Maccabi Tel Aviv goalkeeper Daniel Tenenbaum participated in Monday’s launch of the “Special Maccabi” team, an initiative for athletes with special needs founded by Maccabi Tel Aviv FC Fund in partnership with Bank Hapoalim, and took a few moments to talk about the first team’s situation and his fantastic start to the season.

“Goalkeepers hate to let in goals and I always want my goalmouth to remain shut but most important for us is gaining the three points and the win,” said Tenenbaum, who is 10 minutes away from setting a new all-time Israeli record for keeping a clean sheet. 

Brazilian-born Tenenbaum has reached 993 minutes without conceding a goal and if he keeps the ball out of his net for 10 more minutes at least in the next league fixture at the end of the month against Kiryat Shmona, he and Maccabi will break the record currently held by Maccabi Haifa and their goalkeeper Giora Antman of 1,002 minutes set in 1988-89.

Tenenbaum said his success wasn’t due to chance but it’s all down to hard work.

“I have been at Maccabi for three years and I have worked every day but now that I have been given the chance to play, I am ready. The fact that we haven’t conceded a goal since the start of the season isn’t a matter of luck, it’s the entire team’s effort, not only mine. I had dreamed of becoming Maccabi’s goalkeeper and our situation at the moment is great,” Tenenbaum said.

The new immigrant from Brazil said he maintains contact with his predecessor between Maccabi’s posts, Serbian Predrag Rajkovic and says he’s also doing well at his new club, Stade de Reims in France. 

“He also went nine consecutive games without conceding a goal but what he tells me when we talk will remain between us. The main tip he has given me is to work hard in training.”

If there has been any doubt that Tenenbaum hasn’t needed to work hard while keeping all his clean sheets, he assures this is far from the situation.

“The goalkeeper’s job isn’t only to make saves but to ensure that his defence is coordinated and this requires a lot of vigilance. I talks to my defenders all the time and point out situations to them constantly. I speak to them either in Spanish, Portuguese or Hebrew as I am able to converse in all those languages and the players all understand me and each other, that’s the most important thing.”

Tenenbaum said he maintains contact with Haviv Ohayon, one of Maccabi’s goalkeepers who was badly injured during training.

“I’m very upset about his condition. I have visited him several times in hospital with his father. We pray that he may recover and return to play with us but it’s in God’s hands.”

After ten matches since the start of the TASE Premier League season and no goals conceded, Maccabi Tel Aviv are now just 10 minutes away from setting the all-time Israeli record for keeping a clean sheet.

When including the final match of last season, the records show that 11 league matches have passed since the club last let in a goal.

Goalkeeper Daniel Tenenbaum has now kept his goalmouth shut tight for 993 minutes. He last conceded a goal in the 87th minute of last season’s penultimate league clash when Maccabi Haifa’s George Mandjuk equalised for a 1-1 draw. 

Tenenbaum will overtake Maccabi Haifa’s Giora Antman, who kept a clean sheet for 1,002 minutes in the 1988-89 season if he avoids conceding a goal for at least 10 minutes in the next league match, an away clash on November 30 against Kiryat Shmona.

In attack, Maccabi are showing great improvement. Four straight wins have followed the goalless draw against Hapoel Hadera in the sixth round of action, and the goalscoring efforts have improved incrementally — 1-0 over Ashdod, 2-0 over Hapoel Beersheba and Ra’anana and 3-0 on Saturday over Hapoel Haifa.

Eyal Golasa, who was named as the Factory 54 Man of the Match provided two assists in an outstanding game, doing so for the first time since joing the club in 2016-17.

Those assists provided the goalscoring opportunities for Yonatan Cohen and Dor Micha and both have netted three times this season, one less than Chico Ofoedu, who leads all Maccabi scorers with four strikes. Itai Shechter, who came on as a late substitute in place of Ofoedu who pulled up injured, scored the third goal for Maccabi on the night and has scored his second goal this season in his last three outings.

Yonatan Cohen also had his penalty saved by Hapoel Haifa goalkeeper Yasmin Boric, the first time after 13 successful spot kicks that Maccabi did not score.

Jair Amador and Eitan Tibi did well as central defenders and each managed to win the ball off opposing players nine times. Enric Saborit managed eight dispossessions.

Maccabi Tel Aviv striker Itai Shechter was in fine fettle and in a jovial mood after Saturday’s 3-0 TASE Premier League win over Hapoel Haifa. He came on as a substitute after Chico Ofoedu pulled up injured late in the match and spoke to us after the game.

“From the outset we saw Maccabi being dominant, strong and pressing our opponents. It was an important win, we now take a short break and we will have to return refreshed with more determination,” Shechter said.

“There is no question that at the moment I’m feeling really good. I am playing at a great club and it’s really important to be able to appreciate this. When you realise this, good things happen and it’s something I tell the youngsters in the team all the time.”

Shechter, whose contract expires at the end of the season, hinted that he wanted to stay on but that at the moment he was concentrating on playing to his very highest level.

“It really enjoy things here, I am happy, it’s fun but I’m just doing my job on the pitch, there are others who will make the decisions while I concentrate on matches and training. I will stay positive and enjoy every moment and most important, help to ensure that we keep on winning.”

He said there was a steely toughness to the team.

“The dressing room is stronger than ever and even when we lost and were knocked out of Europe, the experienced players knew how to handle the situation. There has never been even a moment of turmoil in the dressing room. This club is stronger than everything and the great group of players are completely composed and ready for whatever comes their way.”

Eyal Golasa gave a reminder to club fans on Saturday — just in case any had forgotten — why they love him so much. He starred with two assists in the 3-0 win over Hapoel Haifa at Bloomfield and gave us his take on the game.

“I’m so happy and feel better from game to game, I’m happy that I have been able to help the team. Now we are going on the international break after which we can expect some tough matches, this was just one game,” he said. 

When asked whether Hapoel Beersheba’s 2-1 defeat to Ness Ziona earlier in the day had had an effect on the team, who knew that winning would help them open a gap at the top of the standings against one of their main challengers for the title, he added:

“We really don’t take any notice of what happens elsewhere and it’s still early in the season to start making calculations. We can only look at ourselves and want to improve with every game that passes. We were much better today and our play flowed but there is still scope for more improvement.”

Golasa said the decision to substitute him after he had set up the second goal was correct. “When your adrenalin is running high you want to stay on and continue to play but I need to look after myself. It will take a little longer before I am able to play for an entire 90 minutes.”

Maccabi need to keep a clean sheet for 10 more minutes in their next league fixture to break Giora Antman’s record for not conceding during a season and Golasa is certain that it can be achieved.

“Tenenbaum and the defence are doing excellent work since the start of the season, we want to break every record we can.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv notched a convincing 3-0 win in the TASE Premier League over Hapoel Haifa on Saturday and two of the goals were set up by midfielder Eyal Golasa, whose excellent performance saw him named by the vast majority of the club’s fans as the Factory 54 Man of the Match.

Golasa has recently returned from a long layoff due to injury. He set up the first goal for Yonatan Cohen in the 26th minute with a great pass in from the right, and another display of skill in the 54th minute put the ball at Dor Micha’s feet for Maccabi’s second goal.

Over 80 percent of the fans chose Golasa as their outstanding player of the match and one will win Hugo Boss shirts courtesy of the Factory 54 outlet.