.

.

Menachem (Miko) Bello, a Maccabi Tel Aviv defender during the 1960’s and 1970’s.  He joined the Maccabi Tel Aviv children’s team at the age of 12.  Bello made his debut on the senior team in February 1964, playing against HaPoel Kiryat Ono in the third round of national cup games.  At the end of that season, Bello won the national cup after taking part in all of the games throughout all of the stages.  In all, the defender won five championships with the team, five national cups and was Asia champion twice (1969 and 1971) in eight seasons.  He played in 57 games with the national team, inter alia at the Olympic tournament in Mexico in 1968 and the World Cup games in Mexico in 1970.

.

.

Ori Sliman was advanced to the senior team by head coach Israel Halivner and made his first appearance against Hapoel Jerusalem two weeks before the end of the 1970/71 season. Sliman was not yet a member of the Maccabi squad that won the Asian Club Championship Cup two months earlier, but the following season he won his first title with the club, celebrating the league championship after a season in which he made 21 league appearances and scored his first goal in the penultimate match of the season, a 3-0 victory over Hapoel Petach Tikva.

As a youth player Sliman played in attack and in midfield but in the senior squad  of Maccabi Tel Aviv earned the reputation of a tough and effective defender. Over the course of his career with the club Sliman won the double in the 1976/77 season and the championship in 1978/79. In 1982 Sliman left the club for the first time but returned for a second term shortly after the start of the 1984/85 season. He made one appearance for the Israel national team in a 2-1 victory over the Olympic squad of Holland.

picture courtesy of the Israel Football Association archives

.

Maccabi Tel Aviv FC reached an agreement with Uzbekistan side Pakhtakor Tashkent FK for the loan deal of Gidi Kanuk who successfully underwent a medical and joined the club till the end of the season.

Gidi Kanuk marked his 5^th appearance for Maccabi with a goal in the closing match of the season and returned to Tashkent following his loan.

Maccabi Tel Aviv FC announce the appointment of Carlos Garcia as assistant coach in December 29th.

The 33 year old Spaniard who spent 4 years at Maccabi winning 3 League Championships, 1 State Cup and 1 Toto Cup as well successful campaigns in Europe  scoring 7 goals in 173 appearances for Maccabis before moving  to Turkish in 2016, decided to hang up his boots and accept Maccabi’s offer to join the coaching staff.

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Spanish defender Carlos García Badías, who at the start of his career trained with the senior squad of the Spanish side RCD Espanyol under managers Javier Clemente and Luis Fernández, made his maiden senior team appearance in October 2003 against Real Madrid and played in a further two matches before being sent out on loan to third tier outfit Polideportivo Ejido, where he made 32 appearances and scored one goal.

In the summer of 2005 he was signed by manager Paco Flores of UD Almería, then playing in the Spanish second division, and with the exception of one year on loan at Real Betis this successful partnership continued through the 2011/12 season. Almería meanwhile was promoted to La Liga for the 2007/8 season and spent four years in Spain’s first division before being relegated once again at the end of the 2010/11 season. In their relegation year Almería reached the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey before being beaten 8-0 on aggregate by Barcelona, who then went on to lose to Real Madrid in a well-publicised final. Garcia has represented his native Spain in all their young international sides and reached the finals of the World Under-20 championships held in the United Emirates in 2003.

Playing for the first time outside his native Spain, Garcia settled in quickly at Maccabi Tel Aviv at the beginning of the championship 2012/13 season and before long had established his place not only in the starting eleven but also in the hearts of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans everywhere. Together with fellow defender Eytan Tibi, the powerful and steadfast Garcia was a rock of stability in Maccabi’s central defence and his 29 appearances helped the team in conceding the least number of goals of any club in the Israeli Premier League during the entire season. A championship season that was not only the first for the club in a decade but also the first in the Spaniard’s long career.

Maccabi Tel Aviv acquired Juan Pablo Colinas Ferreras (Juan Pablo) a week prior to the club’s first round qualifying match in the 2013/14 Champion’s League competition. The 34 year-old had been the first-choice goalkeeper at Spanish side Sporting Gijon for four years, playing in both La Liga and Spain’s second division.

The 6 foot 2 inch Juan Pablo began his playing career at Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa in his home town of Leon, where he played with the senior squad from 1998 until moving on to Deportivo Alavés in 2000. After two seasons with the reserve team and another three with the first team, Juan Pablo jumped at the opportunity to become the first-choice ‘keeper in the 2005/6 season at CD Numancia in Spain’s first division, La Liga. Following two seasons with  Numancia Juan Pablo was on the move again this time to CD Tenerife for the 2007/8 year before returning to Numancia for a season.

In 2009 he settled in at Sporting Gijon which is part of the Spanish principality of Asturias and made 120 appearances over four years, the majority of which in La Liga.

Juan Pablo’s debut for Maccabi Tel Aviv came several days after his arrival when he stood in the Yellow-and-Blue goal for the club’s Champions League qualifying match against Hungarian title holders Gyori. In his first season with the club he would play 45 games across all competitions and win his first ever league championship.

In his second campaign with Maccabi, Juan Pablo would help the club collect the domestic Treble, winning all of the available titles in Israel while playing in 40 matches and giving up only 30 goals, the least amount in the league.