Category: News

Matan Hozez meets up with Boys C team

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Maccabi Tel Aviv striker Matan Hozez rushed from training last week to meet up with some 20 junior players of the Boys C team of the club’s Youth Academy in an event organised jointly with the Maccabi Tel Aviv FC Fund. 

It was a particularly thrilling and motivational meeting, as Hozez talked about his experiences as a player with the full squad and the difficulties he has faced as a child and as he was growing up and how he has coped with school work while also devoting himself to becoming a professional footballer. 

Hozez answered lots of questions and told the boys they should persevere, work hard, believe in themselves and never give up on their dreams.

The Academy and the Fund from time to time organise meetings between Maccabi Tel Aviv’s current stars and the club’s young players to motivate them and help them aspire to greater heights.

Stats show Maccabi are hotting up

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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.

Weekend juniors’ results

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Maccabi Tel Aviv “Shahar,” the club’s under-19 side, crushed Maccabi Petah Tikva 5-2 on Monday and notched their fourth win in a row in the youth league which has kept them in third place in the standings Click here for more details.

The boys’ U16 team, Maccabi Eli Fuchs, gained a sixth win in a row which kept them at the top of the standings after their 3-1 win at Maccabi Netanya in the 12th round of action as Oscar Gloch and Amit Tzur with two goals scored for the visitors. The team now has a three-week break.

The boys’ U15 team, Maccabi Eldad, drew 2-2 at home with Maccabi Petah Tikva in the seventh round of their division. Agam Hanoun scored both goals for Maccabi.

Shechter: When you are in a good place, savour the moment

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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.”

Golasa: We want to break all records

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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.”

Your choice: Eyal Golasa is Factory 54 Man of Match

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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.

Confident Maccabi put 3 past Hapoel Haifa

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Maccabi Tel Aviv notched another convincing win in the TASE Premier League on Saturday and put three goals without reply past Hapoel Haifa.

Goals by Yonatan Cohen in the first half and by Dor Micha and Itai Shechter in the second half secured the points for the hosts, although there was never any doubt throughout who were the better of the two teams.

Maccabi started the first half strongly and looked as if they were ready to take the game to their opponents from the opening whistle but Haifa were not cowered and mounted a few attacks of their own. 

Probably more than in any other league fixture so far this season, Maccabi were also on the back foot early as Haifa stormed forward but poor finishing ensured that  Daniel Tenenbaum, who has now kept ten consecutive clean sheets since the start of the season, was never under threat.

Cohen broke the deadlock in the 26th minute when after a string of passes on the right of the area, Eyal Golasa found him in space and the in-form forward’s curling right-foot shot evaded Haifa goalkeeper Yasmin Boric’s fingertips and ended up on the far side of the net.

Early pressure in the second half, with Maccabi’s players controlling all the play, culminated in the second goal in the 54th minute after Micha latched onto another good Golasa pass from the left and he made no mistake and struck the ball firmly into the roof of the net from 10 metres out. 

Maccabi should have added a third in the 64th minute when referee Eli Hachmon awarded a penalty after a VAR check following a foul on Chico Ofoedu, but Cohen’s spot kick was well saved by Boric as he dived to his right to parry the ball.

Itai Schechter, who came on as substitute late in the game after Ofoedu went off injured, secured the result in injury time when he slotted the ball home after Maccabi’s forward line broke free of the Haifa defence and Atzili passed an easy ball to Shechter who was unmarked and had no pressure in slotting the ball into the net.

U13 South named Pizza Prego Team of Month

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Maccabi Tel Aviv’s under-13 team from the southern section have been named the inaugural outstanding team of the month by the club’s Youth Academy, a prize sponsored by Pizza Prego.

Academy heads Patrick van Leeuwen and Guy Zuckerman picked the side that train at Kiryat Shalom and the boys celebrated with a meal sponsored by Pizza Prego on Thursday.

The U13 South are the first team to win this special prize, and each month Van Leeuwen and Zuckerman will pick their outstanding team for the period.

Results were not necessarily the main factor in making the choice, rather, the behaviour of the boys and their achievements off the field of play too.

“Since the beginning of the year we have been impressed by the way the boys have behaved and trained and by their demeanour when they arrive for training and when they leave at the end of their session,” Zuckerman said.

“These will be the criteria that we will use to determine our outstanding teams, whether at Kiryat Shalom or at our northern base at the university.”

Zuckerman added that “cooperation with Pizza Prego has been very fruitful from our perspective, and we are very pleased that we can reward the kids and give them a good feeling. It helps team bonding and shows commitment by both parties.”

U13S are coached by Tamir Tubul, his assistant is Tom Shalom and goalkeeping coach is Eliad Graf.

The team have registered three wins in their three league outings this season, a 2-0 away win over Maccabi Petah Tikva, a 7-0 home win over Ramat Hasharon and a 3-1 away win over Maccabi Beersheba. They also scored a whopping 9-1 win over Ironi Modiin in the State Cup.