Category: News

Maccabi “Shachar” fall to Netanya 2:0

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Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv attempted to keep their winning streak alive when they visited Netanya on Matchday 27 but fell to the hosts 2:0 in Youth Ligat Ha’Al action.

Netanya had been in fine form of late with two straight wins and got onto the scoresheet in the 30th minute thanks to Abed Jabarin. Maccabi looked for the equalizer as Guy Tzarfati’s players pressed for the tying goal, however Netanya sealed the deal with a 90th minute strike to close out the contest.

The loss leaves Maccabi in third place with 3 matches left in the campaign. Next week, the young Yellow & Blue will return to Ramle and host Ramat Nir HaSharon.

Youth Department Saturday Action – April 29, 2017

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Maccabi “Shlomi” Netanya – Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv, 12:30 Netanya
Guy Tzarfati’s squad is in great shape winning 6 of their last seven matches and will look continue the fine run on Matchday 27 of the Youth Ligat Ha’Al. The young Yellow & Blue currently sit in 3rd place with 49 points and will attempt to move closer to second place Hapoel Raanana who are four points ahead.

Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv – Hapoel Beer Sheva, 10:30 Kiryat Shalom
The Under-17 side under the direction of Eliezer Ben Aharon are also in good form after advancing to the State Cup Final earlier in the week. Maccabi “Oded” will look to take another step towards the league title when they host Hapoel Beer Sheva with only five Matchdays remaining and a gap of 8 points ahead of the second place club.

Hapoel Ramat Hasharon – Maccabi “Eli Fuchs” Tel Aviv, 18:30 Ramat Hasharon Synthetic
After scoring six goals last Matchday, Alon Brumer’s squad will try to keep the league championship race in their sights by collecting three more points against the 9th place team. With four contests left in the season, the third place Maccabi sits 6 points out of first place.

Hapoel Raanana – Maccabi “Ilan” Tel Aviv, Raanana Park North – Synthetic
The Under-16 club has had a difficult schedule of late and will hope to pick up a win at Raanana. Amir Sofer’s charges are in 4th place as they visit the 7th place outfit.

Yeini: “Everyone at Maccabi strives to win”

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Sheran Yeini, the Maccabi Tel Aviv Captain spoke about his club’s Ligat Ha’Al Championship Playoff contest on Matchday 33 at the Netanya Stadium against Hapoel Beer Sheva at 21:00. Number 13 discussed the importance of the fans, the desire to succeed and the fact that Beer Sheva has the opportunity to win the championship tomorrow night:

“I don’t want to answer this right now and see what happens in the game. We know that Maccabi strives to win and that we have passion. These are things you don’t always see in the statistics. We don’t want to allow anyone to win the title on our backs. Beer Sheva is playing well but we won’t want to give them an easy time.”

Challenge to stop Beer Sheva from winning the league:

“They have a chance to win the title, but we can stop them and we won’t give them an easy time.”

Desire to improve:

“The fact that Beer Sheva has done what the have done only gives us more of a push to be even better. We have some important games coming up beginning with the match against Beer Sheva.”

The thought of Beer Sheva taking the title:

“The chances in our favor are not great but there is still a chance and we are going to play as hard as we can. Is it disappointing? Certainly for both me and the club.”

Hunger to succeed:

“I’m here for a few months and I know that we are hungrier than ever to win. If you think that it’s not the case, believe me we want to win and win badly.”

Comparing the team he left and the one he came back to:

“Every club is different and every season is as well. I am not going to compare the team that I left to the team that I came back to.”

The importance of the fans:

“The fans must come and we will give the biggest fight of our lives. The Maccabi fans all have to come and support us.”

Vidigal: “We will fight to win every game until the end of the season”

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Lito Vidigal, the Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach addressed the media prior to his side’s Matchday 33 Ligat Ha’Al Championship Playoff match against Hapoel Beer Sheva tomorrow night at 21:00. The Angolan discussed battling every match, improving day to day and the importance of the upcoming match:

“All of the games are very important and since I’ve arrived every game is like a final. We won almost all of the games for the possibility to fight for the league title. We have to play well and try to take the three points.”

Injury situation and lineup changes:

“Part of my job is to believe in all of the my players. Last game I made some changes and used players that hadn’t played much and they did a good job like Sagiv Yehezkel and Eliel Peretz. They played well and helped us take the victory. I know that every player I choose gives his best. We have a training today and we will have to see if they (Dasa, Ben Chaim, Benayoun) feel ok. We are Maccabi and we are a big club. The players that play here know what they have to do and I believe in everyone.”

The title race:

“If we don’t win the last three games then maybe it’s finished. We begin with less points than Beer Sheva but we have played fantastic in a lot of games, playing well and taking victories. But we started from behind, the players are fighting and they are playing good football.”

Battling for wins:

“We will fight to take the three points like we do in every game. Of course we want to win and we play to win every game, this is just one more. We have more games to go and we have to fight for the three points in all of the games. We have to believe.”

The possibility of not winning the championship two years in a row:

“For me it’s more than this and I have to think about everything including why we didn’t win last season. If you look to the past then maybe we will understand what we have to do in the future. We are a big club and we have to win all of our games. The is Maccabi.”

Improving day to day:

“I continue to learn everyday and the players have also grown a lot. They have done an amazing job over the last sixty days. They were in a difficult position before but we pushed together and we won many games. It’s not finished but as I always say, every game is important and we have to take the three points in all of the games.”

Tal Ben Haim’s Fabulous Five Teammates of All-Time

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Central Defender: John Terry
“Of course I played with him at Chelsea. He was a true leader on the pitch as well as off of it and one of the amazing things about him was that he was such a big winner. He came to every training session and gave 100% and cared about all of the other players.”

50:50 Midfielder: Frank Lampard
“A player in his position that scores 20 goals a season over the course of so many years is something special. I haven’t seen many players that can also play defense like he did and was also able to score so many goals. What also turned him into a great player was his work ethic. He stayed after practice to work on his free kicks and runs. From an early age he was very careful and diligent to work on his physical fitness and that’s something else that I’ll remember about him.”

Attacking Midfielder: Jay-Jay Okocha

צילום: BWFC ()

“I played with him at Bolton. He had absolute control with the ball. He was able to do things that no one else knew how to do and he brought them to world football. I also remember how he would change sides and make perfect accurate passes from 40-50 meters. He did things that you don’t see too often. A magician.”

Attacking Midfielder: Robinho
“We played together at Manchester City. He had the best control of any player that I’ve ever seen. I remember that before every match the players would get ready, receive treatments and go over some warm up drills in the dressing room. He would take the ball for that half hour before we went out for the warm ups and juggle it. For those 30 minutes he wouldn’t let it fall from his foot, head, back and ankle. It was like going to a performance to watch him. Now that’s something I will never forget. The ball wouldn’t fall off of his foot and we were all mesmerized at the things he could do. I believe that it was a missed opportunity that he didn’t play at the highest levels for a longer period of time.”

Striker: Didier Drogba
“I was privileged to play with him during his peak at Chelsea. He was such a extraordinary strong player, both with his right and left feet, his head game and free kicks. He was almost the complete player. He also had such a strong character – WOW!”

Tzarfati: “The players understand what our expectations are”

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Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv continued their fine play of late and picked up another quality victory by defeating first place Maccabi Haifa 1:0 away on Matchday 25 of the Youth Ligat Ha’Al. Guy Shetah’s 76th minute goal gave the young Yellow & Blue their sixth win in seven games and denied the Greens the opportunity to celebrate their championship already today.

Following the match, Head Coach Guy Tzarfati spoke about his player’s performance: “Defeating Maccabi Haifa is no small task. This club is having a fantastic season but I want to look at our play first. To come here and play well with a ton of positive energy is all part of what we have been building over the past season”

About the season as a whole:
“I don’t feel that this was a missed opportunity. On one hand, we are Maccabi and we want to win titles, but we can’t forget that we are going though a complete changeover in the Youth Department. Our players are working very hard and very intensely. Our victory is to take the players to the end of the season and for them to understand the expectations and the path that we are taking them on here at Maccabi.”

Maccabi “Shachar” defeats Haifa 1:0

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Prematch
Following two straight wins, Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv visited Maccabi “Shmuel” Haifa in a tough away encounter on Matchday 25 of the Youth Ligat Ha’Al. Dor Galili was back in Guy Tzarfati’s Starting XI in place of Neil Goldberg for the only change in the side that defeated Hapoel Haifa 2:1 on Sunday. Haifa on the other hand was looking to win the league tittle with only 4 Matchdays remaining in the season.

First Half
The match began as the sides played tentative football with the first chance coming in the 15th minute for Haifa as Omer Kats made the save.

צילום: האתר הרשמי של מכבי חיפה, ג’ו הירש ()

The Yellow & Blue took their first opportunity of the contest in the 25th minute when Tomer Altman’s chance went off of the outside of the goal to keep the match goalless. Five minutes later, Amit Shapira led a counter attack and gave the ball to Altman but his 18 meter scorcher went off of the bar as the half ended 0:0.

Second Half
Haifa had a chance to take the lead 15 minutes into half number two when Amit Zaneti came very close to scoring but Fadi Najar cleared the ball off of the line while six minutes later Eylon Almog’s effort was stopped by the Green’s keeper.

צילום: האתר הרשמי של מכבי חיפה, ג’ו הירש ()


In the 69th minute, Almog had yet another chance thanks to an Altman pass but his shot was off the mark. However, Maccabi’s hard work paid off in the 76th minute when Ron Zamir teamed up with Guy Shetah whose sharp angled chance found the back of the goal for a 1:0 lead. A minute after the goal, Haifa was down to ten men as Zaneti was sent off for an off the ball foul on Eden Kartzev as Maccabi wrapped up their 6th win in 7 matches, denying the Greens the opportunity to be crowned champions.

“It’s good for me to get a bit of rest, I feel fresh now”

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Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Bnei Sakhnin 3:1 last night at Doha Stadium and Vidar Kjartansson got back onto the goal scoring sheet with a brace. The Icelandic striker helped the Yellow & Blue to the 3-points and the win and summed up the contest:

וידאר קיארטנסון לאחר הניצחון על בני סכנין

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