Over the last five years, there's only one person who could be considered the players "Mother" when they play outside of Israel. What do the players eat? When does he get the kitchen ready? Check out the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxyTHE5NCY8

Maccabi Tel Aviv is about to head to Malta for their second round Champions League qualifying match against Hibernians. Here is a few things you need to know about Malta

Malta, Malta

Malta is located in the Mediterranean Ocean just south of Italy and consists of three islands, Malta, Gozo and Comino. The country gained independence from Britain in 1964 and today has roughly 400,000 inhabitants, almost as many as the whole city of Tel Aviv. After joining the European Union in 2004 Malta changed its currency from the Lira to the Euro in 2008.

A bit of History

The two official languages of Malta are Maltese and English. Maltese is a combination of Italian and Arabic as the roots of Malta come from the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta. After being forced to leave Jerusalem due to the loss of territories in the Holy Land, the order then went to Rhodes and finally landed up in Malta in the year 1530. Malta is a Roman Catholic country and there are many historical and beautiful churches that are located on the island.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwfxAP2YL8c

Hollywood

The movie "Popeye" was filmed in Malta and to this day there is a park called "Popeye Village" where you can visit the movie sets and reenact Robin Williams in his first movie part! Other movies including Gladiator, Troy, Midnight Express and The Da Vinci Code were all filmed on the island.

Jewish Community of Malta

There are roughly 100 Jews living in Malta, where there is an active Chabad House that caters to not only the locals but to the many tourists that visit the country. The Chabad House has a synagogue and Torah classes that is run by Rabbi Chaim Shalom and Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Segal. Chabad is located 30-minutes away from the stadium where Maccabi will play their match on Tuesday and visitors can also indulge at their Kosher restaurant called L'Chaim that offers Humus, Schnitzel, Falafel and other tasty delights to make you feel right at home.

Music!

Believe it or not there is a musical connection between Israel and Malta! Noy Alooshe and Saar Badishi wrote the dance song "Lie" performed at the 2011 Malta Music Awards by one-time Eurovision Maltese singer Glen Vella. You can check the song out right here http://youtu.be/3fAXk5GvRnc

Tel Aviv Heat!

The weather in Malta is very similar to that of Tel Aviv. On Matchday the temperature will be 32 degrees with 60% humidity so the players will feel like they are at home, should they like it or not.

Who are you Hibernians FC?

Hibernians FC comes from the town of Paola in southern Malta and has 12,000 residents. Paola is located 5KM from Valletta, the capital city of Malta and is considered one of the country's newer towns. The Hibernians Stadium which will host Maccabi Tel Aviv seats 4,000 people and is right by the sea offering the visitors a wonderful view! The club occasionally plays some of its matches at the 18,000 National Stadium in the city of Ta'Qali and is 25 minutes away from the Hibernians modest Stadium.

11 Days, 3 Preseason matches, One Club! Check out Maccabi's Training Camp 2015/16

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwfxAP2YL8c

Maccabi Tel Aviv has almost come to the end of their Leoben, Austria training camp as the club will play FK Anzhi Makhachkala from the Russian Premier League tonight at 19:00.

The side that Maccabi will face is not the same as it was a few years ago when they were a formidable European club. Today, Anzhi is a young club but for the first 20 years of its existence it was one of the top teams in Russia.

Current owner Suleyman Kerimov from Dagestan purchased the club in 2011 and invested huge sums of money into the team, bringing in stars such as Samuel Eto'o, Roberto Carlos, Yuro Zhirkov and world class head coach Guus Hiddink. However, at the start of the 2013/14 campaign, Kerimov decided to drastically reduce the budget and all of the big stars left resulting in the team being relegated at the end of the year. This past season Anzhi was promoted back to the top league by finishing second in the second division.

The team facing Maccabi this evening may not have the stars it once had but Anzhi still has some wonderful players under one of Russia's greatest coaches, veteran Yuri Semin.

Ilya Maksimov is a 28-year old attacking midfielder who will begin his third season at Anzhi and has scored 10 goals over the last two years for the club. Another player to keep an eye on is Ivory Coast striker Yannick Boli who came to Anzhi midway through last season and scored 15 goals in 23 league appearances. 21-year old Amadou Moutari from Nigeria scored 6 goals last year while midfielder Leonardo da Silva will not make life easy for Maccabi Tel Aviv.

After their match with Maccabi, Anzhi will face Copenhagen of Denmark and English side Bolton before opening their Russian Premier League season.

After ten days in Leoben, Austria, Maccabi Tel Aviv ended their training camp and are now on their way back home. Three preseason matches, many training sessions and a lot of hard work was done over the last week and a half as the Yellow-and-Blue will now continue their preparations for the real thing, the UEFA Champions League second round qualifying matches. 

Striker Barak Itzhaki discuses the ten day training camp as well as last night's match against Russian side FK Anzhi Makhachkala: 

"This was the first time we played against a Russian club which tend to be very hard and physical. Even though they were just promoted back to the first division they are still a tough Russian side. The game was an opportunity to play against a physical side like we are or even more than us and we were able to learn a bit more about our abilities. 

The first two matches were also against top clubs in Serbia and Hungary and gave us a good test to see how we stack up against those types of teams, and if we advance through Europe, we will play against even tougher opponents." 

Itzhaki also talked about his personal feelings about the training camp: "On a personal level I had a good camp. I don't like to talk about myself but I felt very good. Last year I wasn't in camp because of my injury, so to be able to complete the training sessions and to be able to maintain the same standards as the rest of the club especially in my physical fitness makes me very happy. As a team we are a very content group that likes to play with each other and you can see that on the pitch. Now we will continue to get ready for the Champions League qualifying matches and I hope that we'll be able to achieve something that we have been waiting a long time for." 

In two weeks, the return leg against Hibernians FC will take place at Bloomfield Stadium for the first home match of the year and Itzhaki is already excited to see the supporters: " It's always fun to play at Bloomfield with our great fans and we've missed them. It's now time to play in Europe and show the opposition what it's like to play at Bloomfield and I'm sure our supporters will push us to higher and higher levels."

Gal Alberman is getting ready for the UEFA Champions League second round qualifying match against Hibernians FC and also looks at some of the advantages Maccabi will have this year compared to last season

 Maccabi Tel Aviv has just returned to Israel after a ten-day training camp in Austria and are continuing to prepare for their first official match of the year against Maltese champions, Hibernians FC in the second round of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYADpzZAX-I

As the club gets ready for the match next week, midfielder Gal Alberman had a chance to talk about training camp that just took place in Leoben, Austria.

 "I think we did some very good work at training camp," explained Alberman. "We saw throughout the preseason matches that we improved in certain areas, but of course there is still plenty of work to do and the time is short. The goal was to get better from match to match and from training session to training session and I think we did just that. We have to take advantage of every minute of every day that we have left to get ourselves in tip-top shape for the important matches ahead of us."

 Alberman and the other Maccabi players had very little time for rest and relaxation, but no one complained: "We didn't have a very big break between last season and this season so we didn't need much time to get back into the swing of things. Of course, it's always hard to come back no matter how long a break there is, but that's it, vacation is behind us. We worked very hard at an extremely intense ten-day training camp and we'll continue full steam ahead."

 "I feel really good," Alberman added. "I worked very hard like everyone else did at training camp. You have to remember that this is the goal, to come and work hard to improve oneself and get ready physically as well as tactically. All in all we did very good work in all of these areas."

 Last season due to Operation Protective Edge, Maccabi was forced to play its home qualifying matches outside of Israel, however this year the Yellow-and-Blue will return to Bloomfield Stadium.

"Last year we talked a lot about how important it was to be able to play at Bloomfield, especially in European competition. This year we'll have our supporters by our side and Bloomfield will be a huge factor during qualifying. I hope we get a good away result, so when we come back home the stadium will be rocking!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FzTO-w6orM

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It's been 11 years since Tal Ben Haim last wore the Yellow-and-Blue but Maccabi's new central defender feels like he's back home. While Ben Haim and his teammates are preparing for the upcoming Champions League qualifying match next week, he found the time to tell us about his return to the club, how he's changed and what's better: Stamford Bridge or Bloomfield. Watch the video to find out!

Do you want the latest news from training camp? Daily reports, preseason match recaps and hilights along with exclusive interviews and pictures only on the official club website!

Also on the site:

Zahavi VS Haviv: do not miss this video!

Trip to Malta contest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IdbauAi4_M

Coming back to play for Maccabi:

It was a great experience to play in England and as the years go by you learn what's needed to do to continue playing in there. Of course, I always followed what Maccabi was doing and this past year I knew that I could come back.

Changes at the club:

 There have been huge changes at Maccabi as the club has become much more professional. From the fitness trainer to the food and the training sessions which are much more intense.

Back to having having training sessions in Hebrew:

It's nice to be here with Eran, Eden, and Tal with whom I've played with on the Israel National Team and it took just a couple of days to get used to being back and I'm happy to be with everyone.

English music in the locker room:

In England most of the music in the locker room was in English but I brought in some Greek music too.

Breakfast in Israel or England:

When I got to England I laughed that the guys ate beans with an omelette, but after four or five years you get used to it and I also started to eat it. It was good, but nothing beats a good Israeli breakfast like my father's vegetable omelette an it's much more tastier.

 Tel Aviv or London:

 Tel Aviv. To workout with a fitness trainer in the morning, eat lunch and then go to the ocean. You can't do this in England and I missed it a lot.

Bloomfield or Stamford Bridge:

Stamford Bridge with Maccabi's fans, that would be a winning combination!

First match at Bloomfield:

I'm already looking forward to the first match at Bloomfield. I'll be like a player coming up from the youth team.

Central defender, midfielder or striker:

I began playing striker with Maccabi as a 6-year old until I was 14. But if you asked me today what other position I would play other than central defender I would say defensive midfielder.

Expectations for the upcoming season:

First of all, I want to help out the younger players with my many years of playing experience. I want to compete for all of the titles and help Maccabi improve in Europe. For me that's a very important mission.

Maccabi Tel Aviv ended its three game preseason training camp in Austria drawing with FK Anzhi Makhachkala 1:1. The club returns to Israel tomorrow and will continue its preparations for the UEFA Champions League second round qualifying match against Hibernians FC in Malta next week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmgNoaWFyB0

Coach Slavisa Jokanovic began the match with Juan Pablo in goal, Eden Ben Basat, Tal Ben Chaim and Dor Micha up top with a midfield of Nikola Mitrovic, Nosa Igiebor and Gal Alberman with Omri Ben Harush, Tal Ben Haim, Carlos Garcia and Eitan Tibi shoring up the defense.

Both sides had a number of chances in the first half, however it was Man of the Match Juan Pablo's penalty save that was the hilight of the first 45 minutes. Defender Tal Ben Haim was charged with pulling down Leonardo da Silva in the box, however Ilya Maksimov's subsequent penalty was brilliantly batted away by the veteran Spanish 'keeper with his right hand!

The second half began with Maccabi bringing in Gili Vermouth for Gal Alberman, however minutes later a breakdown by defenders Tal Ben Haim and Eitan Tibi allowed for an easy tap in goal by Ivory Coast striker Yannick Boli. The Anzhi marksman scored 15 goals last season for his club and gave the Russian side a 1-0 lead.

Yellow-and-Blue 'keeper Juan Pablo continued his strong play and saved the day again later on in the half as he was quick off of his feet to make yet another "showstopping" save. Tal Ben Chaim and Barak Izhaki also had opportunities but their chances went wide of the goal.

In the 85th minute Eden Ben Basat took the bull by the horns and scored off a a free kick which was deflected into the Anzhi goal by Andrei Eshenko to give Maccabi a well earned 1:1 draw.    

Serbian coach Slavisa Jokanovic summed up Maccabi Tel Aviv's training camp after drawing against Russian side FK Anzhi Makhachkala in their final preseason match. The Yellow-and-Blue now turn their sights to the upcoming UEFA Champions League second qualifying match at Hibernians FC in Malta.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTWg4Wr1u4o

After the club finished their last preseason match 1:1 against FK Anzhi Makhachkala in Austria, coach Slavisa Jokanovic discussed the last ten days and looked forward to their first official match with Malta champions Hibernians FC in the second round of UEFA Champions League qualifying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmgNoaWFyB0

"This was a tough team," Jokanovic explained. "We had a practice this morning and the players weren't fresh. A lot of things happened in the match, and I hope we would have had greater ambition to play further up and try to score more goals. We maintained possession for a long time but it wasn't good enough against this opponent."

The coach also talked about the training camp: "I am very satisfied with the last ten days. We worked on very important things. I'm sure we will be prepared and fresh for the upcoming match next week in Malta."

"The goal is to keep improving. We moved ahead a number of steps and we'll be ready for the challenge that lies ahead of us because in only seven days we will play our first official match."