Maccabi’s 72 years of achievement
Since the state was established in 1948, Maccabi Tel Aviv have registered many achievements and are Israel's most decorated football club. This 72nd Independence Day is an opportunity to highlight some of those milestonesIn the 72 years since the foundation of the State of Israel in 1948, there have been 68 league seasons, including the one currently suspended, and Maccabi Tel Aviv are the only outfit to have appeared in the top flight of the league every year.
Maccabi are also the most decorated club with:
Most league titles: 18
Most State Cups: 17
Most Toto Cups: 6
Most goals scored in a season: 100 in 23 matches in 1949-50. They were awarded a 3-0 technical win in one more match, raising the official goals scored column to 103.
Maccabi are the only club to have won the domestic treble when they took the league, the State Cup and the Toto Cup for the 2014-15 season.
Longest duration without conceding a goal: 1,272 minutes, a feat achieved earlier this season.
On the international stage, Maccabi have won the Asian Cup twice, in 1969 and 1971.
Since Israel joined UEFA and started playing in Europe in 1992-93, Maccabi have appeared in continental cup competitions on 20 occasions, more than any other club.
They appeared in the group stage of the Champions League twice, and four times in the group stage of the Europa League.
Interestingly, since independence, the national team has played 500 matches. Of the 6,843 players to have been selected to appear in Israel colours, Maccabi have had 1,217 representatives, 18 percent, while Maccabi Haifa are second with 1,024. Hapoel Tel Aviv have had 742 representatives.
The national team has scored 762 goals and conceded 723. Here, too, Maccabi Tel Aviv’s players have been the biggest contributors and have scored 137 goals. Giora Spiegel and Shiye Glazer have been Maccabi’s most prolific scorers for the national team, with 18 goals each.
Maccabi have also had the highest number of players represented in a national team starting lineup, six. It was in the 3-1 away defeat to Belgium in Brussels in October 2015.
Striker Tal Ben-Haim, and his central defender namesake were two of the players. They were joined by Eitan Tibi, Omri Ben Harush, Dor Peretz and Eran Zahavi. Avi Rikan and Gili Vermouth, also Maccabi players, started on the bench.
Miko Bello, a Maccabi player between the 1960s and 1980s, is at 17 and a half, the youngest player to have turned out for Israel and to have played a full 90 minutes in an official match, when the national team faced Bulgaria in 1966.
Avi Nimni holds the record for most international appearances as a Maccabi player, at 69. He made a total of 80 appearances for Israel while at other clubs.
In the 72 years since the foundation of the State ...
Homework 4: Technical moves for the Youth Academy
The Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Academy has produced videos with training skills for the players to be able to practice while the remain at home during the coronavirus lockdown. Watch the 4th video here
Goalkeepers training: Interview with Israel Ainy
During the lockdown, Israel Ainy, the Youth Academy's chief goalkeeping coach tells us how training continues in trying conditions and confined spacesWhile sport remains suspended during the coronavirus lockdown, Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Youth Academy continues to operate under the limitations of confinement and social distancing and it’s no different for the goalkeepers and their coaches, who are overseen by Israel Ainy.
Before the limitations were imposed, goalkeeping coaches worked with their young charges in groups and individually, but under the current conditions, there have had to be adjustments and new training modes have been employed to keep the players as fit as is possible.
“We have mixed feelings during this period. We greatly miss our football, the daily routine, the coaching staff and the Academy staff, and most of all, our fledgling goalkeepers. We are facing very a challenging period when people are subject to tremendous limitations, and sporting activity is no exception,” Ainy said.
But activities have not stopped and Ainy is in extensive daily contact with all the Academy’s goalkeeping coaches, Shura Ovarov, Shai Hess, Galil Ben Shaanan, Shaul Hagiel and Eliad Graff. He praised them for the tremendous efforts they are making to try to keep the players in form.
“We are very pleased with the daily contact we have with the goalkeepers and their parents, who are always there to lend support as we carry out six training sessions a week. We have now completed five weeks’ continual training,” he said.
Watch the Academy’s goalkeepers training in their home environment:
“Our programme is mainly geared for the Academy’s under-19s and under-8s, who usually train at Kiryat Shalom and the university, and our aim is to maintain and improve their technical abilities. This is apart from the fitness work they are doing.
“We must ensure the wellbeing of the players and their families. The space limitations are a problem so we have to improvise, but we have seen great initiative from the players and their families as they try to resolve those issues while maintaining the Health Ministry guidelines. Our contact via the Zoom app has been vital for maintaining the goalkeepers’ tactical and mental sharpness. We also get feedback from the Soccer Lab programme which monitors activity and abilities while they train in a mode that is different to what they are used to.”
Ainy said he was very encouraged to see that the coaches’ instructions, particularly concerning mental training, were showing good results and that the players were carrying out their tasks diligently.
“Even the younger goalkeepers make us feel proud and give us a great sense of satisfaction when we see the video clips they send us to show what training they are doing. The Academy’s planning and actions to advance the players deserve much praise.”
On a personal level, the lockdown has allowed Ainy to spend more quality time with his wife, Mali, and his children, Liam and Shira, and he has used the time to improve his own proficiency by discussing training methods with colleagues.
He has also shared the Academy’s work with fellow coaches from Liverpool, Ajax, Manchester City and Marseilles whom he said were “greatly impressed by the dedication and devotion we ascribe to our goalkeepers.”
He summed up by extending best wishes and warm appreciation to Academy technical director Patrick Van Leeuwen.
“The Academy has proven once again that it is a leader and is ready to take on any challenge in complex conditions. We have a strong base and we are dedicated to instilling true values and devotion, which is reciprocated and all this contributes to the robustness of the Academy.
“I also want to wish a speedy recovery and return to health to Or Yitzhak, the under-19 team’s goalkeeper, who has undergone a shoulder operation and is already undergoing rehab with the medical staff. I am certain that we will all overcome this period and I wish good health to everybody.”
While sport remains suspended during the coronavirus lockdown, Maccabi Tel ...
Football in the shadow of the Holocaust
Maccabi Tel Aviv's players and staff joined a talk given by Chen Gordon via Zoom in collaboration with the Yad Mordechai From Holocaust to Revival Museum about sport and football in particular, during the HolocaustHolocaust Memorial Day 2020 events are being held under the shadow of the coronavirus crisis but it has not prevented Maccabi Tel Aviv’s first team players along with club staff and players from the Youth Academy attending a talk on football under the shadow of the Holocaust.
The talk was given by Chen Gordon in collaboration with the Yad Mordechai From Holocaust to Revival Museum as each of the participants watched and listened via the Zoom app from home.
You can listen and watch the entire talk on this video.
Holocaust Memorial Day 2020 events are being held under the ...
Homework 3: Technical moves for the Youth Academy
The Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Academy has produced videos with training skills for the players to be able to practice while the remain at home during the coronavirus lockdown. Watch the 3rd video here
Mohamad Abu Ayash: “I Miss my teammates”
As the MTA Youth Academy copes with the constraints of the coronavirus situation, the U17 player, Mohamad Abu Ayash, shares his thoughts about the situationU17 team player, Mohamad Abu Ayash, shares his thoughts and feelings with us on the Academy’s official Instagram account. Watch the clip:
U17 team player, Mohamad Abu Ayash, shares his thoughts and ...
U17 declared as league champions
Following the Israel Football Association's decision to curtail the season for youth teams, MTA's U17 side have been named champions for the 19/20 season after leading the league when it was haltedMaccabi Tel Aviv’s U17 side have been crowned league champions for the 2019-20 season following a decision by the Israel Football Association to curtail the league 
because of the coronavirus lockdown.
The under-17 side were in first place after 21 fixtures played in which they won 15, drew three and lost three matches. They finished with 48 points, two ahead of second-placed Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Maccabi’s boys scored 50 goals and conceded 16. The team’s leading goalscorer was Dor Turgeman, who netted 19 times.
In his first season as head coach of the U17 team, Ori David won the championship.
“It’s a bit strange to have to summarise the season already in April, but the situation has
brought this upon us and we have been declared under-17 champions,” David said.
“Unquestionably, the players have made dramatic progress and we have improved as a team too. We played some excellent football in line with the Academy’s ethos. The entire squad were party to this success and it is an extraordinary achievement for players of this age group. We are deserving champions,” he said.
David added that Academy performance director Patrick Van Leeuwen’s choice of the coaching team had made all the difference and he credited his colleagues for the success.
“My assistant, Jeffrey Ishai, did wonderful work and it was the game changer in developing the players, and for the Academy in general.”
David also credited Yair Iluz, responsible for bodybuilding, goalkeeping coach Yisrael Eini, analyst Shlomi Tubul, physio Or Panda and mental trainer Meirav Levi.
Maccabi Tel Aviv’s U17 side have been crowned league champions ...
“A good time to get better and come back stronger”
As the MTA Youth Academy copes with the constraints of the coronavirus situation, our girl team player, Liana's Hirsh, shares her thoughts about the situationThe girl team player, Liana Hirsh, shares her thoughts and feelings with us on the Academy’s official Instagram account. Watch the clip:
The girl team player, Liana Hirsh, shares her thoughts and feelings with ...
Homework 2: Technical moves for the Youth Academy
The Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Academy has produced videos with training skills for the players to be able to practice while the remain at home during the coronavirus lockdown. Watch the 2nd video here
Omer Kabilo: “A very challenging time”
As the MTA Youth Academy copes with the constraints of the coronavirus situation, the U17 goalkeeper, Omer Kabilo, shares his thoughts about the situationU17 team goalkeeper, Omer Kabilo, shares his thoughts and feelings with us on the Academy’s official Instagram account. Watch the clip:
U17 team goalkeeper, Omer Kabilo, shares his thoughts and feelings with us ...
