Following a long and exhausting campaign, four of Maccabi's Youth teams today played State Cup finals in Shfayim near Tel Aviv. All the results, the pictures and the reactions here below
Today (Wednesday) the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Division had a long and busy day at "Beit Nivharot" playing field in Shfayim near Tel Aviv. Four of the division's teams played in three separate State Cup finals, two of which resulted in Maccabi Tel Aviv lifting the trophy.
The first of those finals saw Maccabi's Under-11 Team North take on their counterparts from Maccabi Haifa. The charges of coaches Shay Levi and Adi Zana acquitted themselves admirably throughout the contest, but despite their best efforts ended the tie at the wrong end of a 5-3 scoreline. The Maccabi youngsters took the lead through Ido Mizrahi, but their northern opponents turned the match around to 2-1. Maccabi equalised courtesy of Amit Sharam but despite a spirited display missed the final touch and paid the price of seeing their opponents raise the stakes to 5-2 before Amit Gold scored a consolation goal for Maccabi to make it 5-3. At the end of a determined but ultimately disappointing encounter, head coach Shay Levi was full of praise for his youngsters: "What you have here is a perfectly splendid group of kids, including one spectacular young sportswoman. They were magnificent out there today and I couldn't be prouder".
Next up was the rare opportunity to see not one but two of Maccabi's youth teams competing in the same final. Both of the club's Under-12 teams, "Oz" and "Leibo", exhibited the kind of quality required to defeat all opponents throughout their respective campaigns, resulting in an all-Maccabi U12 State Cup final. And as befits two teams of such quality, the scoreline after regular time read a dramatic 5-5, moving the decisive stage of the tie to the penalty spot. It was there that the youngsters from Under-12 Team North got the edge and were awarded the tie, and the Yankele Grundman State Cup trophy, on a 6-5 outcome. Goalscorers for Team North were Omer Rozio (brace), Omer Senior, Ittimar Dekel and Guy Nof. For Team South the honours went to Aviv Shayo (brace), Ben Linker, Orel Azarzar and Shon Edry.
Following the hard-fought encounter, Team South head coach Guy Shemesh said: "This was a really high quality contest, you can see that on the result. Both teams chased the ball throughout. It's been a long campaign and we put everything we had into it. Losing to our mates from Team North on penalties, well, that's not really losing at all so far we're concerned". Team North head coach Adi Somech reacted to his team's victory by telling the official Maccabi Tel Aviv website crew: "This was a top-notch Cup final that went back and forth between North and South. Such high quality football means that the real winner here is Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club".
But the jewel in the crown of this youth State Cup day was supplied by coaches Ori David and Aviv Rein and their lads from Maccabi's Under-14 Team South. Their opponents in the final were none other than traditional derby rivals Hapoel Tel Aviv, their objective to win for Maccabi a second youth State Cup trophy. The yellow half of Under-14 Tel Aviv dominated almost throughout the match, with Maccabi's Osher Davida providing the first goal. Hapoel succeeded in equalising just before the break and even managed to take a 2-1 lead just after the restart. But it was then, down a goal after surrendering the lead, that Ori David's charges really showed their character and mettle by slamming five successive goals past the Hapoel keeper without reply to finish 6-2 winners of the Duvid Schwitzer U14 State Cup. David Degu scored twice, Omri Ram, Omer Yitzhaki and Tal Yagudaev all added individual efforts. Maccabi Youth Division football director Nir Levin compared that never-say-die character to the kind the senior team displayed in their 3-1 victory over title rivals Hapoel Beer Sheva on Monday night.
After harvesting Maccabi Tel Aviv's second State Cup trophy of the day, Under-14 Team South coaches Ori David and Aviv Rein had an important message for the splendid lads under their charge: "They represented their club with honour and according to all the guiding principles of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Division. We're proud of the lot of them and love them all in equal measure".
