The Race to the World Cup contest via the Maccabi App and HISENSE made its way to New York! Ran Dahan was the first fan to find our location and he won a:

Ticket to a 2018 World Cup Match!

Nitzan Livneh was the second fan who found us and won a Retro Kit signed by all of the Maccabi Tel Aviv players.

Watch:

5 days full of adrenaline came to a culmination on Thursday as the BIG FINAL for the “Race to the World Cup” contest with Maccabi Tel Aviv and HISENSE an Official Sponsor of the 2018 World Cup. Roie Dahan won first prize at the contest that was held at the HISENSE Flagship Store in Tel Aviv and will fly to see a World Cup match in Russia this coming summer.

In the BIG FINAL, Dahan defeated the 3 other daily winners in a trivia contest, however, no one left empty handed as they all took home a brand new 50” HISENSE TV,

Watch the Big Final:

Just ahead of the Championship Playoff match against Maccabi Netanya on Tuesday, Maccabi Tel Aviv hosted Maccabi Petah Tikva for a friendly at Kiryat Shalom. Jordi Cruyff’s side won 3:1 thanks to goals by Barak Itzhaki, Aaron Schoenfeld and Omer Atzili who also recorded an assist while Eden Shrem scored for the visitors.

Starting XI: Daniel Tenenbaum, Yuval Shpungin, Tal Ben Haim, Jean-Sylvain Babin, Ofir Davidzada, Dor Peretz, Jose Rodriguez, Cristian Battocchio, Omer Atzili, Barak Itzhaki, Aaron Schoenfeld. Gidi Kanuk, Eyal Golasa, Avi Rikan, Eliran Atar, Eli Dasa, Dor Micha, Eitan Tibi, Nick Blackman and Tomer Altman also appeared.

First Half
Maccabi began the match well and took an early lead in the 3’ as Atzili sent a corner to Itzhaki who scored from 6 meters into the goal for a 1:0 advantage. The Yellow & Blue continued to play well and found the back of the goal for a second time in the 20’ when Peretz stole the ball in the midfield and sent it to Atzili. The midfielder went down the right wing, cut to the middle and with his left foot sent a scorcher of a strike from 17 meters into the goal. Itzhaki followed up in the 27’ by hitting the bar and in the 45’ the Petah Tikva keeper Yossi Ginzburg parried a screamer from long distance by Battocchio.
Second Half
The Yellow & Blue began the second half just as they did the first with a quick goal in the 48’ when Battocchio found Schoenfeld who scored to give Maccabi a 3:0 lead. In the 55’ Petah Tikva almost scored their first of the contest when Lidor Cohen hit the bar. Two minutes later Micha crossed a ball from the right which went to Atar, however his bicycle kick just missed the target.

In the 62’ Schoenfeld and Atar almost added to Cruyff’s squad’s advantage but their chances were saved by Ginzburg. However, ten minutes later Eden Shrem took a pass from Uri Magbo in the box and scored to cut the Maccabi lead to 3:1. Just before the end of the match Kanuk (87’) and a header by Blackman (89’) came up short as the host’s picked up the friendly victory.

Maccabi Tel Aviv played 3 matches in March and now’s the time to vote for the HISENSE Player of the Month. All you have to do is choose the player who you think was the month’s best of the best by Saturday March 31st at 22:00. On Sunday April 1 at 17:00 those who chose the winning player will receive an SMS with a trivia question. The first person to answer correctly will win the 32” TV from HISENSE.

At a Press Conference earlier today, Mitch Goldhar and Jordi Cryuff, announced together that Jordi will step down from his role as Head Coach and leave Maccabi Tel Aviv FC at the end of the season. Mitch and Jordi explained that this was a mutually agreed decision and made in the long term interests of the Club and to enable a search for the next Head Coach to start immediately.

Mitch Goldhar commented: “I would personally like to thank Jordi for all of his commitment, effort and professionalism over the last 6 years. We have become close friends. We have been on a unique journey together which has involved some memorable moments including the first Championship, the treble and qualifying for the Champions League Group stages. Jordi has helped put Maccabi back on the map both in Israel and in Europe.

“All good things need to come to an end at some point. We both felt that the end of the season would be a good place for us to go in new directions. Jordi and I will remain in contact and he will always be welcome at Maccabi. I hope that the staff and players will work hard to ensure Jordi leaves Maccabi in the best possible way.”

Jordi Cruyff added: “I want thank everyone during the past six years, we have had a very good relationship and we thought it was a good moment to sit and discuss. I have to thank a lot of staff and players that helped us fight for success. I am very happy and grateful to all of those. I thought I’d be here a couple of years but ended staying for six. I will miss it here for sure but I know that this has been a very important chapter in my life.

We spoke about this a few times and it was ideal now that we could sit here together. We wanted to finish the speculation quickly and take 2-3 months to bring a new coach in. It’s an ideal way for a club to prepare.

We still have nine games left and we are fighting for the title. We have to put our focus and energy into that so we can end my time here well. We are always analyzing and looking and our focus is to win the title.”

Have you always dreamt of going to the World Cup! Join Maccabi Tel Aviv and World Cup 2018 Sponsor HISENSE in the Race for the World Cup! 5 days full of adrenaline will culminate with the Grand Prize:

Flight and Ticket to a 2018 World Cup match!

Today’s hint:

What do you have to do to win the 1st Prize?
The most important thing you have to do is download the Official Maccabi Tel Aviv App, the most crucial tool in the Race for the World Cup in order too receive push notifications and updates by the minute.

Daily Prizes:
First Prize: HISENSE 50’ SMART TV and a ticket to the Race Finals.
Second Prize: Pair of tickets to the Hapoel Beer Sheva Home match and being hosted in the HISENSE Box.
Third Prize: Official HISENSE World Cup T-shirt.

Following the first 4 days of the contest, on Thursday March 29th the Big Final with the 4 Daily Winners will take place. The Final will be a Trivia Quiz and whoever answers the most questions correctly will win the Grand Prize:

Flight and Match Ticket to the Opening Game of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.