Maccabi Tel Aviv will face Pandurii this Thursday evening in the 3rd round of Europa League qualifying. The Yellow & Blue will be playing at the Stadionul Municipal in the city of Drobeta-Turnu Severin and will begin at 21:00 local time in Romania.

Fans who would like to purchase a match ticket will need to show a copy of their passport to the Maccabi representative at the stadium. The ticket price is 10 LEU.

Rules of conduct:

• The transfer of tickets is prohibited.
• Fans who are not permitted to attend Maccabi matches in Israel are not permitted to attend games outside of the country as well. Should fans who are not permitted attempt to attend the match, they will not be permitted to enter the stadium and the ticket cost will not be returned.
• All fans must heed the police and security directives. Fans who do not follow the instructions will be subject to penalty by the local authorities
• Should the match be postponed or canceled the ticket cost (if any) will be refunded with the help of the Club.

According to the sporting event bylaws, the following offenses may be subject to arrest and lead to a conviction:

• It’s forbidden to enter the stadium under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
• A person who enters the area of the other club’s fans will be subject to ejection from the stadium for any reason whatsoever.
• Tickets may not be transferred or sold without the written consent of the club. Any ticket that changes hands risks entry to the stadium.
• Any ticket put up for sale without consent may be confiscated by the ushers, security personnel or police.
• The Club reserves the right to deny entry or eject any fan from the stadium who attempts to violate the law and order.
• Any cases of violence and racism will result in legal action against the violators of the full extent of the law by the local security forces and by the Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club.

The Yellow & Blue took off today from Ben Gurion Airport to Craiova, Romania and from there will take a two hour bus ride to town which sits right by the Romania/Serbia border in the southwest are of the county. Just prior to the flight, Eitan Tibi spoke to the Official Website about the challenge ahead:

“There no question that this won’t be an easy task and this is a tough opponent. It’s a team that we don’t really know that much about because they are not a regular domestic side that we normally would face. In a league match we would usually prepare differently than for a European game, but we are ready to go.”

Having a short break between seasons:

“We had a short break which has it’s pluses and minuses, we didn’t lose our fitness during that time ad it’s just a matter of getting better. We’re pretty fit for this time of year as we are still somewhat in preseason and I hope we will be at our best for this match.”

About the upcoming match:

“I’ve played many European matches since I’ve been with Maccabi and every game is unique in its own way. It will be tough but we’re coming to win the contest.”

Due to a radius penalty because of fan disturbance at the match against Hapoel Beer Sheva (lighting a smoke bomb), the Club looked for an appropriate stadium to host the upcoming Toto Cup game against Maccabi Petach Tikva. Since the Moshava Stadium would be unavailable because of the Israel Football Association regulation stating that a club can’t host a match in the opposing team’s home stadium, alternatives were looked at both in north and the south of the country.

Since the Club has a busy schedule including European matches on Thursday evenings, Maccabi looked to find a solution to the issue. The Akko stadium is hosting Hapoel Haifa and Bnei Sakhnin, Sammy Ofer is still on the reseeding process and Teddy Stadium is also working on making their pitch playable forcing them to play Ashdod at Rishon Le’Zion.

In addition, Kfar Saba and Ramat Gan do not have proper certifications and the Beer Sheva Stadium management refused to allow Maccabi host their match there as well.

Due to the shortage of available stadiums in Israel, the Club had no choice but to appeal to the Supreme Court to change the penalty from a radius match to a match without fans.

History in short

To try and sum up Yosef “Yosele” Merimovich’s life story in two paragraphs would be impossible, but we can attempt to take a look back at the beginning of his career. Yosele was born on July 24, 1924 in Cyprus and he can thank his brother Menachem, one of Maccabi’s first players for his introduction to football along with his connection to the Maccabi Association. Merimovich began his career as a Maccabi player at the age of 18 and played until 1958 with the Club. His best season with the Yellow & Blue was in 1949/50 when Merimovich won the league scoring title with 25 goals, including one in the Derby against Hapoel which helped Maccabi to the title in that campaign.

Merimovich had the privilege of playing his whole career with Maccabi Tel Aviv and he was also the one who recommended changing the Maccabi colors from Blue & White to Yellow & Blue in order to stand in unity with the Jews of Europe during the Holocaust. The change of colors is an everlasting memorial to those who perished and will always represent the unique relationship Maccabi will have with Jews worldwide.

Career Highlights and awards

Championships (7): 1941/42, 1946/47, 1949/50, 1951/52, 1953/54, 1955/56, 1957/58
State Cups (6): 1940/41, 1945/46, 1946/47, 1953/54, 1954/55, 1957/58
Goal Scoring Title: 1949/50

Top Moment

Just like everything else in his life, Merimovich’s debut was not a typical day at the office. After going through the Association as a youngster, Yosele began his way in the Maccabi Tel Aviv youth department and attended a first team match against Shatt Al-Arab. Egon Pollack the Head Coach at the time was missing several players and called on Merimovich who was sitting in the stands to join the team on the pitch and what would you know, he would score two goals. This fantastic beginning would pave the way for his colorful career at Maccabi.

Maccabi Tel Aviv recently signed the Argentinean midfielder and gave a short interview to the Official Website telling the Yellow & Blue universe all about himself and his goals for the upcoming campaign:

“Hi my name is Ezequiel Oscar Scarione and I’m 31 years old and I’m happy to play with Maccabi. I’m an attacking midfielder and played to 6.5 years in Switzerland and then three years in Turkey with Kasimpasa. I enjoy controlling the tempo of the match, score goals and I hope to do exactly that also here.”

Coach Arveladze:

“I played under Shota Arveladze for 1.5 years and he’s a great coach. I’m happy to get the chance to be coached by him once again.”

Goals ahead:

“I’ll give my all in order to help the club and achieve our goals. I’m really thrilled to be a part of Maccabi. The Club usually participates in European competitions and the main goal of the team is to win the league championship. Returning the title back to the Club is one of the club’s missions and I’ll do everything I have to in order to achieve that goal.”

Final words:

“Yalla Maccabi”

Tickets are on sale now for Maccabi Tel Aviv’s second leg third round Europa League match on Thursday August 4th against Pandurii.

Tickets are available for purchase at the Club’s Official Team Stores at the Kiryat Shalom Training Facility, 147 Dizengoff Street and Cinema City Rishon Le’Zion.

You may also purchase tickets via the Leaan Ticket Office, 101 Dizengoff Street, Tel Aviv, the Leaan website and via phone *8780.

Tickets Prices:

General Public ticket sales

Official Team Stores & the Leaan Ticket Office
West Side: 100NIS
Lower East Side: 90NIS
Upper East Side: 80NIS
E+: 225NIS
Silver Section: 350NIS

Internet & Phone *8780
West Side: 105NIS
Lower East Side: 95NIS
Upper East Side: 85NIS
E+: 230NIS
Silver Section: 355NIS