Emir Sahiti: “There’s a lot of quality in our team. I'm happy to be here”

A solitary Roy Ronen goal handed Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-17s victory in this season's first U17 Premier League Tel Aviv derby against Hapoel Tel Aviv

After a perfect season opening of three wins from three matches, Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-17s (the class of '97) hosted Hapoel Tel Aviv today in this season's first U17 Premier League Tel Aviv derby. Halfway through the first half, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded"'s Roy Ronen found the net for the fourth time this season, scoring what proved to be the game's only goal. Together with his goals for Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-16s, Ronen (class of '98) raised his season total to six. In contrast to Maccabi Under-17 head coach Eliezer Ben Aharon's lads, the visitor's came into the match with just three points from their first three matches. Nonetheless Hapoel stayed in the game and tried to equalise, but Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded" held fast and kept a clean sheet to register their fourth consecutive victory of the new season. After a two-week break in the Under-17 Premier League, they'll play their next league match on November 2^nd against Hapoel Kfar Saba.

The club's Under 16s, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eli Fuchs", also brought their points total to a perfect twelve of twelve from four matches after a resounding 6-0 win over Beitar Tel Aviv at the Kiryat Shalom training ground. Omer Lakau netted a brace to raise his goals total to ten in four matches. Ittimar Shaviro scored his third of the season and Ayalon Almog and Elad Shachaf finished off the scoring with their maiden goals for the Under-16s.

Maccabi's Under 15 Team 2, the only Youth Division team to play a Cup match, rounded off the division's Saturday triumphs. Their State Cup first round opponents were Beitar Ramat Gan and proved no match as Maccabi beat them comprehensively 7-0 to advance to the next round. Maccabi's children's teams, playing their opening matches of the 2013/14 season, also recorded a successful Saturday. Winners were the Under 14s South (3-0 against Ironi Modi'in), the Under-14s North (0-4 against Hapoel Hod Hasharon) and the Under 13s South (1-9 against Gadna Tel Aviv).  Maccabi's Under 13s North drew 1-1 against Hapoel Haifa.     

A solitary Roy Ronen goal handed Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-17s ...

This Saturday all four of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Division Teams on the fixture list registered victories

With four of the club's Under-19 players training for the national youth team, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" took a break from league duties this week-end. Instead Maccabi Tel Aviv were represented by four other sides in the Youth Division in this Saturday's youth league fixtures. Maccabi's Under-17s continued their good season opening form in the Under-17 Premier League with their third consecutive win, beating Hapoel Haifa 3-1 at Maccabi's Kiryat Shalom training ground. Raz Itzhak and Roi Ronen each scored their third goals of the 2013/14 season, with Eilon Yerushalmi contributing the other Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded" goal, his maiden strike as an Under-17.

The Youth Division's Under-16 side, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eli Fuchs", also made it three out of three and brought their points total to nine with an overwhelming 0-12 away win at Section Nes Tsiona. Head coach Erez Belfer saw six of his charges get on the score sheet, three of them with multiple strikes. Omer Lakau led the charge with an amazing five goals, Ofri Mashata and Guy Shetach scored a brace each and Shai Golan, Amit Cohen and Matan Cohen all added individual efforts to the goalmouth tidal wave.

Away wins were also recorded by both of Maccabi Under-15 teams. After two season opening draws, Team 1, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eldad", registered their first victory of the season with an impressive 1-6 display at Gadna Tel Aviv courtesy of a hat-trick by Almog Ayalon and individual goals by Adji Harford, Neal Goldberg and Ben Eilat. Maccabi's Under-15 team 2, playing this season for the first time in the national U15 League Sharon District, played Hapoel Ramat Hasharon away and also maintained a perfect record in the young season. Despite competing part of the match down to ten players, head coach Haim Siton's lads won 1-2 with goals from Tal Segev and Gigi Darsilia.

Next Saturday October 12^th the remaining ten teams in Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Division will join the weekly match arena as the seasons of the various national children's leagues get underway. 

This Saturday all four of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth ...

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Division teams finished the second matchweek of the season with three victories and one draw

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Division teams continued their good start on Saturday with four matches without a loss in the second matchweek of the season. The Under-17s headed off to Ashdod in the second matchweek of the Under-17 Premier League and returned with an impressive 0-5 victory. Omri Haramati and Roi Ronen both scored braces and Raz Itzhak added the fifth in an impressive win as head coach Eliezer Ben Aharon youngsters registered their second victory in as many matches this league season. Next Saturday they will host Hapoel Haifa in matchweek three.

Maccabi's Under-16s also registered a second consecutive win as head coach Erez Belfer's charges achieved a resounding 7-1 home triumph over Maccabi Emek Heffer. Ittimar Shaviro and Shai Golan each scored braces while Omer Lakau, Or Dassa and an own goal finished off the goalfest. An Almog Ayalon brace helped Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-15 team 1 "Eldad", who play in the Central District league, draw 2-2 against Bnei Yehuda, while team 2, playing their second match of the season in the Sharon District league, overwhelmed Hapoel Kfar Saba 10-1. These four teams will continue their campaigns next Saturday while the remaining ten teams in Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Division will open their season on the 10th of October.

Dan Gross from the Under-15s team 1, Alon Friedman from the Under-15s team 2 and Ido Shachar from the Under-13s, three youngsters chosen outstanding players in Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Division last week, presented the match ball to the referees at the start of last night's Senior Team tie with Ironi Kiryat Shmona at Bloomfield Stadium. 

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Division teams finished the second matchweek of the ...

Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded" are preparing for the 2013/14 season after the launch of a new-look U17 Premier League

Maccabi Tel Aviv 's Under-17s have completed their training camp in the German town of Hennef and have returned to Israel to continue their pre-season preparations. The squad of head coach Eliezer Ben Aharon, composed largely of last year's Under-16s, played two matches against local German sides during the six-day camp. In the first encounter, "Oded" were defeated by Fortuna Dusseldorf 2-1, with Omri Haramati scoring Maccabi's only goal. Their second opponent was the local Hennef team, whom "Oded" defeated 0-4 courtesy of a second goal by Omri Haramati, a brace by Omer Lakou and an individual effort by Raz Itzhak. In addition to these two competitive matches, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded" continued regular training, including swimming and rope-climbing in the forests surrounding Hennef.

Back here in Israel the team have continued a schedule of pre-season friendlies, the last of which a 3-0 defeat of the Under-19 team of Hapoel Mahane Yehuda. The top-flight Under-17 season will officially kick off on September 21^st in what will now be called the "National U17 Premier League". The structure of the league has been changed and will now more resemble the structure of the U19 Premier League. To that end the eight different teams of both the nationwide U19 Leagues North and South have been drawn together into one national "Premier" League consisting of 16 teams. In matchweek 1, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded" will be hosting Bnei Sakhnin at the Kiryat Shalom training ground.

Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded" are preparing for the 2013/14 season after the ...

The traditional season's opening meeting of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Division was held yesterday at Kfar HaMaccabiah near Tel Aviv. Guest speaker was senior team head coach, Paulo Sousa

Slightly less than a fortnight before the official start of the 2013/14 MTA Youth Division season, the division's staff gathered at nearby Kfar HaMaccabiah for their season opening meeting. Present at the meeting were all members of the professional, medical and logistical staff, who spent the day conducting a comprehensive review of the activities of the Division last season and the preparations for the season ahead. Among other speakers, the club's psychologist, Noam Ayal, spoke about the need to find ways of releasing youngsters from the various teams that will cause them the least emotional harm. He was followed to the podium by the head coach of the senior team, Paulo Sousa, who spoke to the Division staff and answered questions from the various Youth Team coaches.

In addition to coach Sousa, the Youth Division's director of football, Nir Levin, addressed the staff regarding professional matters that had been placed on the agenda in the run up to the new season. He was followed by Dr Boki Yaron, head of the physical fitness department, who presented a review of the Division's activities in this vital area. A number of new faces at the meeting were the coaches and assistant coaches who recently joined the Division's professional staff, like Youth Team assistant coach Gili Landau and assistant coach of Maccabi's Under-17s, former Maccabi star Gadi Brumer. Landau, Brumer and the rest of the new members of the staff were officially introduced at the meeting as members of the Youth Division staff for the 2013/14 season.

The new season will officially kick off next Saturday, the 7^th of September, with the season opener of Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" (Under-19s) in the Youth Premier League. The season for the younger youth teams will start two weeks later. Click here to see a complete list of all the Youth Division teams and coaches for the 2013/14 season.     

The traditional season's opening meeting of the Maccabi Tel Aviv ...

Striker Barak Itzhaki and midfielder Gal Alberman conquer the Magyars, substitute midfielder Dor Micha grabs both assists

In head coach Paulo Sousa's maiden game as head coach, Maccabi Tel Aviv put on a superb display of attacking football to register an impressive 0-2 victory in the away leg of their first Champions League qualifier against Hungarian champions Gyori ETO FC. Early in the first half the Israeli champions already showed their attacking intentions as shots from distance by midfielders Gal Alberman and Maharan Radi within the first ten minutes of play were both saved by Gyori keeper Ľubos Kamenar. Gyori tried to stay in the match but Maccabi continued to dominate proceedings and further shots on target by midfielders Eran Zahavi (22^nd minute) and Omri Altman (37^th minute) narrowly missed handing their side a precious away goal. The Hungarians' best effort of the half came on the half hour mark when Gyori's young striker, Roland Varga, let fly from outside the area. But Maccabi goalkeeper Juan Pablo Colinas, in his maiden appearance for the club, timed his jump perfectly to palm the ball over the net.

The second half started at a slightly slower pace, but within ten minutes Maccabi saw two more efforts narrowly miss their target, the first by Maharan Radi and the second a header by striker Rade Prica, both grazing the far post. With a quarter of an hour left on the clock, the substitution of Rade Prica with young midfielder Dor Micha signalled a shift in play and within a minute of his appearance on the pitch the change was already tangible. Breaking through on the right flank, Micha crossed to Itzhaki in the area who shook loose a defender and smashed the ball past the Gyori keeper into the net to give Maccabi a precious away advantage and Itzhaki his first goal since returning to the club after a season on loan. Maccabi kept up the pressure and in the time remaining Radi, Zahavi and Micha all had chances at doubling the advantage. But it wasn't until time added on that Dor Micha once again broke down the right and passed back into the area for Gal Alberman, whose powerful shot flew past the Hungarian keeper's outstretched hand into the upper left-hand corner of the net to seal an invaluable 0-2 away Maccabi victory.

The return leg against Gyori ETO FC will be played next Tuesday night at 9.30pm at Bloomfield Stadium. 

In an intra-club derby, Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under 13 Team North beat their South rivals and celebrated the Youth Division's second Championship title of the 2012/13 season

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Division celebrated on Saturday their second Championship title of the 2012/13 season. By beating their South rivals in an intra-club derby 2-0, head coach Adi Somech's lads in the Under 13 Team North captured their first championship in the National Under 13s Central League with one match still left to the season. This brought to six the number of titles won by teams of Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Division, with in addition to two championships also four National Cup wins to their credit.

With Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under 17s participating in an international friendly tournament in Germany this week, the most senior squad to have played on Saturday were the Under 16s, who returned from an away encounter with Maccabi Haifa in the second round of the "Champion of Champions" competition for under 16s at the wrong end of a 6-4 scoreline. Head coach Eliezer Ben Aharon's charges took an early lead in this goal filled encounter through Omri Haramti, but the hosts had already turned the match around before half time and continued to lead up to the final whistle. Goals by Raz Yitschak, Joseph Ganda and Etai Aloni only served to narrow the deficit but could not prevent Maccabi's Under 16s from suffering their second defeat in as many matches in a "Champion of Champions" competition that is now beyond their reach of winning.

Both of Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under 15 teams finished their seasons in the National Under 15s Central League. In their final match, Team One hosted Hapoel Ramat Gan in a 1-1 draw. Sanir Lugassi scored Maccabi's only goal and the team finished second in the table, five points off the pace. And despite their 11^th consecutive league win, a 1-0 victory over Hapoel Beer Sheva, Team Two still finished one place behind their Team One rivals in third place. Maccabi's single goal in that match came from the spot off the foot of Tal Zinger.

For Maccabi's Under 14s this Saturday was also the last day of the season. The South Team only managed to finish fifth in the table despite an impressive 5-1 victory over Section Nes Tsiona, with five fine individual efforts by Naor Cohen, Tal Segev, Prince Thomas, Guy Dahan and Dan Gross. The North Team rounded off the season with their first win in six encounters, a 3-1 victory over Gadna Tel Aviv, with goals from Guy Shelah, Oz Eldar and Ziv Albach.

In an intra-club derby, Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under 13 Team North beat ...

Two Championships, four League Cups and a whole host of young players whose abilities have improved from week to week. Another successful season at the Youth Division of Maccabi Tel Aviv

The 2012/2013 season has finally come to a close, not only for the Championship senior squad but also for all the teams in Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Division. And once again, the Youth Division can look back upon a season of successes: Two Championship and four League Cup plates now line the shelves of the Youth Division trophy cabinet while the list of talented youngsters improving their abilities grows ever longer.

Teams of all ages shared in those successes, with only the Division's flagship side, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar", failing to fulfill their title aspirations. Having harvested three titles (two championships and one league cup) in the past two years, Maccabi's Under 19s had a season characterised by inconsistency, just missing out on the chance to go into the record books by winning three championships in succession. In losing their first three matches, head coach Amir Turgeman's lads had a difficult task ahead of them in making up lost ground throughout the rest of the season. A second round record of 13 wins in 15 matches nearly brought about a change at the top of the table but still left them a point behind the ultimate title winners, Maccabi Haifa. Still, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" boasted three outstanding goal scorers who divided the work quite evenly among themselves. First in line was striker Dor Jan, whose excellent form last season carried on into this one with 14 league goals. Close behind was midfielder Guy Cohen, also in his second season with the Under 19s, with 12 goals, a 300% improvement over last season. The third Under 19 to get into double figures this season was midfielder Sharon Ziso, whose 10 goals was also a significant advancement over last season.

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under 17's (the class of '96) ended the season with an impressive League Championship, finishing 17 points ahead of their nearest rival Hapoel Tel Aviv in the National Under 17 League South. Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded" also finished with the league's best offence (114 goals) and defence (only 12 goals conceded), completing an almost perfect season of 24 wins to only one draw and one defeat all year.  Three of Maccabi's Under 17 players finished at the head of the league's goal scoring table: Midfielder Yonatan Cohen (brother of Under 19 Guy) with 24 goals, striker Sohil Armeli, who came to "Oded" at the beginning of the season from Youth Club Nesher , with 21 goals and midfielder Matan Hozaz with 20 goals in the 2012/13 season.

Another title earned in Maccabi's Youth Division came from the Under 16s, who won the League Cup. In all six of their ties in Cup competition, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eli Fuchs" conceded just one goal, and their impressive 3-0 Cup final victory over Maccabi Haifa came courtesy of goals from Omri Haramati, Ayalon Yerushalmi and Raz Yitschak. A second League Cup added to the Youth Division trophy cabinet was provided by Maccabi's Under 14 Team South (class of '99), who thoroughly outclassed their opponents in the final, Ashdod FC, by a score of 4-0. A second Championship trophy was added to the Youth Division Cabinet by the class just one year behind them, the Under 13 Team North, under the able leadership of Adi Somech. They secured the title with one match to spare by beating Maccabi's Under 13 Team South 2-0 in an intra-club derby.

Maccabi Tel Aviv's class of 2001 retained the League Cup for the third consecutive year thanks to Under 12 Team North. Head Coach Asaf Propheta's youngsters beat Hapoel Rishon Lezion 2-1 at the National Stadium in Ramat Gan to become Maccabi Tel Aviv's first title winners of the 2012/13 season. The match was held as part of the Israeli Football Association's Open House that featured a second final as well, one in which Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under 10 Team South also celebrated a 2-1 victory over their opponents Maccabi Petah Tikva. 

Two Championships, four League Cups and a whole host of ...

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under 17s missed a golden opportunity to win the "Champion of Champions" competition. Nearly All the other MTA Youth Teams were victorious on the last day of the season

After their impressive third place finish at the 40th International Pentecost Tournament U17 VfL Theesen in Germany, Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under 17s returned home to play their third match in the National U-17 "Champion of Champions" competition. After having taken full points in their first two matches of the competition they hosted Maccabi Haifa in the third and final match of the tournament. While their green-clad rivals needed a win, for head coach Ziv Arie's Maccabi Tel Aviv side a draw would have sufficed to earn them the title of premier club of both the North and South divisions of the National Under 17 leagues. But two early Haifa goals put the game out of their control and in a one-sided affair their northern rivals added three more to no reply and the visitors walked off 0-5 victors. But despite the disappointing result, Maccabi's Under 17s can look back on an extremely successful season with an impressive championship that saw them lose just once in 26 league matches.

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under 16s had a more successful finish to their "Champion of Champions" competition, beating Beitar Tubruk 5-0 in their final encounter. Having lost their first two matches of the tournament, head coach Eliezer Ben Aharon's lads recovered to register a convincing victory over the side that finished third in the National Under 16 League North. Maccabi captain Ayalon Yerushalmi scored a brace while Tomer Altman, Raz Yitschak and Etai Aloni all added individual efforts.

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Children's Teams also ended their seasons yesterday. The Under 14s South finished with a 2-0 win against Hapoel Kiryat Ono, with goals from Yarden Shoeh and Guy Dahan. North ended with a 1-1 draw away to champions Ashdod FC, with Guy Shelah scoring Maccabi's goal from the spot. The Under 13s North, who secured the championship last week, added one final victory to their season with an overwhelming 6-0 victory over second placed Ashdod FC. South also won their last match of the 2012/13 season, 4-2 against Hapoel Rishon Lezion West.

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under 17s missed a golden opportunity to win the ...

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-17s got a second win in the "Champion of Champions" competition, the Under-13 Team North took another stride towards the Championship

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-17s registered their second victory in as many games in the three match "Champion of Champions" competition of the national Under-17 Premier League. Head coach Ziv Arie's charges beat Bnei Sakhnin by an impressive 5-0 scoreline with a brace by midfielder Eliel Peretz and individual efforts by fellow midfielders Matan Hozaz, Yonatan Cohen and Yossi Solelich. The next match for the Under-17's will be in two weeks' time, when they face the champions of the national Under-17 Premier League North, Maccabi Haifa, the team they lost to in the semi-finals of the National Youth Cup for their age group.

Maccabi's Under-16s played the first match in their "Champion of Champions" competition against Maccabi Netanya, but unfortunately walked away at the wrong end of a 2-0 finish. Head coach Eliezer Ben Aharon's lads missed a number of the chances they created and were punished for it, conceding two late goals to the national Under-16 Premier League North champions in the second half of the match. They will now be looking to make up for the loss in their next two competition encounters against Maccabi Haifa and Beitar Tubruk.

Maccabi's Under-15s are still involved in league play of the national Under-15 Premier League Central Division, a season that covers 30 matches. Having reached their penultimate match of the season, Maccabi's Under-15s have already lost hope of capturing the championship and will have to settle for second best in the table. That did not stop them though from returning from the nation's capital on Saturday with a 0-3 victory over Beitar Jerusalem. All three goals were scored in the last ten minutes of play courtesy of a brace by Gal Tsanani and an additional goal from Maor Bekker.  Maccabi's Under-15 Team 2 continued their excellent run of form, registering their tenth consecutive victory in a comprehensive 4-0 defeat of Ironi Modi'in that guaranteed them the third spot in the league table.

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-14 Team South scored a 1-0 home victory against Beitar Jerusalem, with Ayalon Almog netting his 18^th goal of the season. The win guarantees them the fifth spot in the league table. The Under-13 North Team booked an impressive 6-1 defeat of Bnei Yehuda leaving them well placed to finished top of their league. They'll have to wait though for the mid-week results of rivals Ashdod FC to see if the celebrations can already get underway with two games still left to the season. Their own next match will be an intra-club derby with the Under 13 Team South, who lost on Saturday 2-3 at Hapoel Rishon Lezion.

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-17s got a second win in the "Champion of ...