud to have held fruitful partnership between the clubs and we look forward to hosting some of your coaches at our club in Melbourne next year. By having an elite club such as Maccabi Tel Aviv doing coaching workshops here, I believe more Jewish kids will take up the global sport of football and through it we can keep the Jewish community connected,” he added.

Maccabi on track in 3-1 practice match win over Ra’anana

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Maccabi Tel Aviv chalked up an important 3-1 practice match win over Hapoel Ra’anana at Kiryat Shalom in searing conditions on Saturday and gave themselves a confidence boost after a layoff of over six weeks as they prepare for the restart of the Premier League at the end of the month.

Both teams used 12 substitutes each and none of the players played for the entire 90 minutes, allowing them plenty of recovery time as the teams gear up for the closing phase of the season.

Itay Shechter put Maccabi ahead in the seventh minute after pouncing on a rebounding ball after Ra’anana goalkeeper Niv Antman kept out a shot by Andre Geraldes.

The visitors’ Or Dasa levelled the scores in the 35th minute but Shechter added his second goal in the 41st minute after a series of passes saw Avi Rikan put him clear in front of goal and the Maccabi striker was left to slot home.

Nick Blackman, who substituted Shechter in the second half, sealed the result in the 79th minute with a left-footed strike after a good assist by substitute Parfait Guiagon, the under-19 team’s Ivory Coast striker.

Maccabi’s first match in the playoff phase of the Premier League will be against Hapoel Haifa at home on May 30. With all 26 matches in the first two phases of the league completed, Maccabi lead the table with 64 points, six ahead of second-placed Maccabi Haifa, who appear to be their only realistic title challengers. Beitar Jerusalem are third in the standings on 49 points.

Ra’anana are playing in the lower-section playoffs and will not face Maccabi again this season.

Starting lineups:

Maccabi Tel Aviv: Daniel Tenenbaum (Andreas Gianniotis, 46), Andre Geraldes (Itay Ben Hemo, 62), Jair Amador (Sheran Yeini, 46), Shahar Piven (Omer Itzhak, 75), Enric Saborit (Ophir Davidzada, 46), Dan Glazer (Dor Peretz, 46), Avi Rikan (Ruslan Barsky, 46), Dor Micha (Eyal Golasa, 46, Parfait Guiagon, 75), Omer Atzili (Matan Hozez, 46), Yonatan Cohen (Eylon Almog, 46), Itay Shechter (Nick Blackman, 46).

Hapoel Ra’anana: Niv Antman (Assaf Tzur, 46), Daryl Lahman (Adi Nimni, 46), Ido Levy (David Mattheus, 46), Amit Cohen (Shon Klimkin, 46), Yarden Cohen (Roey Herman, 46), Itay Katzav (Ben Binyamin, 46), Snir Shuker (Ben Savir, 46), Diwan Naeh (Ido Ben Yosef, 46, Golan Benny 68), Roey Levy (Lior Berkovitz, 46), Or Dasa (Eugene Ansa, 46), Idan Shemesh (Vitali Ganon, 46).

Dates set for upcoming league fixtures

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The TASE Premier League makes a much-awaited return to action at the end of the month and the fixture dates for the first four playoff phase rounds were announced on Thursday.

Maccabi will host Hapoel Haifa on Saturday, May 30 at 20:00, followed on Wednesday, June 3 with another home fixture against Maccabi Haifa, kickoff at 20:45. According to Health Ministry instructions, all the matches will be played behind closed doors.

The subsequent two fixtures will be against Beitar Jerusalem on Monday, June 8, at 20:45 (away) and then on Monday, June 15 at home against Hapoel Beersheba.

Maccabi Youth Academy resumes training

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The Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Academy ended its two-month shut down and resumed training on Tuesday as the Youth under-19 side to under-15 took to work out at Kiryat Shalom.

The training, which is being conducted in line with Health Ministry guidelines, has restarted at a pace suited to the players’ current fitness level following their long layoff and their ability to only do individual work at home.

The Academy’s younger age groups will return to training on Sunday.

“It has felt like a return from the off-season break, only this time, we are back with the same players,” said youth team coach Eliezer Ben Aharon.

“The coronavirus restrictions will change some of the things we will need to do and the team will be divided into two groups who will not intermingle as we start up at an easy pace and try to discern the players’ fitness levels.”

Ben Aharon said that from what he could tell, the players looked in reasonably good and that the pace of exercises would increase as the team gets back to a regular routine.

U17 coach Ori David said it was a great feeling to return to action.

“We are back in our natural environment after two months of not playing and we will be able to do what we enjoy most of all. I have been very surprised to see the players’ fitness levels, they have worked well at home and have shown great self-discipline and diligence in trying conditions. We can’t wait to be back in training,” he said.

Dor Peretz’s thunderball

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In pictures: Maccabi back in full contact training

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The TASE Premier League is set to return to action at the end of the month and today (Sunday) preparations have taken a major step forward as for the first time since returning to training, and in line with Health Ministry guidelines, Maccabi’s players held a full training session unlimited in time at the PenguinPickUp facility at Kiryat Shalom.

As part of the plan to return to action, today is also the first day when all the players must maintain self-isolation and they can only leave their homes to train and for matches.

When play resumes, Maccabi’s first clash will be a home fixture in the first round of the upper playoffs against Hapoel Haifa, subsequent will be another home clash, against second-placed Maccabi Haifa.