Maccabi Tel Aviv continued their preparations for the restart of league action next weekend on Friday morning and scored a 3-0 win over Ness Ziona at the Marmorek ground in Rehovot.

Eylon Almog hit the first goal in the tenth minute when his first shot rebounded off a Ness Ziona defender and he slotted the ball home. 

Omer Atzili added a second goal from the penalty spot in the 31st minute after he was brought down and Itai Shechter completed the rout when he received the ball in front of goal after a double pass with Eyal Golasa and the striker slotted home from close range in the 39th. 

Daniel Tenenbaum, still undefeated in league play this season, sat on the sidelines in the first half as Andreas Gianniotis took charge between the posts but Tenenbaum was one of three substitutes brought on by coach Vladimir Ivic at the start of the second half when Maccabi continued to dominate. They had several attempts on the Ness Ziona goal throughout the second period but were unable to add to the scoreline in a match that was played over 80 minutes.

Maccabi lineup: Andreas Gianniotis (Daniel Tenenbaum, 41), Maor Kandil (Andre Geraldes, 51), Shahar Piven (Hadar Yosef, 72), Jair Amador (Enric Saborit, 41), Ophir Davidzada (Omer Itzhaki, 72), Ruslan Barsky, Eyal Golasa (Dor Micha, 41), Avi Rikan (Afek Sapir, 72), Eylon Almog, Omer Atzili (Matan Hozez, 51), Itay Shechter (Aaron Schoenfeld, 51)

A new game, the “FIFA Rankings” was launched last year, and now, it’s back for another round.

Last time, Omer Atzili, Dor Micha and Eyal Golasa were the ones who awarded points to each other similar to the format in the well known and popular video game. This year, it’s the turn of Itai Shechter, Dan Glazer and Shahar Piven to draw the spotlight as they tell their friends and teammates what they think of their abilities, but mainly, they will hope to make us all laugh while as we wait impatiently for the resumption of league play.

Watch the first episode:

The international break is coming to an end and Maccabi Tel Aviv’s players reconvened on Tuesday and returned to training on Wednesday at the PenguinPickUp facility at Kiryat Shalom. With winter reseeding currently under way, the players used the eastern pitch for their training, as the main area is still off limits while the winter grass is allowed to take root.

Because several first team players were still not available, a number of youth players joined in to make up the numbers as coach Vladimir Ivic oversaw training. Israel’s Eitan Tibi, Dan Glazer, Yonatan Cohen and Eilon Almog and Nick Blackman of Barbados were on international duty during the past week.

Israel lost 3-1 to Poland in Jerusalem and 1-0 away to North Macedonia, Barbados beat the Cayman Islands 3-0.

Maccabi will hold a practice match against Ness Ziona on Friday in Rehovot. It will be held behind closed doors and will not be open to the public and the media.

Nivea, one of Maccabi Tel Aviv’s sponsors, participated in this year’s Super Pharm expo at the Tel Aviv fairgrounds and under the banner “We are the People” which promotes teamwork. Maccabi players Omer Atzili, Itai Shechter and Eyal Golasa were invited to the Nivea Men stand at the exhibit. They were greeted with warmth and participated in a table soccer tournament against some of the company’s heads, including Ronen Shamir, the CEO of Alpa Cosmetics, the Israel importer of Nivea products.

Maccabi Tel Aviv inaugurated the FOREVER supporters’ club this summer which set up to give fans greater access to the club and to special events and Maccabi is now delivering.

In an activity on Wednesday night open only to FOREVER members at the T-House Saloon and Garden in Tel Aviv, some 120 fans were given some thrilling insights by Ori Cooper, the pundit and former scout who gave a talk, and they then engaged in conversation with former star Yoav Ziv, the present team manager.

Before the start of formalities, those present were received souvenir chaser glasses emblazoned with the club’s logo. Cooper then began his talk, entitled “Football behind the scenes,” in which he recounted stories from the scouting scene both locally and abroad, and about matters related to Maccabi.

The evening’s activities then moved on to a riveting open discussion with Ziv, who fielded lots of questions. He discussed latest developments at the club and recounted events from his own playing days and told of the leaner period he had endured from the time of Jordi Cruyff until today.

The next FOREVER event is not far off, it will take place during the away match against Hapoel Kiryat Shmona at the end of the month when the game will be screened in a family event that will include refreshments. See you there.

Maccabi Tel Aviv striker Matan Hozez has recently secured a place in the first team’s starting lineup and took time at Monday’s festive launch of the “Special Maccabi” team for athletes with special needs to talk about his form.

Hozez said he had made a decision to stay at the club, work hard and fight for his place in the side and things are going well.

“I never even thought about leaving, it has never been a consideration. I knew I would stay at Maccabi in any event. I feel great and am hugely satisfied that I am playing and working hard for my place. It has been worthwhile,” Hozez said.

“Clearly, there have been tougher times when things were more difficult for me but I am pleased that I can be considered part of the squad and that I am doing well,” he added. 

Hozez said coach Vladimir Ivic has demanded that his players put constant pressure on opposing teams and that they were working hard to implement the plans. It was very pleasing to be able to do so and watch things come to fruition and yield results.

“Through this system we are able to keep possession of the ball for longer and prevent our opponents from scoring,” Hozez said.

He was pleased that colleagues who were out injured were returning to fitness.

“Good clubs have big, quality squads and there is great competition over who will be best and be able to fulfill the game plan but the coach gives an equal chance to everybody but utilises the players most suitable for his game plan.”