Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv
The Under-19 team was on break this weekend and will get back to action this coming Saturday when they face Maccabi Haifa on Matchday 22 of the Israel Youth Premier League
Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv 3:0 Beitar “Oren” Jerusalem
The Under-17 side defeated Jerusalem on Matchday 18 and increased their lead at the top of the table to 15 points. Rave Assayag scored a brace while David Dego also found the back of the goal. Head Coach Eliezer Ben Aharon summed up the win: “Before the game we told the players that we are looking for those who love to win and hate to lose. Only these types of players could make sure the gap after 21 games would be 15 points. After the contest we spoke about our next challenge that lies ahead which is to create an even bigger gap that will be almost impossible to break in the future. We had the upper hand from the get go and we could have even won by a bigger margin. We’re happy and content as to how the players have advanced along with their desire and passion that they have for the game. Next week, we host Beni Sakhnin and we have 6 players who will play on the National Team which warms our hearts and makes us proud as a club.”
Hapoel Beer Sheva 1:0 Maccabi “Eli Fuchs” Tel Aviv
The Under-16 squad fell to the southern side in the State Cup Round of 16. The Yellow & Blue went down by a goal although they controlled the pace of play. Head Coach Raymond Atteveld spoke about the match that was: “The match was a challenge for the players and they were excited and were pressured against an opponent who pressed them as well. We didn’t play well at the start of the match and we gave up an early goal in the 2’. After some tactical instruction we began to take control of the play. I don’t like to give the players the answers as to how they should play on the pitch, but rather they should find the way themselves. We continued to improve and we had a number of chances. Unfortunately the opposing keeper made a tremendous amount of stops and if you don’t score you can’t win. We didn’t deserved to win, but that’s football. I hope that they learnt some positive lessons from the game. We don’t like to lose but you have to learn from these types of matches, find the open man and take advantage of our opportunities. This was important lesson and we will continue to work hard as we look ahead.”
Maccabi “Eldad” Tel Aviv 5:3 Maccabi “Max” Haifa
The Under-15 team defeated the Greens to advance to the State Cup semifinals. After going down 2:0, Noam Rodik, the young Yellow & Blue keeper saved a penalty and changed the momentum of the match. Rom Gross and Ohad Mizrahi each scored a brace while Elad Kaplan also scored. Ori David, the Head Coach looked back at the win: “There are a lot of good things that we can take away from this match, lots of character, coming back from a deficit and saving a penalty. Of course we have to look to correct the things that didn’t work. Part of the development of the players is to see how they can handle these situations especially for the future and I’m happy that we were able to pass the test. It was also wonderful to see Patrick van Leeuwen and Jordi Cruyff in attendance and that also gave the guys a lot of motivation.”
Maccabi “Ilan” Tel Aviv 2:1 Sekztia Nes Ziona
The Under-15 North club also passed their quarterfinal State Cup test as Asaf Heber’s side went down 1:0 early in the first half but were able to take the draw even before the break on a goal by Kamil Jabara. The contest went into overtime and right before the end of the match, defender Sivan Gafni scored from long distance. Head Coach Asaf Heber discussed the win: “We were drawn against a very tough and determined Nes Ziona team. Everyone was excited and it resulted in us falling behind early on. But just as we’ve seen happen a number of times this season, we woke up after the goal and we began to play our regular style and we were able to find they equalizer while having a number of other chances on their goal. Just as we thought that we were going to head to penalties we scored the winner just before time ran out. I’m proud of the players that worked hard and didn’t give up for a second.”
