Ori Azu secured his future at Maccabi Tel Aviv after the club exercised the option on the 16-year-old who joined the club’s U-17’s earlier this year. Since joining Maccabi, Azu scored 9 goals in 16 appearances for the U17‘s before being promoted to the U19’s where he added another goal in 3 appearances.

A regular member of Israel’s young national teams (U15’s and U17’s) Azu made a total of 6 appearances scoring a single goal against Hungary in August 2021.

Maccabi’s Youth Department Manager, Guy Zukerman, said: “Ori is a talented forward who played at Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Youth Academy five years ago. He returned to us in January as we believe he will continue his progress at the youth team as he has great potential to develop himself at the club in the future”.

Maccabi Tel Aviv ‘Shahar’ set a new Israeli record by winning the Youth Cup for the 14th time after beating Maccabi Petah Tikva 3-0 in Tuesday’s Youth Cup Final which was played at Netanya. Bar Lin (33,36) scored twice in the space of three first half minutes and Oscar Gloukh (79) who came off the bench sealed the victory for Peter van Den Berg’s side.

Maccabi ‘Shahar’ arrived at the Netanya stadium on the back of two successive defeats to Hapoel Be’ersheva and Bnei Sakhnin that saw them concede pole position in the table to Ashdod – the team they knocked out in the Semi Final.
Petah Tikva came close to score in the opening minute but Shalev Daniel’s shot shaved the crossbar. Bar Lin set up Orel Baye in the 13^th minute but the winger’s shot was caught by Petah Tikva’s keeper Maor Erlich. Four minutes later, Baye’s cut-back reached Lin in a dangerous position only for his shot to be blocked for a corner. Maccabi continued to look the dangerous side as Carlos Rivera’s through ball to Lin on 29 resulted with another save by Erlich in Petah Tikva’s goal.
Three minutes after the half hour mark, Erlich could do nothing to prevent Maccabi from taking the lead. Roei Nawai headed the ball towards Lin who cut inside from the right flank before unleashing a powerful shot that deflected off a Petah Tikva defender to loop over the keeper and put Maccabi in front.
Petah Tikva tried to level the score and sent players forward for a set piece but were caught on the counter attack. Baye charged forward and spotted Lin unmarked before the midfielder kept his calm and slotted in his and Maccabi’s second on 36.

The second period was dominated by Petah Tikva’s attempts to cut the deficit and claw their way back into the game, while Maccabi tried increasing their lead. Rivera came close in the 66^th minute but forced a save from Erlich before Tomer Alon denied Ariel Lugasi at the opposite end two minutes later.

Twenty four hours after playing 78 minutes at Bloomfield in the first team’s 5-0 derby victory over Hapoel Tel Aviv, Oscar Gloukh was given a chance to re-join his fellow young teammates as he replaced Ori Halevi in the 72^nd minute. Four minutes after his introduction, Gloukh exchanged passes with Linonly for a Petah Tikva defender to block the shot and deny the midfielder a hat trick. In the 78^th minute however, Maccabi took the tie beyond Petah Tikva’s reach after Rivera and Baye had their initial efforts blocked as Gloukh pounced on the rebound and blasted in the third.

With Maccabi’s owner’s representative Jack Angelides watching from the stands alongside the club’s management and the entire first team coaching staff, the U-19’s lifted the Avi Ran Youth Cup. Having won the Cup for the first time since the 2010/11 season, Maccabi ‘Shahar’ could now return to focus their efforts on the league in an attempt to emulate the achievement of that season by winning the double.

Maccabi Tel Aviv: Tomer Alon, Ilay Tomer (Ari Merenstein 85), , Shon Edri, Adir Cordoba, Roy Revivo, Roei Nawi, Yonatan Paz (Anar Ushmandi 66), Bar Lin (Mohamad Abu Ayash 85), Ori Halevi (Oscar Gloukh 72), Orel Baye, Carlos Rivera (Ido Mizrahi 85).

Maccabi Tel Aviv ‘Shahar’ met Ironi Rishon Lezion in the Quarter Final of the Youth Cup. Two and a half months after Maccabi recorded a 6-3 victory over Rishon in the league, both teams faced each other as coach Peter van Den Berg made several changes from his side that beat bottom of the table Ironi Nesher 2-0 last weekend.

Maccabi took the lead after 15 minutes at the end of a spectacular team effort as a cross from the right was teed-up by Orel Baye for Oscar Gloukh whose clinical finish broke the deadlock.
Rishon levelled the score 10 minutes later as Yuval Sasson beat Tomer Alon with a shot into the top corner on 25. On the half-hour mark Baye came close but shot wide. Alon kept Maccabi in the game with a save that denied Roy Telio.
Nine minutes after the restart, Bar Linn managed to beat Rishon’s keeper Dvir Nir but his shot crashed against the crossbar. Baye restored Maccabi’s lead in the 59^thminute swapping roles with Gloukh who turned provider. In the 77^th minute however Rishon were back on level terms for the second time in the game. Roy Nawai was penalized for fouling Rishon’s forward in the penalty area before Ohad Almagor successfully converted the spot kick past Alon to make it 2-2.
The full time whistle sent both teams to extra time, as the winner was scored in the 111^th minute by Yonatan Paz. The substitute who was introduced by Peter Van den Berg for Carlos Rivera in the 70^th minute blasted a shot from outside the area that gave Maccabi the 3-2 lead which booked their place in the final four of the competition.

The Semi Final draw which took place at the IFA Headquarters on Sunday (6.3), will see Peter van Den Berg’s side face Ashdod on April 13th. Maccabi Netanya and Maccabi Petah Tikva will also compete for a place in the final as the venue has to be announced.

Maccabi Tel Aviv: Tomer Alon, Ilay Tomer (Ari Merenshtein 105), Adir Cordoba (Omer Gerafi 62), Shon Edri, Roy Revivo, Roy Nawi, Ori Halevi (Amit Zur 62), Bar Linn (Yakir Zilberman 85), Oscar Gloukh, Orel Baye (Anar Oshmandi 113), Carlos Rivera (Yonatan Paz 70).  

The Under 19’s season got underway at the weekend as Maccabi Tel Aviv ‘Shahar’ beat Hapoel Kfar Sava in the opening league match. Last night, four members of the U-19’s team were part of the first team squad for the Toto Cup match against Hapoel Jerusalem which took place at Bloomfield. Three of the four – Oscar Gloukh (17), Ofek Sasson (17), Roy Revivo (18) made substitute appearances while Bar Lin was an unused sub.

Glough was introduced in the 61st minute of the match, Sasson (70) and Revivo (79) were all given a chance to play on the big stage.
Gloukh could have celebrated his senior debut in style as he took a vital penalty, but the 17-year-old had his spot kick saved by Jerusalem’s keeper, a fact which would leave him with a bitter sweet experience.

Carlos Alberto Rivera Lucero, an 18-year-old Panamanian forward will join Maccabi Tel Aviv’s U-19’s on a season-long loan-deal with an option to make the move permanent, after an agreement was reached with his club San Francisco FC.

Rivera, who is a member of Panama’s U-21’s national side, impressed the club’s Youth Academy staff during a trial period, and will join the squad of Maccabi Tel Aviv ‘Shahar’.

Guy Zuckerman, Maccabi’s Youth Department director, told the club’s official website: “Carlos is a talented forward who left a very good impression during the trials he had at the Youth Academy in recent weeks. We all believe that Carlos can develop during his time with the academy and contribute a lot to the club”.

Ilay Tomer, the 17-year-old right-back of Maccabi Tel Aviv ‘Shahar’ signed this morning a contract extension at the club. Tomer, who last season made 23 appearances in all competitions for Maccabi’s U-19’s, made 3 international appearances for Israel’s U-16’s.

Maccabi’s Youth Academy Director, Guy Zuckerman, told the club’s official; website: “Ilay is a talented young player who has been playing at Maccabi since the age of 11 and played for all the department’s teams. We believe that Ilay has great potential to make progress at the club in the future”.