Just like the best players in the world: Zlatan Ibrahimović

The Youth Department project is continuing to gain momentum. Episode 17 of the video series presents a new technical exercise which is taught at the club’s Academy. Watch the next special movement

Just like the best players in the world: The Brand New Youth Department Project

Just like the best players in the world: The Brand ...

Youth Department Saturday Action March 3, 2018

Maccabi “Shachar” faces Hapoel Tel Aviv in a Derby at Wolfson, the U17’s head to Ashdod while the Under-16 squad welcomes Maale Adumim. All that plus the U15 North and South side’s are all in action

Hapoel “Nisanov” Tel Aviv – Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv, 12:00 Wolfs (U19)
Maccabi “Shachar” currently sits in 1st place and will meet Hapoel in the Tel Aviv Derby on Matchday 21 of the Israel Youth Premier League. The Young Yellow & Blue have won 10 our of their last 12 league contests while their rivals are in 10th place with 3 straight losses.

SC Ashdod Zilber – Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv, 9:30 Ashdod College 1 (U17)
After a midweek 2:1 win over Bnei Yehuda, Eliezer Ben Aharon’s squad will get back to action with a tricky away match at Ashdod who are in 9th place on the table and are winless in their last 4 matches. The Yellow & Blue are in 1st place with an 11 point gap on the 2nd place side and a game in hand.

Maccabi “Eli Fuchs” Tel Aviv – Beitar Ironi Maale Adumim “Tzav Pius”, Sunday March 4, 15:30 Kiryat Shalom Synthetic (U16)
The Under-16 side drew 3:3 midweek against Maccabi Haifa and will look to get back onto the winning track on Matchday 21 when they host Maale Adumim. The visitors currently find themselves in last place with just 4 points while the young Yellow & Blue are in 5th.

Maccabi “Eldad” Tel Aviv – Hapoel “Rami” Tel Aviv, 10:30 Kiryat Shalom Synthetic (U15 South)
The Under-15 South team won their midweek match against Nes Ziona by a 2:1 score and Ori David’s squad will now welcome Hapoel in a Tel Aviv Derby on Matchday 20. Maccabi is in 1st place and have scored 26 goals while giving up only 1 marker in their last 5 matches. Meanwhile, Hapoel enter the game in 5th place, 13 points away from Maccabi.

Maccabi “Partush” Petah Tikva – Maccabi “Ilan” Tel Aviv, 8:45 Petah Tikva Synthetic (U15 North)
After a 2:1 midweek win over Netanya, the U15 North club will visit the 2nd place side who have won 4 out of their last 5 matches. The Young Yellow & Blue are in 3rd, 5 points away form the host’s.

Hapoel “Nisanov” Tel Aviv – Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv, 12:00 Wolfs (U19) Maccabi ...

“We’re hungry to succeed”

This Saturday, Maccabi “Shachar” faces Hapoel Tel Aviv in a Derby match. Just ahead of the special contest we sat down with 4 Yellow & Blue players who discussed their expectations over the course of the balance of the season

The Club’s Under-19 side is in the midst of the 2017/18 campaign as Guy Tzarfati’s team is currently in 1st place thanks to a better goal differential over Maccabi Netanya. Just ahead of the big Derby match against Hapoel Tel Aviv this Saturday, we spoke to 4 players who each play a different position on the pitch as they give us a different perspective about the season and how they have advanced professionally throughout the campaign.

Meet the players:

Goalkeeper – Daniel Peretz

The young keeper is only 17.5 years old and is the first choice shot stopper with 20 matches under his belt. He is in his 10th season at Maccabi and has also trained with the first team while also participating in their preseason training camp. His role model is Barcelona keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Central Defender – Fadi Najar
Najar is 19.5 years old and has made 18 appearances for the Under-19 team, having scored one goal this season against Hapoel Tel Aviv. The young central defender made his First Team debut in a Toto Cup victory over Hapoel Raanana. This is his second season with Maccabi and was chosen as the Under-19 club’s player of the season last campaign.

Midfielder – Tomer Altman
Altman (20) plays the central midfielder position and is in his 6th season with the club. With 15 matches under his belt this campaign, he has scored 2 goals both coming in Derbies; one against Hapoel Tel Aviv and the other versus Bnei Yehuda. Altman made his debut with the First Team against Bnei MMBE in the State Cup competition.

Striker – Eylon Almog

Almog, 19 years old, is the leading scorer for the Under-19 side with 10 goals in 20 matches across all competitions. The young striker also has made two appearances for the First Team in the Cup tournament. This is Almog’s 7th season with Maccabi and he dreams of playing for the First Team in the years to come.

We asked the players about their season to date:
Daniel Peretz, who also plays for the National Team began the discussion: “We are a very young team and many of us are in our first season with the Under-19 side and that played a factor at the beginning of our season. We weren’t steady enough at the start, but we continued to work hard in our training sessions and we were able to meet the demand that were expected of us. Over the last while we have been able to continue to meld together as a team from a professional standpoint and we are continuing to improve from game to game.”

Fadi Najar has been helping Peretz out by anchoring the defense. The central defender began the season a bit later than his teammates due to an injury: “We didn’t begin the season the best way possible and it took us time to come together as a team, but we have now hit good momentum and we have been able to perform well on the pitch.”

The player who connects the defensive line with the attack is Tomer Altman, who also serves as the captain: “We have done nicely and are now in the race for the title.” The club’s striker who has also played a number of attacking positions this season added: “We knew that we were in a building process with a new squad and everything was new for us. Slowly but surely we were able to put together a streak of wins and we are in a good spot now. We are just looking at the season match by match and we will give it our all right until the end of the campaign.”

About their personal and club goals:
The club’s keeper praised the professional staff for helping the squad improve and advance throughout the season as well as meeting their own personal goals: “Our goal as a club is to first off play quality, dominating football and that every player can continue to improve their skills before reaching the First Team age. From a personal standpoint my goal is to help the team give up as few goals as possible.”

Najar also spoke about his goals as to continuing to develop professionally: “I’d be happy if we can translate our development into a championship title at the end of the season.” Altman had to deal with a broken foot at the start of the campaign and was off of the pitch for a lengthy amount of time, but worked hard to return: “There’s no question that now is the time to give a big push towards the end of the season and to do as much as possible to help the team take the title.” The sides’s striker, Almog discussed how he is working on improving his game for an opportunity to advance to the club’s First Team: “We’re hungry to succeed as much as possible with the hope to continue to improve and win the championship.”

To conclude we asked them about coming together as a team:
Peretz said: “We are a side that gets along very well and it’s a lot of fun to play together. We have a good time and that helps keep the dressing room upbeat. We spend a lot of time together away from the pitch and the training sessions. I’m very proud to be part of this club.” Najar added: “We always try to keep a good team atmosphere off of the pitch and the whole club tries to go out together to a restaurant at least once every two weeks. Altman also chimed in: “This season we have a very good group of guys and we all look out for one another.” Almog concluded: “We have gotten along well right from the outset of the season and I think you can see that as well on the field of play.”

The Club’s Under-19 side is in the midst of the 2017/18 campaign ...

Yellow & Blue Saturday Results February 24, 2018

Maccabi “Shachar” defeated Bnei Sakhnin and moved into first place in the Youth Premier League, the U17s drew with Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Derby, the Under-16 side took care of Maccabi Petah Tikva and the rest of the youth results are inside

Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv 1:0 Bnei Sakhnin
The Under-19 squad returned home and not only picked up a 1:0 win thanks to a goal by Eyal Hen but also moved into first place in the Israel Youth Premier League Ligat Ha’Al. Guy Tzarfati’s side took advantage of a Netanya draw to leap frog them on the table. For the Full Match Report Click Here.

Hapoel “Tzachi Ben Porat” Tel Aviv 1:1 Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv
The Under-17 team drew with Hapoel in a “Match of the season” Derby on Matchday 19 as each side earned a point which kept the gap between the two clubs at 9 points. Gil Ben Shalosh scored for the young Yellow & Blue. Head Coach Eliezer Ben Aharon summed up the contest: “The goal we scored was a direct result of a play that we worked on in the training session the day before the match. They say that football is played for the full 90 minutes and today we saw that this was certainly correct. We learned that if you only play one half you have to convert your chances. We had a good first half except when it came to finishing off our plays and the second half Hapoel were better than we were. The players were a bit tired due to the fact that 6 were with the National team and played a pair of friendlies during the week. We’re proud of the players as to how they’ve invested in themselves, their desire and quality they bring to each and every match. The next chapter will be written this coming Wednesday and we will come into the game wanting to continue to improve and write a better chapter in the next match than the last one.”

Maccabi “Eli Fuchs” Tel Aviv 2:0 Maccabi “Moshe Dayan” Petah Tikva
The Under-16 club defeated Maccabi Petah Tikva on Matchday 20 and closed to gap to first place to just 6 points. Roy Maayan and Yali Lazar scored for the young Yellow & Blue. Head Coach Raymond Atteveld spoke about the victory: “The match went according to plan from our training sessions as we worked on specifics for this contest and it went well. We spoke about this after the win that they proved that hard work during practice pays off in the games. We were very tough on defense and that was very important for a football club. The match was very tactical and the players did fantastic work and helped each other on the pitch. We could have scored more goals but we missed a number of times from one on one situations in front of the goal while on the other hand we were put into many dangerous situations on the defensive end. I’m very happy about our results and over the last few weeks we played against some tough opponents while this Wednesday we face Maccabi Haifa so we can’t celebrate too much. We congratulated the players after the match and they know that they have to continue on in a few days.”

Maccabi “Eldad” Tel Aviv 5:0 Bnei Yehuda Grundman
After a midweek 2:0 win over Ashdod, Ori David’s Under-15 South side picked up a home win in style against Bnei Yehuda. The Yellow & Blue stayed in first place thanks to goals by Oskar Glok with a brace, Liel Shota, Elad Kaplan and Ohad Mizrahi. The Head Coach talked about the victory: “This was a fantastic win over Bnei Yehuda and we played well with a good pace of play. We had many opportunities close to the goal and we scored 5 beautiful markers.”

Beitar Ramat Gan 3:3 Maccabi “Ilan” Tel Aviv
The Under-15 North squad split the points with Ramat Gan in a match that featured plenty of goals and currently sit in 4th place, 5 points off the top of the table. Ben Linker and Ido Karbes scored for the Yellow & Blue. Head Coach Asaf Heber summed up the draw: “This was a match with many ups and downs, deficits, leads and we ended up giving up the lead at the end of the match. We will continue to work hard and be a little bit less naive in order to record better results.”

Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv 1:0 Bnei Sakhnin The Under-19 squad returned home and ...

Into 1st: Maccabi “Shachar” defeats Sakhnin 1:0 to move into first place

The Under-19 squad picked up an important win on Matchday 20 of the Israel Youth Premier League Ligat Ha’Al. The young Yellow & Blue defeated Sakhnin thanks to an Eyal Hen goal

Matchday 20 of the Israel Youth Premier League Ligat Ha’Al featured Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv hosting Bnei Sakhnin. The young Yellow & Blue began the day in second place just 2 points off the top of the table with 9 wins in 11 matches while the visiting Bnei Sakhnin were in 12th place. Head Coach Guy Tzarfati’s attack included Mufleh Shalata, Eyal Hen and William Agada.

The Starting XI featured Daniel Peretz in goal, Amit Glazer, Alon Shtrozberg, Fadi Najar, Yoav Hofmayster, Tamir Glazer, Tomer Altman, Eylon Almog, Mufleh Shalata, Eyal Hen and William Agada.

First Half
In the 4’ the Yellow & Blue almost took the quick lead when Shalata crossed the ball from the right to Hen, but the keeper was able to make the save, while ten minutes later Sakhnin striker Osame Halayla’s attempt from the top of the box went out. A minute later, Altman’s chance in the box was again saved by the Sakhnin keeper Oddo Akevan.

In the 24’ Almog tried his luck from long distance but Akevan made the stop while a minute later, Almog’s chance went over the bar. Altman’s 29’ opportunity was saved by Akevan from 20 meters as the young Yellow & Blue came closer to scoring.

And score they would in the 38’ off a counter attack as Hen took a through ball from the left wing and put it into the far corner of the goal for a 1:0 Maccabi lead. Agada and Almog each had chances to add to the lead before the end of the half but Akevan came up big again as the Yellow & Blue took a 1:0 lead into the break.

Second Half
Maccabi “Shachar” continued to apply pressure and control the pace of the play. In the 63’ a terrific through ball made its way to Shalata, but his attempt was saved by Akevan, while ten minutes later Almog’s corner found Agada in the box but his header was stopped by the keeper.

In the 77’ Sakhnin looked to find the equalizer but the Maccabi defense took care of the threat. Six minutes later the Yellow & Blue almost doubled their lead as Altman sent a smart ball to Agada in the box but Akevan was again up to the task and sent the back our for a corner. Agada tried to put the ball over the keeper in the 90’ but his attempt missed the goal as Maccabi wrapped up a 1:0 win and moved into first place.

Matchday 20 of the Israel Youth Premier League Ligat Ha’Al featured Maccabi ...

Van Leeuwen & Dello Iacono participate in the Kyiv Forum

This past Thursday the 2018 Football Forum began in Kyiv. Maccabi’s Performance Director Patrick van Leeuwen and Antonio Dello Iacono are presenting to more than 125 Ukrainian coaches and youth department representatives about the club’s philosophy

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Performance Director Patrick van Leeuwen and the Director of Sports Science Antonio Dello Iacono travelled to the city of Kyiv in the Ukraine and are taking part in the country’s Football Forum for 2018. The pair are presenting the philosophy of the club to over 125 Ukrainian coaches and youth department employees.

The 2018 Forum will take place from Thursday through Saturday and will deal with the following topics: Help improve the level of training for qualified coaches that work with youth and increase their general knowledge both on an organizational level and in training sessions as well as using modern technology when working with the professional staff.

Patrick van Leeuwen will present topics including football philosophy, football models and match style. Antonio Dello Iacono will discuss a) Football planning, from the world of science to the field of play; b) Practical work, football and fitness; c) Maintaining intensity in training sessions along with practical recommendations.

In addition, Anatoliy Buznik the General Secretary of the All-Ukraine Football Coaches Association will take part in the program together with Francesco Branca, the Chairman of the ethics committee of the FFU.

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Performance Director Patrick van Leeuwen and the Director of ...

Just like the best players in the world: Sergio Agüero

The Youth Department project is continuing to gain momentum. Episode 16 of the video series presents a new technical exercise which is taught at the club’s Academy. Watch the next special movement

Just like the best players in the world: The Brand New Youth Department Project

Just like the best players in the world: The Brand ...

Youth Department Saturday Action February 24, 2018

Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv host’s Bnei Sakhnin in Ramle, the Under-17’s have a Match of the Season against Hapoel Tel Aviv in a Derby while the U16’s and U15’s are also in action

Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv – Bnei Sakhnin, 12:00 Ramle Stadium (U19)
After falling to Raanana last week, the Under-19’s are back in action when they host Bnei Sakhnin on Matchday 20. Maccabi “Shachar” are in 2nd place, two points off the top of the table while the visitor’s find themselves in 12th place with 3 losses in a row.

Hapoel “Tzachi Ben Porat” Tel Aviv – Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv, 08:30 Wolfson 2 (U17)
The Under-17’s have a Match of the Season when they face Hapoel Tel Aviv in a Derby clash on Matchday 19. The young Yellow & Blue are in 1st place while the Reds are in 2nd place with 9 points separating the two sides.

Maccabi “Eli Fuchs” Tel Aviv – Maccabi “Moshe Dayan” Petah Tikva, 10:30 Kiryat Shalom Synthetic (U16)
The Under-16 side will host Maccabi Petah Tikva in a Matchday 20 contest as the young Yellow & Blue currently sit in 5th place while the visitor’s are in 3rd place with a 4 point gap between the two teams.

Maccabi “Eldad” Tel Aviv – Bnei Yehuda Grundman, 08:30 Kiryat Shalom Synthetic (U15 South)
After a 2:0 win last Matchday at Ashdod, Ori David’s squad will head into their Matchday 18 encounter with the goal of continuing their fine play. The U15’s are in 1st place with a 4-point lead over the 2nd place club while Bnei Yehuda are in 9th place with one win in their last 7 matches.

Beitar Ramat Gan – Maccabi “Ilan” Tel Aviv, 09:00 Ramat Gan Training Pitch (U15)
After getting back onto the winning track, the Under-15 North side will look for another win against Ramat Gan. The young Yellow & Blue are in 4th place, 6 points off the top of the table as the host’s are in 9th.

Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv – Bnei Sakhnin, 12:00 Ramle Stadium (U19) After falling ...

Dress up as a Journalist for a Day

Purim is almost here and now’s the time for us to help fulfill your child’s dream (or perhaps even the parent’s). 15 children will participate in a special press conference and will be able to ask some interesting questions to the players. How can you sign up? All the info’s inside

Purim is upon us and this year, children who are Maccabi fans will have a once in a lifetime opportunity to become a journalist for a day. The little Maccabists will have the chance to see what goes on behind the scenes at the Kiryat Shalom Training Facility and they’ll also be able to ask some tough questions (or perhaps not that tough) at a special press conference just for you with the Maccabi players.

The program will take place on Wednesday February 28th and the children will take part in a special private press conference where they’ll be able to ask questions to the players and they take part in the Purim Happening where they can meet the rest of the team.

Please note that the program is for children between the ages of 7-12 ONLY!

How can you register?
Beginning today, Wednesday February 21 until Sunday February 25 you can register and tell us why you or children deserve the opportunity to take part in this extra special activity.

To register:
1) Click on the following link and press the Post button. You can then fill in the following information:
2) Child’s full name
3) Birth date
4) Favorite player
5) A creative question that you would ask a player at a press conference
6) Email
7) Mobile number

15 children with the most creative questions will be chosen from the registrants and they’ll be invited to the special press conference on February 28th at the Kiryat Shalom Training Facility, 106 Derech Ben Tzvi, Tel Aviv.

For the rules and regulations click here

Purim is upon us and this year, children who are Maccabi fans ...

Bar Mitzvah Ceremony at the Youth Department

The tradition continued this season as the Under-13 squad visited Jerusalem for their Bar Mitzvah celebration as they met Tzachi Hanegbi at the Knesset, put on Tefillin at the Kotel and had a festive meal at a local Jerusalem restaurant

The Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Department continued its long standing tradition with a Bar Mitzvah celebration for the Under-13 team. Together with Academy Staff, the squad visited Tzachi Hanegbi a member of Likud and Minister for Regional Cooperation and toured the Knesset. The club also went to the Kotel and under the auspices of the Rabbi of the Western Wall put on Tefillin which was followed by a festive meal at a local Jerusalem restaurant.

The Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Department continued its long standing tradition with ...