Category: News

Yeini: “I’ll give it all for Maccabi”

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Sheran Yeini is back in Yellow & Blue and addressed the assembled media prior to tomorrow night’s away contest at Sammy Ofer Stadium against Maccabi Haifa, 21:00. The new number 13 looked back at his time in Holland, his focus going forward and what he can do to help Maccabi:

“They brought me in as a player and a teammate for the Club. I’m sure that where I can help extra, then I will give it all to the Club just as I did for Vitesse.”

Time in Holland:

“I played for a year and a half, played in plenty of matches and I was happy there. We all enjoyed our life in Holland. Jordi didn’t want me to leave, but I wanted to experience something different, in a different country and culture. Maccabi wanted me back and it’s hard to say no. It was also important for our family that we came back with our young child and for the grandparents. It’s great to be back with my teammates and also to be back with the fans. There’s competition here and I’m looking forward to trying to win as much as we can.”

Improving:

“At the end of the day, we have to take football into proportion. What Beer Sheva did was make us focus more and we have to improve and get better.

Point gap to Beer Sheva:

“It was 12 and they said it was over and then all of a sudden it dropped. There’s plenty of football to go and there are a lot of games coming up. We’ll give more than 100% to make sure we take the maximum points.”

Style of play in Holland:

“As a player there’s a lot of 1 on 1 work both defensively and offensively. Which foot you pass the ball with and who you are passing to.”

Who’s better Vitesse or Maccabi?

“It’s a question that I’ve been asked many times. But it’s hard to judge. Each team has excellent players.”

Expectations:

“You all know what I can do as a player. Scoring isn’t one of them, but I can give it all on and off of the pitch and be a part of the club to help everyone to improve.”

Jordi’s status with the club:

“We all want Jordi to stay here and people that can contribute to the club are always people that we want to keep with the club. We will make it as hard as possible for him to leave.”

Cruyff: “It’s always special when we play Haifa”

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Jordi Cruyff, the Yellow & Blue Sports Director is preparing his side for a Matchday 20 match against Maccabi Haifa on Monday evening, 21:00 at Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa. Cruyff discussed which Maccabi will come to play against Haifa, Dor Peretz going on loan, Sheran Yeini returning and about tomorrow’s match:

“We all know that it’s a special game in a very nice stadium and there is a a lot of quality on both sides who want to win. We usually have exciting games when we play Haifa.”

Playing to the best of their abilities:

“We have lost a lot of points against rivalries we should have beaten. We will play to the best of our abilities and we will do our best.”

The Israeli Classico:

“These games are a bit different. Positions on the table aren’t really relevant and they will have a lot of enthusiasm and they will try their best.”

Bringing back Sheran Yeini:

“We were always interested in the moment when he may want to come back.”

Positions that Yeini can play and what he can offer:

“Sheran has played left back, right back, central defender and midfielder. The answer will be on the pitch. We didn’t bring him because of the points situation but for his abilities on and off of the pitch. We are happy he came back and he will be a key for this club.”

Focus:

“I think about Maccabi Tel Aviv. We should just focus on ourselves and all the rest is the circus outside and we aren’t paying much attention to it. It isn’t relevant to the 3-points so we won’t put any effort into it.”

Transfer window moves:

“You’ll know everything by February 3rd. This isn’t the place and time to make any announcements.”

Dor Peretz on loan:

“We felt that it was important for him to play about 2000 minutes and that’s what young players need to play. This is a chance to get games under his belt. What we know is that he has a big future with Maccabi.

Which Maccabi will show up, the one that played Sakhnin or Raanana:

“I really hope it will be the team that we saw against Sakhnin because if it isn’t we may have some issues.”

Tzarfati: “Playing as a team is very important”

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Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv got back onto the winning track after defeating Hapoel Rishon Le’Zion “Yehuda” 2:1 thanks to goals by Dor Galili and Eylon Almog. Following the contest, Head Coach Guy Tzarfati looked back at the match that was:

“I think that the first half was fantastic from my point of view. The pace, the two goals that we scored were fabulous, goals with great touch and footballer’s goals, we scored some great goals. I believe that we should have had a bigger lead in the first half. On the other hand, I wasn’t satisfied with our second half and we got sloppy. The players should have played simple football and we got ourselves into a bit of trouble as Rishon had some opportunities where they could have scored.”

Coming back from an early deficit and the defensive player’s efforts:

“I was very happy with Hen Ozeri’s penalty save as well as Ron Gabbay’s clearance, on one hand those are their jobs, but I very much appreciated it. I think that we played a real team match today and I really am happy about that. Other than attacking and football play itself, playing as a team is very important for us all and I’m happy that is what I saw during the match.”

This coming Saturday, the young Yellow & Blue will face Maccabi Herzliya from the Leumit League in a State Cup contest:

“I’ll be telling my players that in order to win the Cup, each match must be treated as a final and we must prepare that way as well. As one who won a Cup with the First Team, preparing properly is clear, to go into every match as a Final, don’t make any drastic changes and don’t do things that we aren’t used to. We’ll put in maximum effort when we get ready for Herzliya.”

Yellow & Blue Saturday – Match Results January 28, 2017

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Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv 2:1 Hapoel Rishon Le’Zion “Yehuda”
Guy Tzarfati’s squad got back onto the winning track thanks to goals by Dor Galili and Eylon Almog. For the full match report and photo gallery, CLICK HERE

Ashdod “Zilber” 1:1 Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv
The table leaders drew at the port city as Eliezer Ben Aharon’s team now have a 5-point lead at the top of the table. The hosts tallied first but Dani Amar found the equalizer in the 60th minute.

Maccabi “Eli Fuchs” Tel Aviv 4:0 Bnei Yehuda
Alon Brumer’s Club found their way to the top of the table, after defeating Bnei Yehuda 4:0. Koren Gadge scored a pair of goals in the 6th and 32nd minute while Bar Cohen (55) and Gil Ben Shalosh (69) also found the back of the visitor’s goal.

Maccabi “Eldad” Tel Aviv 1:4 Hapoel Beer Sheva
The young Yellow & Blue were missing a number of players due to injury as the hosts took a 3:0 lead into the break. Nehorai Bitton scored the lone goal for the Under-15’s.

Hapoel Tel Aviv North 0:2 Maccabi “Ilan” Tel Aviv
Amir Sofer’s side won the Derby as Roie Mayan scored in the 21st minute and Yehali Lazar doubled the score in the 44th minute for the victory.

Yeini: “I’m very excited and I can’t wait to get back to work”

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One of the Yellow & Blue greats over the past decade, Sheran Yeini has returned to Maccabi and he spoke all about his comeback with the club:

“The day arrived was a very emotional moment for me. I went for my physical, then to sign the contract and to put on the Maccabi kit. It’s a lot of fun to be back.”

Return:

“I have a good vibe and everyone feels the same way, it’s very exciting and I can’t wait to get back to work.”

Missing Maccabi:

“This is really big and I wanted it to happen and it’s great to come back home. I can’t wait to see my teammates and get back to Kiryat Shalom. I really missed it. The competition in the squad, the team’s character, the hard work, hanging out with guys together and going out and of course looking after each other on the pitch. I missed it including doing an interview in Hebrew!”

The Dutch experience:

“My time in Holland was a lot of fun and even doing interviews in English was fine. I tried to talk a bit of Dutch and I came back with some, so now I can speak to Jordi behind everyone’s back. It’s great to be able to talk in Hebrew once again and to come back home. I’ve waited for this.”

Number 13:

“I’m number 13 on the Israel National Team and 21 belongs to Filipenka. So for now I’ll be number 13 and I’ll see how well I’ll play in it.”

Comeback:

“I’ve been fantasizing about this already and I know I’ll have goosebumps and it’ll be exciting. It will give me a ton of energy going forward.”

Maccabi “Shachar” defeats Rishon 2-1

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Prematch
After two away matches, Guy Tzarfati’s squad was back at their home Stadium in Ramle as they looked to get back onto the winning track on Matchday 17 of the Youth Ligat Ha’Al against Hapoel Rishon Le’Zion Yehuda. Eylon Almog and Prince Thomas featured in the Starting XI while Amit Rosenboim returned from injury and started the game on the bench. The wine city side sat in 11th place prior to the start of the contest.

First Half
The match opened up in the rain at Ramle as the visitors struck first early on in the 7th minute. Amit Malca stole the ball in the Maccabi half of the pitch, passed it to Gal Asulin who sent it back to the former and found the far corner of the goal for a 1:0 lead. The Yellow & Blue looked to find the equalizer and did just that in the 18th minute as Dor Galili’s effort from 12 meters hit the bar and went into the goal to draw his side even.

Maccabi continued to control the tempo and took the lead soon thereafter in the 32nd minute via Eylon Almog. Galili sent a fantastic cross to Almog who slammed the ball into the back of the goal for a 2:1 advantage. Five minutes later, Asulin almost found the tying strike for the visitors but missed on a one on one chance against keeper Hen Ozeri. In the 41st minute Zamir sent Dasa on his way down the right flank, but his effort was parried away for a corner. Just before the halftime whistle, Asulin had yet another quality chance but missed again on a one on one opportunity against Ozeri as Maccabi went into the break nursing a one goal lead.

Second Half
Almog had a 48th minute free kick from 20 meters but the Rishon keeper caught the ball and kept it out of the goal. Twenty minutes later, the visitors saw the equalizer in their sights, but Ron Gabbay cleared the ball off the line to safety, stoning Malca who was looking for his second marker of the contest. Tzarfati made his first substitution in the 73rd minute as Mahmoud Awesat came in for Galili.

Rishon was given a penalty with 14 minutes to go, but Malca again couldn’t draw his side even as Ozeri went to his right and made the stop as Maccabi still clinged onto the 2:1 lead. The Yellow & Blue Head Coach made another couple of moves and inserted Netanel Peretz in place of Zamir and Amit Shapira was introduced in favor of Or Dasa. In the 87th minute, Ozeri came up big again making the save off of an Asulin attempt as Maccabi held on for the 2:1 win.

Dor Peretz goes on loan to Hapoel Haifa until the end of the season

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Dor Peretz will go on loan for the balance of the season to Hapoel Haifa. Sports Director Jordi Cruyff commented on the move:

“We feel that he’s a big part of the future at Maccabi Tel Aviv and we have great faith and belief in him. We did feel that he should have continuity in playing games and also to play in one clear position. That is why we feel that Hapoel Haifa offered this opportunity that he will play many games and will play in a position that he will want to focus on. We’ll be monitoring him and we can say now for sure that he will be in Maccabi Tel Aviv next season.”

This Week in History: A Look back at the 1970 5:0 Derby

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For many fans, the 5:0 Derby win in the first round of Ligat Ha’Al action was the best game they had ever witnessed. However, a look back in history, 47 years ago to be precise will take us to another great moment. On January 24, 1970, the Yellow & Blue defeated Hapoel Tel Aviv 5:0 which was the Club’s biggest Derby win to date. “This Week in History” takes us back to this special encounter at Bloomfield Stadium.

Right before the opening whistle one could feel that something was in the air. The weather conditions weren’t ideal for football as the rains came down on a wintery January day turning the Bloomfield pitch into a soggy field that would make things a bit more difficult for both sides.

During the day fans talked about the contest being to close to call as both sides were on equal footing. On the morning after the match, Emanuel Galili of the Chadashot HaSport newspaper wrote: “Since both clubs were battling it out at the top of the table, everyone expected an even fight with one side taking the win by a goal. However, when reality set in both sets of fans were surprised. No one thought that there would be such superiority by one club and yet by such a score in a match that should have been so much closer.”

Despite the bad weather, over 21K fans filled the stands at Bloomfield Stadium. With the pitch muddy as ever, legendary coach Dubir Schweitzer z”l realized that there would be no tiki-taka and prepared his players for the conditions that lay ahead. “They adapted to the pitch and didn’t dribble very much, sending long ball after long ball from side to side allowing the ball to do most of the work,” wrote Galili in his Derby match report.

The big hero was of course Giora Spiegel who also featured for the Israel National Team at the World Cup in that same year, as he delighted the crowd with a hat trick. Spiegel put home his first goal in the 7th minute while he doubled the score twenty minutes later via a free kick. But not only did he score, he also assisted on Rachamim Talbi’s strike in the 47th minute for the third goal and Nissim Bachar’s marker in the 54th minute. But the cherry on top was Spiegel’s third goal thanks to a Talbi helper in the 61st minute as the 5:0 scoreline held up until the end of the match as the greatest Derby win. Of course, that was until September 25, 2016 when Nosa Igiebor, along with braces from Tal Ben Chaim and Vidar Kjartansson equaled the feat.

Galili finished his piece by stating: “Thousands of fans besieged the dressing room for up to an hour following the game, cheering the Maccabi players on for one of the best and most exciting matches that had been seen in such a long time.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Starting XI: Micki Michaeli, Meir Nimni, Tzvika Rosen, Menchem “Miko” Belo, Giora Spiegel, Avraham Shatemnerg, Ezra Ozeri, Nissim Bachar, Dror Bar Nur, Rachamim Talbi, David Karako. Substitutes: Shalom Shikva. Coach: David (Dubir) Schweitzer.

Eitan Tibi & Eli Dasa package food for Holocaust Survivors

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Eitan Tibi and Eli Dasa spent Thursday afternoon putting together food packages for Holocaust survivors in the Jaffa area along with Maccabi supporters as part of Maccabi Tel Aviv FC Foundation programing. After arriving at the Jaffa Institute’s Food Distribution Center, which is located just a short walk away from the Yellow & Blue Training Facility at Kiryat Shalom, the players learnt about the plight of those who survived World War II and now find themselves aging and in need of the organization’s help.

Following the packaging, the boxes of food were delivered throughout the neighborhood as the Foundation volunteers were met with smiles and thanks by the recipients. Foundation Head Josh Halickman said: “In the long tradition of Maccabi Tel Aviv, it was the least we could do to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It was extremely important to show that as a Club we do care about those who not only suffered through one of the Jewish People’s worst nightmares but are now struggling on a day to day basis.”