This will be the 80th time that the Israel State Cup Semifinals will take place.

Up until this season, Maccabi has played in 46 Semifinals and advanced to the Finals 35 times.

The opponent Maccabi has faced most often in the Semifinals is Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Petah Tikva – 6 times.

Maccabi has gone to penalties 6 times in Semifinal action with the Yellow & Blue moving onto the Finals on 4 of those occasions.

Maccabi’s biggest win in the Semifinals was a 9:2 victory over Maccabi Zichron Yaakov in 1929.

Following the Founding of the State, Maccabi’s biggest win was 7:1 against Hapoel Petah Tikva in 1952.

The largest crowd at a Semifinal contest was in 1979 when a double header took place in front of 55,000 fans at Ramat Gan Stadium that pitted Maccabi against Beitar Tel Aviv and Beitar Jerusalem versus Bnei Yehuda.

The Yellow & Blue have played Beitar Jerusalem 10 times in State Cup action. Their record? 5:5.

The clubs faced each other twice in the Semifinals – In the 1985/86 Season which ended in a 2:1 loss as Beitar won the Cup that season and the following campaign when Maccabi defeated the Jerusalemites 2:0 on the way to capturing the Trophy.

The most goals scored by a single player in a Semifinal match was five by Rafi Levy in a 6:0 win over Shimshon Tel Aviv in 1958.

Miko Belo has appeared 12 times in the Semifinals, the most by any Maccabi player.

Maccabi Tel Aviv faces Beitar Jerusalem tomorrow, 20:30 in the State Cup Semifinal at Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa and the Israel Football Association published guidelines for the fans who are planning to attend the match.

Fans are asked to get to the Stadium early as the gates will open at 18:00, 2.5 hours prior to kick off.

Traffic and parking
In order to prevent traffic prevention and parking, fans are asked to use public transportation to access the stadium. It should be noted that Parking Lots P1-5 at Sammy Ofer Stadium are reserved for those with parking passes for this specific match. Public parking is available at the following parking lots: HOT, Intel, Congress and the Beach.

Parking is not permitted on the access roads and law enforcement officials will issue tickets and have cars towed should this be the case.

Trains
Israel Railways will provide 8 trains for the match: 1 Regular, 5 Special trains for the match and 2 more should they be necessary. The Special trains will be “Fill & Go” from the Carmel Beach Station to the Moshe Dayan Station in Rishon Le’Zion with stops being made at Binyamina, Hadera, Netanya, Beit Yehoshua, Herzliya, Tel Aviv, Holon and Bat Yam stations. Some trains will continue to Lod, Rehovot and Modiin. Fans may purchase special Round Trip tickets at the train stations which will provide the special trains at a 20% discount.
 
Israel Railways will provide 8 trains for the game: 1 regular regular, 5 special for the game and 2 more drives if needed. These are special trains using the “full and travel” method from the Carmel Beach station to the Moshe Dayan station in Rishon LeZion, where they will stop at. Some of the trains will continue to Lod, Rehovot and Modi’in. The fans will be able to purchase a special card at the train stations at the stations where service will be provided at the end of the game and enjoy a round trip ticket at a 20% discount.

Tickets
The Sections behind the goals are unreserved seating and seats are available on a first come first serve basis.
The Sections along the width of the pitch are served and fans must sit in their assigned seats.
Home Printing Tickets: If you chose this option please make sure to print the tickets out prior to leaving for the Stadium.
The Ticket Windows will open at 10:00 (South Ticket Box Office) to collect tickets.

Beginning at 17:00 until halftime the Ticket Windows will be available as follows:
North Mobile Box Office: Maccabi Tel Aviv Ticket Distribution
North Ticket Office: Resolve issues with Maccabi Tel Aviv Tickets
South Mobile Ticket Office: Beitar Jerusalem Ticket Distribution
South Ticket Office: Resolve issues with Beitar Jerusalem Tickets
The Israel Police will conduct strict security checks. NO ticket scalping is allowed outside of the stadium and the Alcohol Laws will be strictly enforced. The District Police will be present in the stands and will act against racist chants.
No Pyrotechnic items will be allowed into the Stadium and security checks will be ongoing during the match itself. No large banners will be permitted in the Stadium.

We hope that you haven’t made plans yet for next Wednesday April 12th because the BIG Passover Event is coming up! There will be all kinds of fun activities on the synthetic pitch for both children and parents and from there you’ll have the opportunity to meet the Maccabi Tel Aviv Stars, take pictures with them and get their autographs.

The event will begin at 12:15 and fans must be at the facility by 11:45. Registration opens today, Tuesday and is limited to 300 people. Please note, you will not be able to attend if you do not register in advance.

How does it work?
Registration is open today April 4th at 12:00 to all Maccabi FIRST members for the Community Day next Wednesday between 12:15-15:00 at the Kiryat Shalom Training Facility, 106 Derech Ben Tzvi and is limited to 300 participants ONLY.
Each person may register up to 3 participants which includes the person submitting the registration. Just like when you make a reservation at a restaurant, you request a table for yourself plus 2 friends for a total of 3 ONLY.

IMPORTANT:
Following the registration, you’ll receive an email requesting information about the participants.
If you registered for the last Community Day and weren’t able to come but didn’t give us notice, you will not be allowed to attend this coming Community Day. If you register for this upcoming Community Day and can’t come, please let us know in advance.
If weather conditions don’t permit the Community Day to take place, you will be notified a few hours prior to the event and you’ll be able to participate in the Community Day the following month.
All participants must arrive at the Kiryat Shalom Training Facility by 11:45. Should you be delayed, you may not be able to participate in the event.
In order to ensure that all fans meet all of the players, special greeting videos may not be recorded at the Training Facility.
Following your registration, a Maccabi representative will be in touch with you to get all of the participants necessary details.
Entrance to the Training Facility will be granted only after a full security check. Each participant will need to present their Teudat Tzehut ID Card, License or Passport in order to take part in the event. Entrance will not be granted to those whose names do not appear on the official registration list!
Participants are not allowed to bring with professional photographers or videographers.
For the rules and regulations, please click on the following link.

Sheran Yeini, the Yellow & Blue Captain spoke about the upcoming Israel State Cup Semifinal on Wednesday night, 20:30 at Sammy Ofer Stadium against Beitar Jerusalem. Number 13 spoke a lot the promise to battle for every title, the importance of the Cup and of course addressed the challenging week:

“The loss against Beer Sheva has no connection with the State Cup match tomorrow. Beitar presses very well and we will have to be ready for that. We have to be aggressive ourselves and make sure we take advantage of our opportunities. Beitar is a good team and so are we and we both know each other well.”

Working together as a team:

“The result from the Beer Sheva match won’t influence anything and everything is fine between the coach and the Sports Director. They work together and Maccabi Tel Aviv is a club that works together as a team, but the coach is who is responsible for the team on the pitch. We all want to win the Cup as does Beitar and we will do our best to take it home.

Importance of focusing on the Cup and each remaining match:

“Every coach and every player knows that the Cup game is the most important thing right now after the Beer Sheva match and each game we have until the end of the season is a final.”

The promise to battle for every single title:

“We promised to fight for every title and we want to be happy with our results as do our fans and family. We can go into every game and promise that we will do the best that we can.”

History with Dan Einbinder, Beitar’s Captain:

“I enjoy playing with Dan Einbinder and we miss him at Maccabi Tel Aviv.”

Lito Vidigal, the Maccabi Tel Aviv Boss addressed the media prior to their State Cup Semifinal match versus Beitar Jerusalem at Sammy Ofer Stadium on Wednesday evening 20:30. The Angolan spoke about the Club’s opponent, the importance of the Cup and began by discussing winger Tal Ben Chaim’s status:

“We are training today and after that we will decide if he is ok to play or not.”

Personal record in Cup games:

“I have more victories than losses but I’ve never played in a final.”

Winning the Cup:

“All of the games are very important and important for Maccabi. We have to win titles and we had a chance to win the Cup last year and this year we are attempting to do so as well.”

Still an opportunity to take the Double:

“That’s why we work everyday. We talk about it and as long as we have a chance to take two titles we will keep fighting until the end.”

Importance of the Cup:

“This is a different competition. Either you win or you lose. We want to win this competition as well as last year we didn’t win it and it’s important to fight for the victory and take the Cup.”

About Beitar Jerusalem:

“We know that Beitar has a good and aggressive team that plays very good football with a good coach. But we have to play our game and then we will have a chance to win. I always talk about working as a team and if we work together we will have more of a chance to win.”

Relationship with Jordi Cruyff:
“If I had any doubts about my job I would discuss it but that’s not the case. Everyone knows who make the decisions and I take them both in victory and defeat. I know my position and as does everyone else both Jordi and myself. Jordi can do what he wants when he decides not to be on the bench then he won’t be.”