Category: News
You Voted: Dor Micha HISENSE February Player of the Month
Once again the midfielder received your support for his quality play as Dor Micha was voted by the Maccabi FIRST members as the HISENSE February Player of the Month. Rounding out the Top 3 were Eliran Atar and Chico Ofoedu who finished in 2nd and 3rd place respectively.
Did you vote for Micha? Now’s the part that you’re all waiting for!
Today, Sunday March 3, 2019 at 17:00 israel Time you’ll receive an SMS with a trivia question. Whoever answers the question first correctly will win a HISENSE 32” TV. Don’t miss out!
Maccabi to face Bnei Yehuda in State Cup Semifinal Action
Maccabi Tel Aviv found out that they will face Bnei Yehuda in the State Cup semifinals at a draw that was held at Ramat Gan Stadium.
רבע גמר גביע, משחק 1: סכנין – מכבי ת”א 4:1
After advancing over Bnei Sakhin in a two legged quarterfinal tie, the Yellow & Blue will play Bnei Yehuda at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem between April 2-4.
The club’s mascots were on hand at the draw including our own Maccabinio as Maccabi learnt who they will face after defeating not only Sakhnin but also Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Acre so far in the competition.
Legends Club: Haim Levin
The Legends Club sat down with one of Maccabi Tel Aviv’s all time greats, keeper Haim Levin and spoke about his career and his goals after hitting the age of 82:
מועדון שחקני העבר – השוער חיים לוין
“I was a Champion, not just in Israel but of the world in diving. I dove everywhere. I could go for meters and I wasn’t scared of anything. My kicks were also great and I could get the ball from one end of the pitch to the other. When we played in Bangkok the whole crowd rose to their feet when I was kicking the ball.”
If he was playing today:
“I know one thing, that if Haim Levin was playing today I wouldn’t have a house big enough for all of the money I would earn. Back in the day we made 50 Lira per match, that was it.”
Secret of his success:
“My secret was hard work. I worked very hard to get to the level I was at including the National Team. In addition, I had a roadmap, knowing what a goalkeeper had to do and how to do it. I have been able to pass this along to my students as well.”
Training a generation of great keepers:
“I trained all of the keepers who made it to the National Team, whether it was Dudu Aoute, Nir Davidovitch or Shavit Elimelech.”
Maccabi Tel Aviv of his day:
“We were a group of guys that stuck together. I came over from Maccabi Haifa. Yosele told them stories that I couldn’t differentiate between colors and I couldn’t see at night or in the dark so they released me and I came over to Maccabi Tel Aviv. I started to win titles and we were an amazing team with a lot of stars. But we were always together so we won, we were a group of winners. We won every title possible, be it the State Cup or the league championship or even the Asian Cup. If we had the same conditions as they do today, we could have won the World Cup. We came to the matches ourselves without any organized transportation. We played for Maccabi.”
Career highlight:
“The highlight of my career was winning the Asian Cup. We played against the Korean National Team who were also a club team. We got to the final without a loss and so did they. It was 0:0 after 90 minutes and also 0:0 after another 30 minutes. The only goal came in the 119th minute. They had a corner kick and I told everyone to come to the goal. I of course caught the ball as usual and I saw Spiegel who was standing off to the side about 35 meters downfield. I threw the ball with all my might and he stopped it. All of the Koreans ran after him. He sent a long pass to Bar Nur and he stopped the ball in front of the goal and sent it over his shoulder.
His future:
“I hope that I can continue to Coach and to try and help more and more keepers.”
Atzili: “It’s a lot of fun to play at Maccabi”
Omer Atzili who scored a brace in the 2:0 win over Ashdod looked back at his performance following the contest:
אצילי לאחר הניצחון על אשדוד
“I feel good. I had a few matches where I could have played better but I’m happy that I came back today to score a brace and I hope that I’ll continue this way.”
Keeping the hunger:
“The players have individual goals and each one of us wants to come with into the matches as motivated as possible. If someone isn’t serious then they know they won’t play. Of course this season has been a lot of fun to play at Maccabi and we all hope that this will continue.”
The championship:
“We’re patient and hopefully we will do it as quickly as possible.”
Dor Micha also spoke about the win: “This was an important win and we played well. The balls didn’t go into the goal in the first half, but due to our fine play today and Omer Atzili’s terrific brace helped us take the win.”
Ivic: “The players did as we had planned from the first moment until the last“
Vladimir Ivic, the Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach looked back at his side’s 2:0 win over Ashdod on Matchday 25 of the Israel Premier League:
איביץ’ לאחר הניצחון על אשדוד
“The players did as we had planned from the first moment until the last and we had concrete chances on the attack and controlled the pace of play. We played a good game and we deserved the victory. We could have scored more goals but we defeated a team that took 7 points in their last 3 games and it’s not easy.”
About the improved play:
“The players aren’t machines. They want to give it their all but there are games that it just doesn’t work. We have to continue on the path we are on and we will do nice things this season. We go from game to game and that’s how we began the season and that is how we will end it.”
The championship:
“We aren’t thinking about it. Everyone is waiting for it but we have to work hard so that it will happen.”
Maccabi bounces Ashdod 2:0. Watch the highlights
Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Ashdod 2:0 thanks to an Omer Atzili brace at the Yud Alef Stadium on Matchday 25 of the Israel Premier League Ligat Japanika. Atzili scored two tremendous second half goals, the first off a Dor Micha assist and the second deep into injury time from an 18 meter free kick. The Yellow & Blue collected the 3 points and will now ready themselves for the State Cup semifinal draw on Sunday while next week they’ll host Bnei Yehuda on the final Matchday of the regular season.
מחזור 25 | תקציר הניצחון על אשדוד
Head Coach Vladimir Ivic’s Starting XI included Predrag Rajkovic, Enric Saborit, Shahar Piven, Sheran Yeini, Eli Dasa, Dor Micha, Dor Peretz, Avi Rikan, Omer Atzili, Eliran Atar, Chico Ofoedu.
Available on the bench: Daniel Tenenbaum, Jair Amador, Ophir Davidzada, Maor Kandil, Ruslan Barsky, Itay Shechter and Aron Schoenfeld.
First Half
Nir Bardea had the first chance for Ashdod but his attempt just went by the post in the 2’ and just a minute later Atzili’s opportunity was blocked by the host keeper Yoav Gerafi. Saborit left the ball for Rikan in the 5’ but his shot went over the goal and two minutes later Ofoedu’s chance from 17 meters was caught by the keeper.
Atar’s 10 attempt was parried by an active Gerafi and 15 minutes later Saborit again left the ball for Rikan but his opportunity went over the bar. In the 37’ Chico sent Atar the ball but his one on one attempt was taken care of by Gerafi who went out to grab the ball.
Rikan’s 45’ shot was again saved by Gerafi while Atar’s chance went off the outside netting of the goal as it looks like it will just be a matter of time before Maccabi will break through the Ashdod keeper as the side’s went into the break deadlocked at 0:0.
Second Half
In the 48’ Atzili’s attempt from a sharp angle went out and his second chance in two minutes from 20 meters was caught by Gerafi. Chico’s 52’ opportunity went over the bar and finally eight minutes later Atzili found the back of the goal thanks to a Micha assist.
#15 found Atzili at the top of the box as he turned and with his right foot he sent a scorcher into the far corner for a 1:0 Yellow & Blue lead. Rikan was issued a yellow card in the 62’ and Dan Bitton’s ensuing free kick was beautifully blocked by Rajkovic to keep the score as is. Ivic made a pair of substitutions in the 72’ as Ruslan Barsky and Itay Shechter came on for Eliran Atar and Avi Rikan.
In the 76’ Atzili’s corner was headed by Ofoedu but just missed the target while Aron Schoenfeld entered the match in the 87’ as Maccabi’s third substitute. A minute later Dasa was issued a yellow card and Bitton’s free kick was taken care of by Rajkovic.
However, Maccabi wasn’t finished yet as Atzili scored his second of the contest deep into injury time off a gorgeous 18 meter free kick as the Yellow & Blue wrapped up a 2:0 win at the Yud Alef Stadium.
Stats Talk: All you need to know ahead of Ashdod
Maccabi will face Ashdod for the 59th time in league play. The record in the first 58 matches: 35 Maccabi wins, 13 draws and 10 wins for Ashdod.
Winning percentage against Ashdod – 68% – the highest against any team that Maccabi has played at last 50 league matches.
Maccabi has visited Ashdod 31 times in league action and hold a record of 15 Yellow & Blue win, 9 draws and 7 losses. Goal Differential: 45:28 in favor of Maccabi.
Another interesting fact is that all of Ashdod’s home matches against Maccabi Tel Aviv have been held at the Yud Alef Stadium. Ashdod is the only club who has hosted Maccabi at their home Stadium from all of the club’s that the Yellow & Blue have played at least 12 matches against.
Maccabi has scored 45 goals at Ashdod with 4 of them coming from outside of the box (9%). The furthest goal was scored by Bruno Reis in 2002/03 from 29 meters.
Maccabi has also played 4 other matches at the Yud Alef Stadium including a bitter 3:2 defeat against Beitar Tel Aviv and a big 5:1 win over Maccabi Haifa (2 matches in 1991/92), a 1:0 victory against Maccabi Petah Tikva (1994/95) and a win 2:1 win over Kiryat Gat in 2001/02.
In the video: 5:1 win over Maccabi Haifa at the Yud Alef
The biggest win over Ashdod: 5:1 in 2000/01. The Maccabi goal scorers from that match: Avi Nimni, Baruch Defoe, Rodrigo Goldberg, Dedi Den Dayan and Ferenc Horvath.
Maccabi’s first match at the Yud Alef Stadium was in the first round of the 1982 State Cup – 1:0 win against Ironi Ashdod on a goal by Moshe Schweitzer.
In Maccabi’s last 101 away league matches (beginning in 2013/14) – 9 have finished in a goalless 0:0 draw, twice against Ashdod and Sakhnin (Once against Bnei Yehuda, Maccabi Petah Tikva, Maccabi Haifa, Hapoel Kfir Saba and Kiryat Shemona).
Maccabi hasn’t lost to Ashdod since 2012/13 (1:0 Matchday 19). Since then Maccabi has won twice and drawn twice as well.
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Yeini: “Ashdod has one of the toughest pitches in the league”
Maccabi Tel Aviv visits Ashdod on Saturday March 2nd at 18:20 on Matchday 25 of the Israel Premier League Ligat Japanika. The Yellow & Blue will head to the Yud Alef Stadium with ten goal of keeping their undefeated streak intact while the host’s are battling relegation.
Captain Sheran Yeini looked ahead to the match and spoke about the challenges ahead:
“In my opinion, Ashdod has one of the toughest pitches in the league and we know it will be a difficult match because they are battling for their lives. They have very loyal fans and we have to make sure that we are prepared for the contest.”
The beauty of football:
“Although the table doesn’t lie, the last place team can beat the first place team. That’s the beauty of football.”
The undefeated streak:
“We’re going into the match looking to play an attacking style of game and we’re not thinking about potentially losing. We want to continue our undefeated streak for as a long as possible and when we do lose we will have to get back up quickly, but we aren’t even thinking about that.”
Money Time is here: What’s on tap in March
March 2: Ashdod – Maccabi Tel Aviv, 18:20 Yud Alef Stadium
The Yellow & Blue’s first test this month will be an away match against a team who is battling relegation. This Matchday 25 Israel Premier League Ligat Japanika contest will see if Vladimir Ivic’s squad can maintain their current lead atop the table as the ready for the playoffs.
March 3: State Cup Semifinal Draw (15:30)
Bnei Yehuda, Maccabi Netanya or maybe Hadera? The start of the new week will determine who Maccabi will face in the Cup semifinals at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem. Make sure to tune in and see who the Yellow & Blue will play on the Official Club Website and App.
March 11 (Date TBD): Maccabi Tel Aviv – Bnei Yehuda, Netanya Stadium
The regular season comes to an end on Matchday 26 with the Little Derby against Yossi Abuksis and his side. Last time the two met Maccabi recorded a 3:1 win at the Moshava Stadium.
March 16 (Date TBD): The Championship Playoffs begin
The last part of the season begins midmonth and although we know that Maccabi will end the regular season and host the 6th place club on this Matchday we still don’t know who their opponents will be. Right now there are a number of clubs battling it out for a Championship Playoff spot and here is the current table situation: 5. Beer Sheva (35p), 6. Hadera (32p), 7. Hapoel Haifa (31p), 8. Beitar Jerusalem (29p).
March 19-29 International Break
The Israel National Team will begin Euro 2020 qualification with a pair of home matches against Slovenia (March 21) and Austria (March 24). The league will take a two week break and some Maccabi players will be called up for duty under Head Coach Andi Herzog. Serbia and keeper Predrag Rajkovic will have a couple of top level contests when they face Germany in a friendly and Portugal in a qualifier.
March 30 (Date TBD): Championship Playoffs Matchday 2
March will end with another home match at the Netanya Stadium against the league’s 2nd place club who is yet to be determined. Currently the battle is as follows: 2. Maccabi Netanya (39p), 3. Maccabi Haifa (38p), 4. Bnei Yehuda (37p).
And that’s not all!
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