Category: News

Saturday’s Results in the Youth Division

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Maccabi's U14 Team South recorded their ninth consecutive victory as the U13 derby ends in a goal-packed draw

After Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-19s defeated Beitar Jerusalem on Saturday morning, it came as a disappointment that Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eli Fuchs" were knocked out of the U16 State Cup competition at the quarter-final stage after losing 2-1 to Maccabi Haifa at their "Ketzef" training ground. The home side jumped to a 1-0 lead after just twelve minutes but six minutes from the break Eden Kartsev restored Maccabi Tel Aviv's hopes of victory with an equaliser, his sixth goal of the season. The stalemate lasted until the hour mark when Maccabi Haifa scored their second, the final goal in a game that sent the hosts into the semi-finals at "Eli Fuchs"'s expense.

Head coach Eyal Tzachi's Under-15 Team 1, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eldad", had a far easier time with Hapoel Beer Sheva, beating their opponents comprehensively 5-2 in gameweek 19 of the nationwide U15 League Central District. The home side were first to get on the scoreboard courtesy of an early goal by Adir Hardon. The visitors briefly managed to turn the match around in the first half, but the second half belonged to "Eldad" alone as Tal Daon scored a hat-trick to bring his season total to 20 goals in all competitions. Maccabi's fifth came courtesy of a Beer Sheva own goal. Head coach Erez Belfer's Under-15 Team 2 were also in celebratory mood after a 0-2 away win at Hapoel Petch Tikva in their nationwide U15 League Sharon District gameweek 19 fixture. Yam Ben Yehuda and Tomer Tzitrin contributed the goals in what was the team's fifth win in their last six outings.

Maccabi's Under-14 Team South hammered Hapoel Rishon Lezion 7-0 at Kiryat Shalom to book their ninth consecutive win, with seven individual players finding the net. Not to be outdone, their Team North counterparts reached double figures in their jaw-dropping 12-0 victory over Nesher FC. In the nationwide U13 Central District League the two Maccabi teams, North and South, played out a derby of the quality we've come to expect from the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Division, with both sides scoring four times in a goal-packed 4-4 draw.  

 

This Saturday in the Youth Division

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Maccabi's U19s will host Beitar Jerusalem, the U16s hope to advance to the State Cup semi-finals

After having last week failed to score for the first time this season in a goalless draw against Maccabi Netanya, Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-19s will attempt to get their title aspirations back on track when they host Beitar Jerusalem at the Ramla municipal stadium on Saturday in a match to be broadcast on Israeli sports channel 55 starting at noon. The club's Under-16s will have a break from league duties to play their State Cup quarter-final tie at Maccabi Haifa's "Ketzef" training ground at 1.15pm.

Maccabi's Under-15 Team 1 will host Hapoel Beer Sheva at the Kiryat Shalom training ground's artificial pitch at 11am with a view to maintaining their six-point advantage atop the nationwide U15 League Central District table. Head coach Erez Belfer's Under-15 Team 2 will be looking to stay in good form when they play away to Hapoel Petach Tikva at Sirkin Field at 8.30am in gameweek 19 of the nationwide U15 League Sharon District.

Head coach Ori David's Under-14 Team South will have the early kick-off at Kiryat Shalom's artificial pitch when they welcome Hapoel Rishon Lezion at 9am on Saturday. The Under-14 Team North will open the afternoon on the same pitch when they host Nesher FC at 12.45pm. Finally, the nationwide U13 League Central District will serve up a Maccabi derby when Team North greet Team South at the Hadar Yosef playing field at 8.30am.   

Some numbers behind the top-6 playoffs

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This weekend the Israeli Premier League play-offs get underway. How will our beloved Maccabi fare? Perhaps the past can provide some clues . . .

Play-off champions

Since the play-offs were reintroduced in the 2009/10 season, Maccabi Tel Aviv are the club who have collected the most points from the run-in phase of the season, 68 in all. Maccabi Haifa are second with 60, Hapoel Tel Aviv third with 57.

The name of the game is stability

In four of the last five seasons, Maccabi have maintained their end of normal-season position in the table throughout the play-off period.

Rising tide

These last five seasons have seen Maccabi's play-off goalscoring totals on a rising curve, starting with 6 in 2010 and moving steadily upward through 12 and 14 in the following two seasons to 17 and 18 in the last two. If this trend continues, we may expect this year at least 19.

Heading for the heights

If Eran Zahavi repeats his play-off goalscoring output from last season, when he scored 11 goals in all, his season total will reach 32, breaking the all-time club record of 30 established in the 1954/55 season by Nissim Elmaleh.

Home sweet home

If Maccabi remain unbeaten at Bloomfield during these play-offs, they will have gone an impressive two whole seasons without losing at home in any competition.

New Faces, old faces

This year one new club will enter the recent play-off field, Maccabi Petach Tikva. During this period Maccabi Tel Aviv's most familiar play-off rivals have been Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Tel Aviv, whom the club have faced seven times each.

Setting the record straight

Maccabi go into the play-offs to face three rivals they've failed to beat in the league so far this season: Ironi Kiryat Shmona, Hapoel Beer Sheva and Beitar Jerusalem. Against the other two, Maccabi Petach Tikva and Maccabi Haifa, the situation is quite the opposite: Four wins out of four.

Past and present

The squads of Maccabi's play-off rivals sport nine players who have worn the Yellow-and-Blue kit in the past –  one at Maccabi Haifa, two at Hapoel Beer Sheva and three each at Maccabi Petach Tikva and Ironi Kiryat Shmona.

 

   

 

“The atmosphere at Bloomfield will be ideal”

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Veteran  midfielder Mahran Radi is all geared up ahead of Maccabi's first play-off match tonight: "These are the games I love most"

This is Mahran Radi's third season at Maccabi Tel Aviv so he is well acquainted with the play-off phase of the Israeli Premier League title chase. Tonight at 8.35pm at Bloomfield Stadium, Radi and his team-mates will enter the run-in of the 2014/15 season against traditional rivals Maccabi Haifa, and the veteran midfielder is raring to go: "For me these are the best games of the season, the big ones, the ones that separate the men from the boys as it were. The teams in the top-six playoff are there because they deserve to be there so it will be very rough going. But up till now it's all been down to us and I believe that's how it will stay. We'll have to be at the top of our game, that's what's kept us a unit the past few years and I hope we'll carry on that way. On top of that of course, everyone's got to play better and give that extra bit more because that's what you need in the play-offs".

Watch the full interview (in Hebrew) here below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIDnCZ9Kf9E

 

MACCABI’S U19S BEAT BEITAR JERUSALEM 2-0

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Maxim Gretchkin nets his first goal of the season and Raz Itzhak adds the final touch as Maccabi's U19s book an important win over Beitar Jerusalem

After a period of mixed results that included a win, a loss and a draw, Maccabi's Under-19s hosted Beitar Jerusalem at the municipal stadium in Ramla for an encounter that was critical to their hold on the top spot in the Under-19 Premier League and their aspirations for the league title. And from the very start of the match, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" made clear their intentions to return to winning ways, putting the Beitar defence under pressure and creating a number of excellent chances. Gabriel Kanikovski ran riot down the opposition flanks and served up a number of excellent crosses for fellow midfielders Omri Haramati and Matan Hozez that but for the skills of Beitar keeper Lalo would have produced goals early on. On 17 minutes however even Lalo's best efforts failed as another of Kanikovski's crosses created a scramble in the Beitar defence in front of goal. After Matan Hozez saw a first effort saved, fellow midfielder Maxim Gretchkin slammed home his first goal of the season to put the home side in front 1-0. 

Armeli

Head coach Ziv Arie's lads continued to show good form throughout the first half but failed to increase their advantage. After the break he sent on striker Yonatan Cohen for Omri Haramati but the half got off to a hesitant start. After ten minutes, when the first shot on goal appeared, it came from the visitors, their first of the match, but Maccabi keeper Sahar Hasson immediately smothered their hopes of drawing level. When the home side did return to life it was largely due to the efforts of Sohil Armeli in midfield and on 73 minutes the home-side crowd were finally rewarded for their patience. Second-half substitute Raz Itzhak dispossessed the Beitar defence and sent a long ball to Yonatan Cohen, who obliged Itzhak by returning him the ball in front of an empty net. This splendid co-operative effort thus extended Maccabi's lead to 2-0, but by no means ended "Shachar"'s domination of the match, and late on both Matan Hozez and fellow midfielder Eliel Peretz saw excellent efforts saved by the Beitar keeper. But the proceedings ended with the same 2-0 scoreline after a positive and pacey display by Maccabi that keeps them three points ahead of their nearest league rival Maccabi Haifa.

Hozez

Next Saturday Ziv Arie and his squad will attempt to keep the smiles on their faces when they head south to face Hapoel Beer Sheva away.            

Gearing up for the playoffs: your forecast

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As Maccabi enter the top-six playoffs, the fans have been making some calculations

On Sunday night Maccabi Tel Aviv open their top-six playoff campaign at home against traditional rivals Maccabi Haifa, who finished the normal season in sixth place. This will be the first of ten matches, five ties home and away, with one unifying purpose: The 2014/15 Israeli Premier League championship. So, how many of those matches will Maccabi win? How many titles will the team finish the season with and who will score the most headed play-off goals? More predictions? Who will be the surprise player of the play-offs and how many clean sheets will the team keep? The answers may very well lie in the video clip below as Maccabi supporters, Israeli football's most devoted fans, give their forecasts for the season 2014/15 Israeli Premier League top-six playoffs (in Hebrew): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVl08LQ_Rc8

 

Pako Ayestaran: “It should be the ‘Clasico’

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Maccabi head coach Pako Ayestaran is ready for Sunday's intriguing encounter with Maccabi Haifa: "It's a totally different team to the one we confronted three times during the league"

"Always there's a big rivalry between big teams and these are two of the big teams in Israel. I think they're the most successful teams in Israel. In this case it should be the 'Clasico'", were the opening words of Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Pako Ayestaran at the start of the press conference ahead of the club's opening top-six playoff tie against traditional rivals Maccabi Haifa on Sunday at 8.40pm. Before that the coach expressed his condolences to the family of team player Carlos Garcia, who learned on the way to training that his grandfather had passed away today: "First of all I would like to send my condolences to Carlos Garcia's family because his granddad passed away today. He had a notice just today when he was coming here. We always say that football is the most important thing in life but only when the family matters are in the right way. Of course for him now the most important thing is his family and he will have the support of the coach and the players in whatever he needs in the coming hours". 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYH5Oy-KNrk

So far this season, Maccabi Tel Aviv have faced their northern namesakes three times in all competitions, and won all three encounters. But the Spaniard is sure that the two teams' season record so far will not be of any importance when they meet for the fourth time on Sunday: "It will be a difficult game, especially because it's a totally different team to the one we confronted three times during the league. You see the line-up, there are just two or three players that played against us. In this case the game will be different and for sure we will have to be ready for that".

Levy

Ahead of yet another game at Bloomfield Stadium, Pako was also asked about the disapproving reaction of Maccabi fans last Monday night to the substitutions he made at the match against Hapoel Petach Tikva: "Normally the one you listen to is the one who shouts more. It doesn't mean that they are more and it doesn't mean that they are right, just that they shout more. Because I don't like to shout and it's something I am going to continue, and I am going to continue respecting them even if they don't agree with me".

Eran Zahavi, who has scored in both of the team's league victories over Maccabi Haifa this season, is ready for yet another intriguing contest against the northern rivals: "Whenever you face a team that are keen to play at your level, to attack and get all three points like yourself, the game is more open and lifts the two sides to an entirely different level. In games like that the mental frame of mind becomes more important, but even when you play smaller clubs you have to be in the same frame of mind and that's what's really hard in football. In any case, we hope to get the job done against Maccabi Haifa and no question about it, we're looking forward to it".

Zahavi

With the season entering its criticial phase the prolific midfielder had a word to say about the team's ability and fitness: "We have to stick to our guns, a quick passing game, pressure on the opposing team and everything else we've been trained to do and have been doing during most of the season. That's what we intend to do from this point on. It's very flattering to know people expect even more from us, but right now we're on top by a fair margin. The season started very hard for us, with lots of bother. We didn't look good and suddenly we're going for all the titles and we have to put things in proportion. Of course you can also do better, but so far we're having a very good season as it is".

The maccabi squad pay a visit to “Shaldag”

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The Maccabi squad took a break from their busy footballing routine to pay a special visit to the elite Israeli Air Force commando unit "Shaldag"

Just ahead of the squad's most crucial period of the season on the pitch, Maccabi Tel Aviv made time for a special activity off the pitch, taking a break from their busy training regime ahead of the play-offs to visit the base where the elite Israeli Air Force commando unit "Shaldag" have their headquarters. During their sojourn, the players and coaching staff were briefed on the unit's mission, were able to ride on operational vehicles and were given a demonstration of the unit's special weaponry.

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At the end of their stay, the visitors participated in a ceremony for the opening of the "Shaldag" unit's brand-new athletic field. Maccabi captain Sheran Yeini joined the unit's physical training officer in cutting the ribbon. Afterwards Maccabi head coach Pako Ayestaran told those present how impressed and inspired he was by the commitment, the professionalism and in particular the high standards demonstrated by both the commanding officers and the soldiers at the "Shaldag" unit.

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Ben Chaim: “I don’t envy them for a moment”

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Tal Ben Chaim after a lecture by match referees: "It's a very valuable experience"

The work of the referee in professional football is far from simple, there's no disputing that fact. But their labours would be made considerably easier if only the players themselves would recognise the difficulties of the men (and in some countries women) whose whistles govern their behaviour on the pitch, for better and for worse. Today, while the rest of Israel took the day off for national elections, two of Israel's senior referees, Daniel Bar Natan and Ziv Adler, came to Maccabi Tel Aviv's Kiryat Shalom training ground to give a lecture on the latest changes in the rules of the game and other issues that arise during the course of football matches. The lecture was attended by coaching staff and players alike. Afterwards, Maccabi winger Tal Ben Chaim gave his reaction to what was said: "It's interesting to have a look at all this from the referee's point of view, it's a very valuable experience. I don't envy them and I wouldn't want to be in their shoes for a moment".

REFEREAS

Later on in the day the Maccabi players and training staff paid a visit to the base of the elite Israeli Air Force commando unit "Shaldag".