Category: Youth Teams

Yom Hazikaron marked at the Youth Department

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All across the State of Israel, Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day is being marked and of course the same was done at the Club’s Youth Department where those who fell in the line of duty were remembered at a ceremony that took place at Kiryat Shalom. Youth Department players, professional staff along with many parents took part in the event while Liran Baruch and Omer Levi, fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv who were injured during their service lit the memorial candle together with Gideon Brickman, father of Shachar z”l whom the U19 club is named after.

In addition, Arik Sviatkovsky, brother of fan Ilan Sviatkovsky z”l who was killed by terrorists by the Gaza Strip was present as well. Dvir Zivan from Achim L’Semel read the names of Maccabi fans who fell while serving their country. Students from the Mandel School in Cleveland, Ohio, USA performed the opening song to mark the beginning of the ceremony.

Representatives of the Youth Department players read about the following who fell defending the country:
Oz Tzemach z”l who at 20 years of age fell in the Second Lebanon War when his tank took a direct hit. He along wit three others were killed. The Maccabi Tel Aviv Under-12 side is named after Oz as he was major Maccabi supporter.

Shachar Strog z”l son of Koby and Michal and brother to Adi was born in Giv`atayim and was a massive supporter of Maccabi and never missed a match. He fell on March 20, 2018 at 19:52.

Staff Sergeant Ariel Harush z”l graduated with honors from the Kiryat Sharet High School in Holon in the Biotechnology track. As a child he would accompany his father to Maccabi Tel Aviv football matches. When he completed his studies he enlisted in the Artillery Corps and enjoyed serving in the military. On November 15, 2017, about two months before his long awaited release from the army and a week after celebrating his 21st birthday, Ariel was killed in an accident on a road in the north during an operation near Kibbutz Yiftah.

Ilan Sviatkovsky z”l was born in Uzbekistan, immigrated to Israel with his family in 1994 and settled in Rishon Le’Zion. Already at an early age, he became a huge fan of the Club together with his brother Arik Sviatkovsky. There was no other fan like him. In March 2010, Ilan was killed in a clash with terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

Dvir Zivan from Achim L’Semel read the names of Maccabi fans who fell while serving their country: Natan Peretz, Adam Goren, Yaron Pickholz, Amit Itzhak, Beniya Rubel, Matan Gottlieb, Omri Levi, Tomer Hazan, Gil Oz, Doron Lev, Shimon Rouimi, Oshrat Pinto, Hagay Giorno, Ilan Sviatkovsky, Eldad Regev, Oz Tzemach, Shachar Strog, Ariel Harush.

Yellow & Blue Saturday Results, April 14, 2018

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שערי השבת במחלקת הנוער 14.4.18


Hapoel Ashkelon 0:2 Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv
The Under-19 side picked up another win, this time at Hapoel Ashkelon on Matchday 25 of the Israel Youth Premier League Ligat Ha’Al. The Yellow & Blue increased their lead atop of the table to 3 points thanks to goals by Eylon Almog via penalty in the 43’ and William Agada in the 70’ on an assist by Tomer Altman. For the Full Match Report CLICK HERE.

Hapoel Haifa “Ben Zion” 1:3 Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv
The Under-17 squad won the league title with 5 Matchdays to spare as they increased their first place lead to 16 points. Gil Ben Shalosh, Asaf Hershko and Shay Balahssan scored for the young Yellow & Blue. For Head Coach Eliezer Ben Aharon’s comments following the match CLICK HERE.

Maccabi “Eli Fuchs” Tel Aviv 4:1 Hapoel “Nir” Ramat Hasharon
Raymond Atteveld’s Under-16 team also remained in first place with a better goal differential thanks to goals by Yali Lazar, Yonatan Paz, Hadar Mor and Yishay Bozorgi. Atteveld summed up the match: “As expected the match was not simple just like the last contest against them. The opponent played defensively and physically and at times extremely physical. I’m happy that the side kept clam and played football. We scored two goals at critical times, just ahead of the break and that motivated the players. The second half we scored the third goal fairly quickly. We controlled the pace of play and unfortunately we gave up an easy goal and that is something we had to deal with and an important lessons for the guys. We then scored the fourth goal but we also missed plenty of times. I’m happy with the result as it was a tough opponent, but we could have scored more goals and not given up any gifts to our rivals. Thinking back to the goalless draw we had last time with them, then we’re content with the result.”


Maccabi “Eldad” Tel Aviv 5:0 Maccabi Yaffo Kabilyo
The Under-15 South club hosted the Jaffa team on Matchday 26. The Yellow & Blue have a five point lead atop of the table with 4 matches left in the campaign as they received goals from Liel Shota, Ori HaLevi, Bar Lin and Oskar Glok x2. Head Coach Ori David said following the match: “The match didn’t begin well but as the game moved along we took advantage of our opportunities. We found a way during our training sessions to maintain the same level of play for the majority of the game.”

Hapoel Raanana 1:0 Maccabi “Ilan” Tel Aviv
After four wins in a row, the Under-15 North squad fell to Raanana away on Matchday 26. Head Coach Asaf Heber summed up the match: “We played an excellent team who defeated us due to their aggressiveness and desire. We weren’t able to play our usual style of game due to their pressure and we gave up a goal on a set piece in the second half. At this stage of the season we have to understand that talent alone won’t win games; hard work on the pitch will. We will look to get back on the winning track next week.”

The Under-17 Team captures the league title

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The Under-17 side defeated Hapoel Haifa 3:1 and won the League Championship on Matchday 25, with 5 contests left in the season. Eliezer Ben Aharon’s squad to date have won 21 games, drew 3 and lost one while scoring 84 goals (the most in the league with an average of 3.36 goals per match) and conceded 20 goals (the least in the league).


Head Coach Ben Aharon spoke about the path to the title: “This is a championship that was built on teamwork. When I received the squad at the start of the season after an average campaign with a very talented side, we knew that the road to a good season would be hard work and some very important elements including playing as a team, supporting one another and working together as a squad which is what we did from day one. We have a quality group of coaches who brought their experience and care to each and every training session and match. I, along with the players enjoyed and learned a tremendous amount.

During the course of the season, the players improved from practice to practice and match to match and that is what brought the results that we see today. To capture the title with five matches remaining shows you how much this group improved from a third place finish last year. In addition, six players also advanced to the European Championships and became very instrumental in the Israel National Team. Despite winning the title, I personally believe we missed out on the State Cup. This is the first time for me after five straight years not to be in the final, so I have a feeling that we missed out.

I’m happy to say that I along with the staff are very proud of how the squad improved so nicely all season long and we’re proud that the players will head to the Under-19 or First Team (training sessions) and that they showed their abilities, understanding and quality. Today, our club is the best place to work and to play at and we have conditions that even some of the First Teams don’t have and I have to say how proud I am to be a part of helping advance players at Maccabi Tel Aviv. The season isn’t over yet and we want to finish with an even bigger gap, so it will be very difficult to break our record.”

Key matches from the season:
Matchday 8: 2:1 win over Maccabi Haifa that pushed the Yellow & Blue ahead at the top of the table.
Matchday 10: 14:0 over Hapoel Haifa. A quality performance that continued the club’s fine play.
Matchday 24: After the side’s first defeat, the Yellow & Blue beat Hapoel Beer Sheva 8:1.
Matchday 25: 3:1 over Hapoel Haifa to secure the championship with five Matchdays remaining.
Rave Assayag leads the league in goals with 21.

Maccabi “Shachar” defeats Hapoel Ashkelon 2:0

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After last week’s important win against Beer Sheva, the Under-19 club traveled to Ashkelon the last place team on Matchday 25 of the Israel Youth Premier League Ligat Ha’Al. The young Yellow & Blue entered the day in first place with a 2 point lead.

Head Coach Guy Tzarfati’s Starting XI included: Daniel Peretz, Noam Cohen, Alon Shtrozberg. Yoav Hofmayster, Tomer Mahluf, Amit Glazer, Mufleh Shalata, Tomer Altman, Netanel Peretz, Eylon Almog and William Agada.
Prince Thomas was unavailable as he was in IDF basic training.

First Half
The small pitch allowed for the host’s to play a more defensive style of game with counterattack’s which was evident from the outset of the contest as the first chance was in the 5’ by Ashkelon when a cross from the wing found their striker in the box but his header went out. Ten minutes later Shalata tried his luck from outside of the box but the ball found the outside netting of the goal.

In the 22’ Altman had a nice attempt, but his shot was taken care of by the keeper as the next twenty minutes were played primarily in the midfield with the young Yellow & Blue controlling the pace. With two minutes left in the half, Tzarfati’s charges got onto the board as a cross from the left made its way into the box and was touched by an Ashkelon defender’s hand, good for a spot kick. Almog made no mistake from 11 meters and sent the ball into the left corner, behind the keeper who had guessed the correct side but was too late to make the save. 1:0 Maccabi as the two teams headed into the break.

Second Half
The opening 25 minutes of the second half was again played in the midfield with very few chances being created by either squad as the Yellow & Blue controlled the pace of play.

In the 70’ Maccabi doubled the lead off a short corner. Shalata sent the ball to Altman who lifted it towards the goal as the opposing keeper went out to make the save, Agada arrived in time to head it home for a 2:0 advantage. Five minutes later, Agada sent a through ball 40 meters down the left wing to Eyal Hen who passed to Nidam, but his opportunity was taken care of by the Ashkelon keeper.

The host’s tried to cut the lead in the 80’ but Peretz made the alert save to send the ball out for a corner as the match came to an end with Maccabi “Shachar” taking home the 3-points and the win to remain in first place.

Youth Department Action, Saturday April 14, 2018

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Hapoel Ashkelon – Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv, 11:30 Ashkelon Synthetic (U19)
Following a win over Hapoel Beer Sheva last Matchday, the Under-19 squad heads to Ashkelon on Matchday 25 of the Israel Youth Premier League Ligat Ha’Al. The Yellow & Blue are currently in 1st place with a 2-point lead over 2nd place Maccabi Netanya while Ashkelon is in last place with one league win to their record.

Hapoel “Ben Zion” Haifa – Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv, 11:00 Kiryat Haim (U17)
The Under-17 side can take home the league championship when they visit Hapoel Haifa on Matchday 25. The young Yellow & Blue are in 1st place with a 16-point lead with 5 games to go in the season and a win will give them the league title for the 3rd straight campaign. Hapoel Haifa sits in 13th place with 6 league victories.

Maccabi “Eli Fuchs” Tel Aviv – Hapoel “Nir” Ramat HaSharon, 10:30 Kiryat Shalom Synthetic (U16)
After moving into 1st place last Matchday, the U16 team will host Ramat HaSharon at Kiryat Shalom. There are currently 4 clubs even on points but the young Yellow & Blue are in 1st place due to a better goal differential. The visitors are in 7th place with a streak of 6 wins out of 7 contests.

Maccabi “Eldad” Tel Aviv – Maccabi Yaffo Kabilyo, 8:30 Kiryat Shalom Synthetic (U15 South)
The Under-15 South side enter Matchday 26 in 1st place with a 5 point lead. The visitors are in 10th with 3 losses out of their last 4 games.

Hapoel Raanana – Maccabi “Ilan” Tel Aviv, 9:00 Raanana Park North Synthetic (U15 North)
The Under-15 North squad will look to keep up their positive momentum when they visit Raanana on Matchday 26 as they come into the contest with 3 wins out of their last 4 games while scoring 18 goals and conceding 2 during that time. Raanana is in 6th with 5 straight wins.

The Youth Department marks Yom HaShoa

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All across the country and around the world Yom Hashoa – Holocaust Remembrance Day is being commemorated as we all look back to the horrors the Jewish People experienced. The Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Department marked the day as team after team spent time by a special memorial that was erected in the Youth Department courtyard. The coaches spoke about the importance of the Holocaust while a player from each squad read about the connection between the Yellow & Blue shirts and the Yellow Star that the Jews of Europe were forced to wear.

Here is the text that was read by the players:
Until the beginning of the 1940’s, the colours worn by Maccabi Tel Aviv were blue and white. In 1942, at the suggestion of one of Maccabi Tel Aviv’s players of the time, the late Yossef Merimovich, the colour yellow was adopted along with the traditional blue as a sign of solidarity with the Jews of Europe who were suffering the horrors of the Nazis and were forced to wear the infamous yellow star.

The stories of these horrors were “trickling” in to Israel and were a source of great pain to the Jewish community in Palestine, including the players of Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club. The news of the “yellow star” awoke in many long hidden emotions and Merimovich’s suggestion to adopt yellow along with blue as the team’s colour found wide support among the club’s management.

Yellow & Blue Saturday Youth Department Results April 7, 2018

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Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv 4:2 Hapoel Beer Sheva “Shlosha”
After a two week break, the Under-19 side defeated Hapoel Beer Sheva on Matchday 24 of the Israel Youth Premier League Ligat Ha’Al. Tomer Altman, Eylon Almog and William Agada with a brace scored for the host’s as they remained in first place. For the full Match Report Click Here.

Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv 8:1 Hapoel Beer Sheva
After a midweek loss, their first of the season, the Under-17 squad won big against Beer Sheva. Bar Cohen and Rave Assayag scored braces as Gil Ben Shalosh, Ido Shachar, Shaked Navon and Asaf Hershko all scored for Maccabi as they remained in first place with a 16 point lead over their next closest rival. Next Matchday, Eliezer Ben Aharon’s side can lock up the championship with five games left in the season. Ben Aharon said: “After our first loss of the season on Wednesday, it was important to see the team rise to the occasion quickly and come back just as they’ve played all year long. We hadn’t beaten Beer Sheva both times we had played them and this was sweet sportsmanship revenge. They always play us the same way and they leave everyone in their own half looking to go on counterattacks. On our pitch it was a different story and it’s very hard to play against us that way and not give up any goals. The goals we scored in the first half finished the game off. We made some substitutes in the second half and it didn’t matter as we continued with the same pace of play and we scored another 4 nice team goals. As a staff, we enjoyed the motivation the players showed from the first minutes of the match. We play away at Hapoel Haifa on Saturday and if we win, the championship will be all sewed up with 5 matches to go.”

Hapoel Petah Tikva “Emanuel Ofir” 1:3 Maccabi “Eli Fuchs” Tel Aviv
The Under-16 club also came back to action with a victory defeating Hapoel Petah Tikva away on Matchday 25. Raymond Atteveld’s side continued its good momentum and have now scored 24 goals in 4 matches while the win moved Maccabi into first place due to a better goal differential. Tal Turgeman scored a hat trick in the win. Atteveld: “We scored in the 2’ and we had a number of other chances but we couldn’t convert them. We had a bit of trouble and we almost gave up a goal. We controlled the ball in the second half and instead of taking a shot at the right time we kept holding onto it. In football when you don’t take advantage of your opportunities the opponent will and they did just that on a through ball that helped draw the host’s even. We continued to create chances and we had good movement along the right wing which led to a cross into the box and our second goal. We then scored the third and didn’t have any problems after that as we kept the ball. We made things a bit difficult for ourselves but we’re still content with the end result.”

Hapoel Rishon Le’Zion 0:1 Maccabi “Eldad” Tel Aviv
After a midweek win, the U15 South side defeated Rishon Le’Zion on Matchday 25 and also increased their lead atop the table to 5 points. Elad Kaplan scored the winner for Ori David’s squad: “We won a very tough away match against the 3rd place team. We came into the match prepared and ready to go and we went after our opponent’s weak spots while we also kept a clean sheet. I’m proud of the guys.”

Maccabi “Ilan” Tel Aviv 5:1 Hapoel Haifa “Nir”
The Under-15 North team continued their good run of play with a win on Matchday 25 as Asaf Heber’s squad is in 3rd place with 4 wins in a row and having scored 18 goals. Ben Linker, Yonatan Paz x2 and Aviv Pelles x2 scored for Maccabi. Heber: “We scored a goal right at the beginning of the match but Haifa was able to tie up the contest through some of their long balls. We spoke at halftime about what we needed the players to do and they picked up the pace by scoring 4 goals in the first 20 minutes of the half. We have to continue to teach the guys how to keep up the intensity from the opening minutes.”

Maccabi “Shachar” defeats Beer Sheva 4:2

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Maccabi “Shachar” hosted Hapoel Beer Sheva on Matchday 24 of the Israel Premier League Ligat Ha’Al. The Yellow & Blue began the day in first place thanks to a win over Ashdod while Beer Sheva featured in 7th. The last time the two sides faced each other Maccabi took home a 2:0 win.

Starting XI: Daniel Peretz, Noam Cohen, Alon Shtrozberg, Fadi Najar, Yoav Hofmayster, Amit Glazer, Tomer Altman, Prince Thomas, Mufleh Shalata, Eylon Almog, William Agada.

First Half
Maccabi looked dangerous from the get go as Cohen sent Thomas a ball in the box but his shot went off of the Beer Sheva defense and out in the 3’. However, 5 minutes later Hofmayster sent the ball to Almog who gave Altman a perfect cross in the box as he found the back of the goal for a 1:0 lead. The Yellow & Blue doubled the score in the 13’ when Shalata on the right wing sent the ball into the area to Agada who headed it home for a 2:0 advantage.

Beer Sheva cut the lead to 2:1 in the 19’ when Itamar Shviro came down the left side and gave striker King Kogana the ball which he headed in. The match continued to be played at a frantic pace as Guy Tzarfati’s squad scored their third of the contest in the 27’. Almog tried his luck from long distance as the keeper parried the ball right to Agada who sent the rebound into the goal for a 3:1 lead. Three minutes later Shtrozberg gave Agada a beauty of a through ball who in turn handed it off to Shalata but his attempt went into the visitor’s defense.

In the 41’ Agada almost added his third of the match when Almog gave him a gorgeous pass that the former sliced towards the goal but keeper Amit Keren made the save, while a minute later Shalata began a counter attack that allowed Almog a terrific opportunity for a one on one chance but his shot hit the side netting. Just before the break, Beer Sheva almost found their second goal but Yonatan Elias who had come on as a substitute sent his attempt into the Yellow & Blue defense as they took a 3:1 lead into the second half.

Second Half
The second half began with both sides playing a bit more tentatively with the first real chance coming in the 55’ for Beer Sheva but Peretz was up to the task. Shiviro had a nice opportunity for the visitor’s a minute later however, Peretz again made the stop in the 60’.

The pace continued to slow, but that didn’t stop Maccabi as they took a 4:1 lead in the 75’ when Almog scored on a perfect shot. Beer Sheva picked up their second of the game just before the final whistle via Elias as the contest ended in a 4:2 Yellow & Blue win.