31/7/2013 : Basel take 1-0 advantage from 1st leg vs Maccabi T.A

Football:
Maccabi Tel Aviv have fallen a goal behind in their UEFA Champions League 3rd qualifying round tie against FC Basel after Basel beat Maccabi 1-0 in the first leg of the tie last night.

Omri Altman controls the ball for Maccabi (maccabi tel aviv)

The Yellows were lucky not to be losing by a bigger deficit after it took last ditch defending to block some of Basel's shots. The Swiss' only goal came in the 39th minute when Basel's Swiss midfielder Valentin Stocker found himself with the ball at the edge of Maccabi's box after some terrible attempted clearances from the Maccabi defense and slammed the ball in to the bottom left corner of Juan Pablo Colinas's goal. Overall, Maccabi's manager Paulo Sousa was happier with the second half than the first half. "You gave Basel too much respect in the first half", Sousa said to his players after the game, "You lost a lot of balls and you didn't play the way we worked on in training. But overall we can say that it's not over yet. We can change everything in the home leg". Omri Ben Harush who got his first minutes on the pitch as a Macccabi player last night when he played the last seven-or-so minutes of the game said at the end: "I am happy with my first minutes at Maccabi. It is nice to be playing next to my new friends in an official game. I am sure that a lot of fans watched us and all though the fans that came to Basel to support us deserve credit, I believe that playing in Bloomfield with a packed crowd supporting us will help us in the second leg". The Yellows' Spanish defender Carlos Garcia spoke on the same lines as his coach did. "The first half was very bad from our perspective, but after the break we showed that we can play well and we came close to scoring", said Garcia who played all 90 minutes of the match, "I believe in the team and i trust the team's ability. In Bloomfield we have a chance to advance to the next round". Amongst the spectators in the V.I.P section during last night's match were Israel national team manager Eli Guttman who had 8 potential players playing in the game, and Israeli midfielder and current FC Zurich player Avi Reikan who had come down to Basel to watch his fellow Israeli's battle it out with the Swiss giants.

Omer Atzili (right) (ynet)

Beitar Jerusalem have secured the signing of midfielder Omer Atzili. The Israeli signed on a 4 year contract in a deal that will see Beitar pay his former club Hapoel Rishon LeZion 700,00 shekel. " I am very excited, Beitar is a very big club and i am extremely happy to be part of it from now. I have got a lot of work to do and i hope to prove my talent on the pitch", said Atzili after signing the contract. By signing Atzili Beitar made their third signing of the Summer after midfielder David Ravivo and defender Nisso Kapiloto joined the club.

Dario Fernandez (goal)

Beitar Jerusalem have released Argentine midfielder Dario Fernandez after he made some negative comments about the club to manager Eli Cohen during a training session two weeks ago. The 34-year-old who was until recently a fan favorite at the club only managed to score 1 goal in all the 73 matches that he played at the club.


Pre-season friendly results:
Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon 3-0 Hapoel Afula
Hapoel Petach Tikva 1-0 Lokomotiv Sofia

Avi Ben-Shimol (wikimedia)

 
Basketball:
Bnei Herzliya have added Avi Ben-Shimol to their roster for next season after agreeing a 2 year deal with the Israeli point guard. "I am happy to join such a big club that is trying to reach big things", said the 28-year-old after signing his contract. 194cm Ben-Shimol who played last season for Hapoel Eilat is Herzliya's 4th signing of the summer. 
  

    

30/7/2013 : Maccabi T.A to face Basel tonight in Champions League 3rd qualifying round

Football:
Maccabi Tel Aviv will face Swiss side FC Basel tonight in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League 3rd qualifying round tie at 20:00 in Basel. Maccabi's manager Paulo Sosa has made in known that he thinks that Basel are the clear favorites for tonights game by saying: "They will be coming to the match with that advantage of 30 years of experience in Europe. The team wonthe championship in the last 4 years and reached the Europa League semifinals last year".
As usual despite his previous comments Sousa tried to concentrate on the positive aspects. "The last two games against the Hungarian team (Gyori) led me to believe that we will be able to generate a good game and bring the dream closer", said Sousa," for us, the chances are always 50-50 and we believe that for our opponent to win they have to be much better than us".
Maccabi are expected to play with a similar lineup to the one that started in their 2-0 first leg victory over Gyori.

Basel's manager Murat Yakin speaks at a press conference (blick)

Meanwhile on the other side of things Basel will head into tonight's game probably without star striker Raul Bobadilla who was stopped by police last week for speeding on a village road, driving his Maserati at 111 kilometers per hour which was more than double the speed limit of the road on which he was driving. Basel banned the Argentinian from their weekend match against Lausanne in the Swiss League but still managed a 2-0 win in his absence. It still not confirmed whether he will be playing tonight due to a prison sentence still pending (The Swiss take their speeding very seriously). Basel's manager Murat Yakin who led Basel last season to wins over Manchester United in the Champions League and Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League and leading the club to the Europa League semifinals where they lost to then European Champions, Chelsea will be heading into the game quite confidently. "Maccabi was the hardest draw that we could get", said Yakin in a press-conference last night," from our perspective, 2-0 is the result that we want and a result that is good. The most important thing from our point of view is not to concede any goals and if possible, to score a goal in each half so that we can go to Tel Aviv in the second leg optimistically".
About 500 Maccabi fans are expected to turn up at the St. Jakob-Park in Basel for the match to cheer on the Yellows.
Ahead of the match it is quite obvious that if Maccabi do manage to beat Basel over the 2 legs it would be be a very big upset for the Swiss.
Maccabi's expected lineup:
GK: Juan Pablo Colinas, DF: Carlos Garcia, Eitan Tibi, Sheran Yeini (captain), Yoav Ziv, MF: Maharan Radi, Gal Alberman, Eran Zahavi, Omri Altman, FW: Barak Yitzhaki, Rade Prica.  



  

29/7/2013 : Guy Luzon gets off to a good start at Standard Liege in Belgium

Football:

Guy Luzon (uefa)

Israeli manager Guy Luzon got off to a great start as manager of Standard Liege beating       KV Mechelen 2-0 away in the Belgian Pro League in his first competitive game at the club. " We showed the spirit and the brilliance of Standard Liege", Luzon said after the win," the fans were really great". Tal Ben Haim and Dudu Biton who are both signed on to the Liege roster, did not appear in the Liege lineup last night. Their next match will be against Lierse who lost their first match of the season 2-1 to Zulte-Waregem.

Toto Tamuz (supersport)

Israeli striker Toto Tamuz has signed for Russian Premier League side Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast. By signing for Ural Tamuz becomes the second player currently playing in the Russian top flight with the other being Bibras Natkho who currently plays for Rubin Kazan. Tamuz played the last 3 seasons at Hapoel Tel Aviv where he managed to score in over 50 percent of his matches having played 85 matches ans scoring 44 goals and it seems that off the pitch problems were what drove him out of the Tel Aviv club.

Israeli midfielder Avi Rekan played 90 minutes in his club FC Zurich's 3-2 loss to Luzern in the Swiss Super League yesterday. Rekan has played every minute of all 3 games that Zurich have played this season.

Israel national team midfielder Bibras Natkho played 90 minutes in Rubin Kazan's 0-0 draw with Terek Grozny last night.

28/7/2013 : Maccabi Haifa sign Venezuelan point guard David Cubillan

Basketball:

David Cabillan (fiba)

Maccabi Haifa have added point guard David Cubillan to it's roster for next season. The 25-year-old Venezuelan played the last seasons at Trotamundos de Carabobo in his home country and last season averaged 12.2 points and 4.8 assists per game. " David Cubillan is a Venezuela national team player whose leadership abilities will be a great boost for us next season", is all that Haifa's owner Jeff Rosen  had to say about the new signing. Cubillan who is currently 185cm played for the Venezuelan national team in the 2012 South American Championship where he helped them claim the silver medal and finished the tournament with an average of 10.6 points per game. " David is a great combo player with a lot of knowledge basketball knowledge", said Haifa's new head coach Danny Franco," he will help us fight in every single game on the court. The combination of David and Moran Roth will help us play a fast forward thinking five". Cubillan also had a very short collage career in the NCAA with Marquette Golden Eagles.


Football:

Cristian Hidalgo (seesaa)

Bnei Sakhnin have secured the signing of Spanish winger Cristian Hidalgo Gonzalez on a 1 year deal with an option for a 1 year extension. The 29-year-old played his youth career at Barcelona and went on to start his professional career at Barcelona C and then Barcelona B. The Spaniard then moved up to La Liga joining Deportivo de La Coruna and went on to play 3 seasons for them and appear in 56 matches. Cristian only scored 2 league goals in his time at Deportivo and strangely they were against the two Spanish giants, his first against Real Madrid and his second against Barcelona. Last season Cristian played for Cherno More Varna in the Bulgarian premier league. In that season he played 14 matches and scored just 1 goal.

 Hapoel Be'er Sheva played a friendly match last night against Lithuanian club FK Atlantas which ended with a 1-0 loss for Be'er Sheva. The unusual aspect of this match was that each half only had 30 minute (60 minutes overall) because the Atlantas team arrived late. The game was Be'er Sheva's last in their training camp in Europe and are due to arrive back in Israel tonight.

Other pre-season friendly results:
Hapoel Ironi Acre 1-2  Dunaujvaros FC

27/7/2013 : Bnei Saknin freindly cancelled

Football:
Bnei Sakhnin were supposed to finish off their training camp in Poland today with a match against local side Widzew Lodz at 14:00 Israel time. The players boarded the bus that was going to take them to their game and everything was on schedule until the bus broke down and the game had to be cancelled. The team is currently trying to find a new opponent for a friendly but regardless of if they find one or not the team will return to Israel on Sunday night meaning the only time they have to play a match is midday tomorrow.  

Pre-Season Friendly Results:
Bnei Yehuda 1-1 PSV Eindhoven Reserves
Beitar Jerusalem 1-4 Union Berlin
Hapoel Haifa 1-1 Ararat Yerevan

26/7/2013: Maccabi Haifa break Israeli scoring record in European Competition by destroying Khazar Lankaran 8-0

Football:
 

Abuhatzira celebrates scoring his second goal (maccabihaifa)

 Maccabi Haifa successfully made it through to the Europa League's 3^rd round of qualification by thrashing Khazar Lankaran of Azerbaijan 8-0 away from home after a 2-0 win at home last week completing a crushing 10-0 win on aggregate. The game, which was played under tight security 50km away from the Iranian border started of with a scare for Haifa with a golden chance for the hosts hitting the post after 10 seconds through a shot from Brazilian striker Junior Nildo. But that was not to be the flow of the game and in the 8th minute Maccabi struck with a save by Khazar's goalie Toni Doblas falling to Alon Turgeman to convert the rebound. 2 minutes later that lead was doubled by team captain Yaniv Katan whose shot bounced into to the ground straight of his foot and lobbed into the net. The 3^rd goal came when new signing Ruben Rayos was brought down in the penalty box and stepped up to take the penalty in the 14 minute. In the 26^th minute a deflected shot came to Shimon Abuhatzira to volley home from the edge of the penalty area for the 4^th and best goal of the match. Hen Ezra scored the 5^th by putting a rebound through the legs of Doblas in the 41^st minute. Abuhatzira finished the half with another goal from a header after 44 minutes. The 7^th goal which was also scored by Rayos broke a record for the most goals scored in European competition in a match by an Israeli team. Khazar's terrible defending really summed up the match for the host and  in the 77^th minute Eyal Golasa found himself with way to much time in the area with no defenders marking him and shot past the keeper and into the back of the net to put the icing on the cake. Yaakov Shahar the club owner said after the match that he felt that they could have scored more in the first half and what he liked most about the game was that the players kept running on the pitch although they were crushing their opponents. Arik Benado Haifa's manager said after the game that he was pleased with the result and he is now only focusing on the next round. Rayos said after the game that the win was dedicated to the fans and that he was happy with the result.  Maccabi Haifa will play Ventspils of Latvia who beat Jeunesse of Luxembourg 4-1 away from home after a 1-1 draw at home completing a 5-1 aggregate win. The first leg will be played in Latvia on the 1^st of August and the second leg will be played in Kiryat Eliezer on the 8^th August. The winner of the tie will advance to the playoff round which is the final qualification round before reaching the group stage of the Europa League. 

(This article was written by an amateur trial writer) (because the usual writer did not have time)

Hapoel Tel Aviv 2-2  Beroe Stara Zagora (Hapoel Tel Aviv advance with 6-3 aggregate win.)

25/7/2013 : Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel T.A both seek to advance in Europa League, with one foot already in the next round

Football:

Arik Benado and Dekel Keinan at
the press conference (maccabi haifa)

Maccabi Haifa will go into their UEFA Europa League 2^nd Qulifying Round 2^nd Leg match tonight at 19:00 against Azerbaijani side Khazar Lankaran with a 2-0 lead from the first leg. The Haifa players landed in Azerbaijan yesterday morning and their manager Arik Benado already had his pre-match press conference and in it spoke about how he and his team were going to approach the match. "We finished the first game with a good result, but we will not underestimate Lankaran", said Benado, "We know that they are a dangerous team but we also want to win this leg and be in the next round. In the first leg we dominated and had control of the game, but nevertheless we know how good Lankaran are. Overall I was happy with the first game even though we could have won by a larger margin". Haifa's Israeli defender Dekel Keinan was also present at the press-conference and also shared a few words about what he thought about the tie: "Already in Kiryat Eliezer we realized that they are a good team. Most of the time during the game we were in control but the moment that we found ourselves in the wrong place they took advantage of our mistakes and created good chances".

Ironically amongst the names' of all of the members of the Lankaran club the name of the manager is the one that stands out the most, former legendary Liverpool striker John Toshack who signed on as the club's manager in March.

Haifa's expected lineup:

GK: Bojan Saronov, DF: Elad Gabai, Dekel Keinan, Taleb Twatiha, Edin Cocalic, MF: Gustavo Boccoli, Yaniv Katan (captain), Ruben Rayos, Hen Ezra, Eyal Golasa (or Alon Turgeman), FW: Shimon Abuhatzira.

      (The game will be broadcasted live on Sport5 from 19:00)

 

Hapoel Tel Aviv will also play their Europa League 2^nd Qualifying Round 2^nd Leg tonight in Tel Aviv at 20:00 but with a bigger advantage then Haifa as Hapoel won the first leg 4-1 in their tie against Bulgarian side Beroe Stara Zagora who last season won the Bulgaria Cup for just the second time in the club's history.

   Hapoel's star midfielder Gili Vermouth who has been out of action for a very long time through injury is expected to return to the squad for tonight's match and despite the fact that they are winning the tie by 3 goals Hapoel will probably play with a similar starting 11 as it will be their first home game of the season and Bloomfield Stadium is expected to be a sell-out for the occasion so the team will want to notch up a win in order to impress their fans.

   When Hapoel's manager Ran Ben Shimon was asked whether or not Vermouth will take part at all in the game at the pre-match press conference, he said: "I understand why everyone wants to know about Gili. I would be very glad for him to take part in the game, my plan is to put him on the pitch at some point. I see in him hunger that I don't see in a lot of other players. At the moment it is important for me to work with him in the right way and at the right pace, that is much more important. I can say that Gili is one of those players that every time that he steps on to the pitch he causes things to move".

Ran Ben Shimon at his press conference yesterday 

   Despite the fact that Hapoel have not yet officially advanced to the next round of the Europa League Ben Shimon was already looking forward to the domestic league season. "I am collecting information and coming to conclusions about all the teams in the league not only the big ones", said Ben Shimon, "Of course I am preparing for all the games, I want to get to know all of our opponents in the league and every single little peace of information interests me, we always want our team to be the best team. I must make sure that Hapoel is always moving forward in all aspects of the game and we must never lay back and think that we can just rest. The goal is to move Hapoel Tel Aviv forward".

    Also Beroe's manager Petar Houbchev had e few words to say about the game: "We are coming to the game with the will to try our best to get a good result. We have already got used to the weather here in Israel".

 

Tal Ben Haim

Israel national team defender Tal Ben Haim has completed his move to Belgian side Standard Liege on a 2 year deal. At Standard he will meet up with fellow Israeli's, former Israel U-21 national team coach Guy Luzon who is currently the manager there and Dudu Biton who is a player there. Ben Haim who started his professional career at Maccabi Tel Aviv where he helped them win the 02/03 championship played the beginning of last season in the English Premier League with Queens Park Rangers under Harry Redknapp, but towards the end of the season after only making 3 appearances for the London club, was apparently loaned out to MLS side Toronto FC but 4 days later Toronto's general manager Kevin Payne announced that Ben Haim had never actually signed at the club so the Israeli didn't end up joining them. Although in the recent past Ben Haim has had an up and down career that included Short spells at English sides West Ham, Sunderland, Portsmouth and as mentioned Q.P.R the 31 year old played 110 Premier League games for Chelsea, Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers between 2004 and 2008. By signing for Standard, Ben Haim who also has 72 international caps for Israel joined the 9^th team of his career.

Eric Djemba Djemba

 Eric Djemba Djemba who played last season for Hapoel Tel Aviv in midfield and is also a former Manchester United midfielder has joined Serbian club Partizan Belgrade. Djemba Djemba was written off by Manchester United legend Gary Neville in his autobiography as "not good enough to be a first team regular at United" Neville also controversially titled the years between 2004 and 2006 where United failed to win the Premier League "the Djemba Djemba years".

Pre-Season friendly results:

Hapoel Haifa 0-0 Wadzobach 

Athletics:

Donald Sanford shows of his record  after the race

Israeli sprinter Donald Sanford broke the Israeli men's 400m record yesterday in the 19^th Maccabiah Games when he ran it in 45.65 seconds. Also participating in the same race was Israeli Olympic Finalist Steven Solomon who only managed a time of 46.24 seconds. Despite winning the race and breaking the Israeli record Sanford looked annoyed after the race, probably due to the fact that he missed out by just 0.05 second on qualifying for the World Championships in Moscow that starts on the 10^th of August. "It was a great contest", Sanford said after the win, "It was very special for me to race against Steven Solomon. He is a great runner and I fully respect him. It is because of him and because of my training that I have reached such a result. This win is dour and sweet at the same time but because I am currently feeling the best that I have felt in the last 2 years, I am at present a happy person".

24/7/2013 : Maccabi Advance with 2-1 win over Gyori

Football:
Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC completed a comfortable 4-1 aggregate victory over ETO FC Győr as goals from Tal Ben Haim and Eran Zahavi secured a 2-1 success in the second leg of this UEFA Champions League second qualifying round tie.

Tal Ben Haim celebrates his goal (sport5)

 Paulo Sousa's team are bidding to take their club into the UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time since 2004/05, although they will next face a tough-looking tie against FC Basel 1893, whose coach Murat Yakin watched on from the stands, in the third qualifying round, with the first leg coming in Switzerland next week.
Ben Haim effectively killed off the visitors' comeback hopes by making it 3-0 on aggregate after 25 minutes in intense heat at Bloomfield Stadium, chasing down a long ball from Maharan Radi and outpacing Marko Dinjar before rolling it into the net. But for goalkeeper Luboš Kamenár, who saved from Ben Haim and Radi either side of the opener, Maccabi Tel-Aviv would have been out of sight by half-time.
However, the break brought scant relief for Győr; Sheran Yeini headed against the woodwork within seven minutes of the restart, Kamenár made another fine block to deny Gal Alberman, and Ben Haim managed to miss the target from three metres befor Zahavi got a head to Omri Altman's cross to make it 2-0. The only disappointment for the home side was that they failed to keep a clean sheet, substitute Leandro Martínez pouncing on an error from goalkeeper Juan Pablo late on.
(This article was taken from UEFA)

Pre-Season Results:
Hapoel Ra'anana 2-2 Horni Mecholupy

23/7/2013 : Katan signs new 3 year deal at Haifa where he will end his career

Football:
Maccabi Haifa's legendary striker Yaniv Katan has signed a new 3 year deal with the club that he has only been away from for half a year since the age of 8. " I am happy and proud to play for this team for the next 3 years" said Katan after signing the contract, " I have been at this club almost 25 years, since the age of 8, and its not just a team to me, it's a home. My wish is to end my career at Haifa".

Yaniv Katan (fifa)

The Israeli who has played a staggering 425 times for Haifa was first found by the club when he was just 8 years old and immediately started rising up the ranks. In 1998 when he was just 17 years of age Katan was got first call-up to the senior team and from their onwards he never looked back. He notched up 223 appearances for The Greens in his first spell their that ended in January 2005 when he signed for West Ham United in the English Premier League on a 4 year contract with West Ham paying just 800,000 NIS to Haifa as a transfer fee. Katan played for The Hammers just 6 time without scoring and at the end of the 05/06 season decided to return to Haifa on a year long loan deal with the option of re-signing at the end of the season. He finished that loan season 27 matches and 7 goals to his name and decided to re-sign for the northern club. Katan has played 175 times since then at now captains the team. The 32-year-old also got 32 international caps for Israel between the years 200 and 2010.
Haifa play on Thursday against Khazar Lankaran in the 2nd leg of their Europa League 2nd qualifying round tie in which Haifa lead 2-0. Katan is expected to be in the squad for the game.

Pre-Season Friendly Results:
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 3 - 2 Pogoń Szczecin

22/7/2013 : Meir Taprio goes to Nes Tziona as last stop before retirement

Basketball:

Meir Tapiro (wiki)

Legendary Israeli point guard Meir Tapiro has decided that newly promoted side Ironi Nes Tziona, will be his last stop before retirement. The 38-year-old who played last season at Hapoel Jerusalem agreed terms with Nes Tziona today and is expected to finalize the deal this afternoon or tomorrow. The agreed terms will see him stay at the club for 2 years. In signing for Nes Tziona Tapiro will be joining the 10th club of his career that started off in 1994 at Hapoel Tel Aviv. " It is a great honor for our humble club to receive a player such as Meir," said Nes Tziona's chairman Yaniv Mizrachi, " Meir was the first player we wanted. Since we are a very young team in comparison to the other teams in the top flight, we wanted someone with a lot of experience and there was nobody better fitting that description than Meir who will help us to a lot of success in the top flight. Nes Tziona's coach Nadav Zilberstein added: " I am very happy about the adding of Meir to our roster. Their is no doubt that he will help us through his experience and knowledge of the game. The isgning of such a player will help the team and the fans to enjoy a good season of basketball in the top flight next season."

21/7/2013 : Haifa appoint Franco as new head coach

Basketball:

Danny Franco (walla!)

Maccabi Haifa have found a replacement for former coach Brad Greenberg in Israeli born Danny Franco. Franco who will be turning 40 this year coached Barak Netanya for the last 2 seasons. The Israeli was also the head-coach of Holon when they won the Cup in 2009. Franco will be taking charge of a roster that will be very confident going into next season having won the Israeli Championship last season but the fact that their star player from last year Gal Mekel went off to play in the NBA, will be a slight set-back.

Sylven Landesberg (euroleague)

Maccabi Tel Aviv Guard Sylven Landesberg has been called up to serve in the Israeli Army. The 23-year-old who was born in New York is also an Israeli citizen and like any other citizen has the obligation to serve in the Israeli Army. Landesberg is due to join the army in August and in order to stop any rumors that the player might get an exemption from serving, Maccabi's chairman Shimon Mizrachi made a statement saying: " Sylven Landesberg recieved a call up letter from the army and will join the IDF just like all the other basketball player in the Israeli Basketball League who recieves a call up letter and joins the IDF". Ironically it was a certain draft called the NBA Draft that made sure that Landesberg would end up in Israel in the first place after he wasn't picked in the 2010 NBA Draft and had to start a professional career elsewhere and since his dad was Jewish the then 20-year-old decided to move to Israel where he could easily obtain citizenship in order to play as an Israeli player for Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Avi Reikan

Football: 
Israeli midfielder Avi Reikan played 90 minutes in his club F.C Zurich's 0-0 draw with Sion in the Swiss Super League. Reikan was by far the best player on the field for Zurich even though he got booked in the first half. The 24-year-old who recently became a reguler in the Israel National Team has now been on the pitch for 90 minutes in both of the 2 games that Zurich have played since he made his move to Switzerland from Beitar Jerusalem.

20/7/2013 : Brad Greenberg takes Hapoel Jerusalem job

Basketball:

Brad Greenberg (hokiesports)

Brad Greenberg official bacame the head coach of Hapoel Jerusalem today when he signed a 3 year deal at the club. Greenberg who is a former assistant coach of both the Los Angeles Clippers and the New York Knicks coached Maccabi Haifa last season to it's first ever Israeli Championship. 

Football: 
 Preseason Results :
Hapoel Beer Sheva 2 - 0 Lech Poznan (of Poland)
Kiryat Shmona 3 - 1 Volendam (of Holland)






 

19/7/2013 : Maccabi T.A are drawn against Basel in champions league

Football:
Maccabi Tel Aviv will face Swiss champions Basel in the UEFA Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round if they manage to to take advantage of the 2-0 lead that they hold in the 2nd Qualifying Round against Gyori and finish the job off next Tuesday in Tel Aviv. Basel were the best of the five teams that could have faced Maccabi as a result of the draw, and The Yellows' players will definitely be slightly less happy by the fact that they will be battling out for a place in the Champions League Play-Off round with them instead of any of the other teams. Strangely though, it was the Swiss who's initial reaction was of such a tone, with their captain Marco Streller saying: " Maccabi was the hardest team to be drawn against and we saw the way they played against Gyori in their 2-0 win".  However the Basel Hard-man also said: " We have a slight advantage because our league season already started".

Or Ostvind

Hapoel Haifa have signed Israeli midfielder Or Ostvind on a 1 year deal. The 25-year-old played last season for Ironi Ramat HaSharon and appeared in 24 of their matches. Ostvind had his first training session with his new team straight after he signed his contract and got to know his new team-mates.

Europa League 2nd Qualifying Round Results:
Maccabi Haifa 2 - 0 Khazar Lankaran  
Hapoel Tel Aviv 4 - 1 Beroe Stara Zagora

If Maccabi Haifa advance  they will play against Latvian side FK Ventspils or AS Jeunesse Esch of Luxembourg in the 3rd Qualifying Round.
If Hapoel Tel Aviv advance they will play against FC Levadia Tallinn of Estonia or Romanian club CS Pandurii Lignitul Târgu Jiu in the 3rd Qualifying Round

Hapoel Ramat Gan who won the Israeli State Cup last season but were relegated to the 2nd division at the same time, will start their Europa League campaign in the 3rd Qualifying round against Portuguese side GD Estoril-Praia.
 

18/7/2013 : Maccabi T.A beat Gyori 2-0 in first leg

Football:

Maccbi's Starting Line-Up last night (maccabi tel aviv)

Maccabi Tel Aviv beat Hungarian side Gyori ETO 2-0 in the first leg of their Champions League 2nd qualifying round tie last night in Hungary. The game started off with Maccabi taking over 75% of possession in the first 10 minutes but failing to get too many shots on goal. Overall the first half was pretty event-less. By the time Maccabi had made their first substitution by bringing on Dor Micha for Rade Prica in the 73rd minute, Gyori had already used all 3 of their substitutes. Micha seemed to be simply too fast for the Gyori defense, cutting in from the wing whilst out-smarting them nine times out of ten and within 4 minutes of coming on found Barak Yitzhaki with a beautiful cross which Yitzhaki smashed with a half-volley into the back of the Gyori net. Maccabi were not satisfied though with a 1-0 win and with the last kicks of the game Micha cut in by the touch-line and pulled the ball back to Gal Alberman who placed in into the top corner of the goal.

The Maccabi players celebrate after Alberman's goal

 " It was a great tactical game", Maccabi's manager Paulo Sousa said after the win, " I have been very happy with the team for the last few weeks, we worked hard and today we stood strong against a hard team, but we played well in the second half and we controlled the game. The tie isn't over yet though. Their is still the home game and we have to carry on building the team. I believe that we have a big advantage going into the second leg, but we need to give a lot of respect to our opponents and work hard to control the next game too. The two goals brought us to a situation in which want to be. Our advantage was the fact that we controlled the pace of the game and the players understood the game-plan and executed it. As a positive man, i always believe that the game-plan will work, and that is exactly what happened today".
Gal Alberman (who scored Maccabi's second goal) also had some words to say about the game: " We are happy with the result even though we know that we are only half-way to the next round. The goal that i scored wasn't so important from a personal point of view but from the point of view of the result, the goal was veru important".
Maccabi will play the second leg of the tie against Gyori next Tuesday in Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv and is expected to kick off at 21:30.

17/7/2013 : Maccabi T.A start Chamions League campaign tonight against Gyori

Football:
Maccabi Tel Aviv are set to start their Champions League campaign tonight when they face Hungarian side Gyori ETO at 21:30 in Hungary in the first leg of their 2nd qualifying round tie.  
Gyori were the champions of Hungary last season and according to Maccabi's manager Paulo Sousa, the Hungarians have the upper hand coming into the game. Sousa said in a press conference: " I really think they have an advantage for a few reasons, with the main one being that Gyori's manager has been working with them for over 3 years and has always been at the top of Hungarian football". Maccabi will have to win this two legged tie in addition to two more two legged ties to reach the Champions League main draw. " We know that we will be facing a hard opponent, but we believe in our ability", said The Yellows captain Sheran Yeini, " The manager said that he knew a lot about Gyori, and now we also we do, we are sure that it will not be an easy game". Sousa was managing Hungarian side Videoton for 2 years before he arrived in Israel so he will know quite a lot about their opponents.
Maccabi's expected line-up:
GK: Barak Levi (or Juan Pablo), DF: Carlos Garcia, Eitan Tibi, Sheran Yeini (Captain), Yoav Ziv, MF: Gal Alberman, Maharan Radi, Eran Zahavi, Omri Altman, FW: Barak Yitzhaki, Rade Prica.
(The game will be shown live on "ONE" from 21:30)

 

16/7/2013 : Beni Saknin grab spanish defender Abraham Paz

Abraham Paz (marca)

Football:
Bnei Saknin have secured the signing of Spanish center back  Abraham Paz. The 34-year-old Paz who played last season for Spanish Segunda side CE Sabadell joined Saknin on a 1 year deal. Other teams that Paz has played for in the past in Spain include Cartagena, Hercules, Portuense and Cadiz. His signing for Bnei Saknin means that it is the first time that Paz will leave Spain to join a club.

 Israeli national team attacking midfielder Lior Refaelov started and played 75 minutes as his team Club Brugge of Belgium lost 1-0 to the Manchester United Reserves in a pre-season friendly last night. Refaelov had a good game though as he got the first chance of the game after receiving a perfect pass from Jonathan Blondel but he shot the ball off target. The Israeli also set-up another chance for Brugge 15 minutes into the second half when he placed a beautiful pass through to Maxime Lestienne who smashed the ball over the crossbar. The United Reserve's goal came from their Welsh striker Tom Lawrence in the 78th minute. Brugge go into next season having finished the previous one in 3rd place.

 

15/7/2013 : Sela is forced to drop out in middle of Istanbul final

Dudi Sela (in blue shirt) with is runner-up trophy (tff)

Tennis:
Israeli No. 1 Tennis player Dudi Sela was  forced to drop out from the Istanbul Cup final yesterday. The 28-year-old who is currently ranked No. 95 in the world was playing in the final against Benjamin Becker of Germany who is ranked No. 99 in the world and No. 6 in Germany. Sela decided to quit due to the return of a back pane that he first felt in the Wimbledon qualifiers. When the Israeli retired he was losing 6-1, 2-6, 3-2.
 Sela has obtained automatic qualification for next month's U.S Open even before yesterdays defeat after missing out on Wimbledon and the Roland Garros.
He is now expected to stay in Turkey for another week and participate in the Eskisehir Challenger event.

Basketball:

Kevin Palmer (sbnation)

Amit Bier-Katz (hapoel gilboa-galil)

 Hapoel Eilat have added guard Kevin Palmer to their roster for next season. The 26-year-old American who averaged 12.7 points per game last season for Greek club KAOD joined on a 1 year contract.

Maccabi Asdod have continued their signing spree by signing Israeli center Amit Bier-Katz. The 24-year-old center who played last season for Hapoel Gilboa-Galil signed on a 2 year deal.

Football:
Friendly Results:
Hapoel Haifa 3-2 Bnei Sakhnin 
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 1-0 Ironi Ramat Hasharon

Maccabiah 2013:

Zico (planetworldcup)

Brazilian Football legend Zico will arrive tomorrow in Israel as a guest of honor of the Maccabiah. He will stay in Israel for 4 days and will march with the Brazilian delegation in the opening ceremony, this Thursday at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem. "I'm delighted to visit Israel" said Zico. " It will definitely be interesting to be part of this special event  - the Maccabiah Games. I feel very close to the Jewish community in Brazil and especially in Rio, and look forward to marching with the Brazilian delegation in the Opening ceremony. I was in Israel once before with CSKA Moscow but this is the first time I can really visit here together with my son".
Zico is considred one of the best footballers ever and participated in 3 world cups with Brazil and also was the FIFA Player of The Year for 1983.

14/7/2013 : Mekel takes 14 points in Mavericks debut

Basketball:

Gal Mekel (33) releases a pass for the Mavs (bigstory)

Israeli Point Guard Gal Mekel started his NBA career with fire as he scored 14 points made 4 assists and took 4 rebounds in his first game for the Dallas Mavericks against the Sacramento Kings in the NBA summer Leagues. Mekel played 30 minutes as the Mavs won the game 76-73. " I was very emotional in the opening minutes, it took me 3 or 4 minutes to find my pace", Mekel said after the game, " After i warmed up, i forgot about everything around me, and i was simply had a great time". Mavericks' head coach Rick Carlisle also had some words to share about Mekel's game: " Gal is an experienced player in Europe and he used that to his advantage this evening. I liked the way he took charge on the court". 

Lior Lipshitz (wiki)

Maccabi Ashdod have added yet another player to their roster today when they agreed a deal with Israeli center Lior Lipshitz. 28-year-old Lipshitz who is 178cm will have played for the 10th team oh his career when he pulls on a Maccabi Ashdod vest for the first time.

13/7/2013 : Israel lose in their last Basketball U-20 European Championship game.

Egor Koulechov dunks one in for Israel (fiba)

Basketball: 
Israel were beaten 63-61in their final group stage game of the U-20 European Championships Division A by Spain. Despite losing the game this certainly looked like Israel's best game of the tournament, holding the mighty Spanish to just a two point win. Israel were led by Egor Koulechov who managed 21 points and 8 rebounds. The loss meant Israel would not advance to the next round of this year's Championship. Spain only won it with 0.69 seconds left, when Jaime Fernandez made a floating lay-up to put Spain 2 points ahead. If Israel would have won they would have been automatically through to the next round.

12/7/2013: Maccabi T.A finish off pre-season with win

Football:

Mane' controls the ball for Maccabi yesterday (sport5)

Maccabi Tel Aviv will go into their Champions League opener vs Hungarian League champions Gyori full of confidence after they claimed a 1-0 win over Hapoel Rishon LeZion last night to round-off their pre-season fixtures. 500 Maccabi fans turned up to watch Nigerian 19-year-old striker Lanre Kehinde score tho only goal of the game after tapping in a Tal Ben Haim shot that hit the post and fell to his feet. The first leg of Maccabi's match-up with Gyori will be played on Wednesday in Hungary with the 2nd leg to be played the following Tuesday in Tel Aviv. "I think that the players have an amazing approach, are moving forward and are passing through a phase", said Maccabi's manager Paulo Sousa, "Every game we play i see better things. Only by playing the games will we really know how good we are. Right now we are making great progress. We want every player to fight for his spot on the pitch in order to make inner competition amongst the team, and every player has to be ready to get out on to that pitch because we have important targets to reach. We have a lot of players with different abilities.
In connection with new goalkeeper Juan Pablo Colinas,Sousa said: "We are talking here about a player with experience, he is very good and i am sure he will help us to thrive". When asked about whether Colinas will start in Maccabi's Champion League fixture against Gyori next week even though he didn't even play in a friendly match yet for the club, the manager said, "Anyone who is in the squad has a chance to start".

Other friendly match results:
Maccabi Netanya 2 - 1 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 
Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona 3 - 1 Hapoel Afula
Ashdod 1 - 1Hapoel Petch Tikva




Basketball:
Israel lost their second group game in the Sportland U20 European Championships Group C in Estonia yesterday after being defeated 78-60 by Russia. The national team didn't really make any improvement from their last game against Latvia as Russia steamrolled them in a game that didn't really have any positives for Israel. Israel's overall leader in the game was Tomer Ginat who finished the game with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Igor Mayor led Israel in scoring with 16 points. If their was any positivity at any pint during the game then it came in the 3rd quarter when Israel managed to outscore their opponents 21-16. Israel's next game is later today at 14:30 when they will face Bulgaria in a must win fixture if Israel want to advance to the next round.
 Israel beat Bulgaria 68-66.

Gal Eitan (walla!)

Maccabi Ashdod have have made their first signing of the summer by signing Israeli Gal Eitan from Hapoel Tel Aviv. 182cm Eitan who played as guard for Hapoel last season has joined Ashdod on a 1 year deal.

11/7/2013: Maccabi T.A sign Juan Pablo Colinas as new goalie

Football:

Juan Pablo Colinas (Maccabi Tel Aviv)

Maccabi Tel Aviv have signed Spanish goalkeeper Juan Pablo Colinas for next season. The signing comes after Maccabi lost patience with their current goalie Vincent Enyeama who was demanding more money if they wanted him to stay at the club. 34-year-old Colinas who has signed for Maccabi on a 1 year contract played the last 4 years at Sporting de Gijon in Spain where he played 120 games for the club. In his first 3 years at Sporting de Gijon Colinas played in the La Liga (Spanish Premier League) but at the end of the 2011/2012 season they were relegated to the Segunda Division (The Secoond Division) and finished last season 10th in table. Earlier in his career Colinas also played in the La Liga for Depoortivo Alaves and CD Numancia. " I am happy to join Maccabi Tel Aviv and i hope to do all i can to help this team succeed", said Colinas, " I've heard that this is an amazing team and that Tel Aviv is a great place to live". Maccabi's sporting manager Jordi Cruyff also had some words to say about the deal: "We are happy to add a player to our team that has played in the top flight of Spain. I am sure that Juan Pablo can help us reach our targets for next season".

Omri Ben Harush (uefa)

Maccabi Tel Aviv have also signed Israel U-21 national team defender Omri Ben Harush from Maccabi Netanya. 2.2 million shekel will be payed to Netanya as a transfer fee. Ben Harush became the 6th player to move to Maccabi this summer along with Tal Ben Haim, Omri Altman, Dan Einbinder, José Manuel Jiménez Ortiz and Juan Pablo Colinas.

Serhiv Tretyak (fcbj)

Beitar Jerusalem's new owner Eli Tabib has sacked Youth Team manager Serhiy Tretyak. 50-year-old Tretyak who himself played for the club 239 times as a defender and also appeared twice for the Ukrainian national team, was fired after the Youth Team didn't have a very successful season. Tretyak is just one of many coaches and officials at the club who have been fired since Tabib took over.

10/7/2013: Haifa lose another pre-season friendly

Football:

A dissapointing game for Haifa last night.(maccabi hafia)

Maccabi Haifa were beaten again in pre-season action by  Russian side Terek Grozny 1-0.
Terek's goal came in the 80th minute from striker Zaur Sadayev who played last season for Israeli club Beitar Jerusalem.  Haifa barely troubled the Grozny defense but Grozny came close to scoring a second when Sadayev hit the post. "It was a good training match against a good and physically strong team", commented Haifa manager Arik Benado.
Last nights loss was Haifa's last game in their training camp in Austria and they will start their season next Thursday with a game in the Europa League 2nd Qualifying Round against Khazar Lankaran of Azerbaijan. "Their were good aspects and their were not so good aspects which we will fix and work on. We finished a good training camp in which the players became closer and we moved forward professionally", said Benado, " We will go back to Israel as a much better team". The high point of Haifa's time in Austria came when they beat Baku 3-0.

Maccabi and Ashdod players in action yesterday (sport5)

Maccabi Tel Aviv also had another bad off-season friendly yesterday when they drew 0-0 with Ashdod. Maccabi came close to winning but their star midfielder Eran Zehavi's penalty was saved in the 61st minute by the Ashdod's goalie Roi Mishpati. The game added to a not so impressive pre-season by Maccabi in which they got a loss, 2 draws and only 1 win whilst only scoring 3 goals in all 4 of the games. (All 3 of the goals were scored in the same game.)

Yossi Shivhon (wiki)

Maccabi are still looking to secure a goalkeeper for next season after Nigeria's national team goalie Vincent Enyeama revealed that he is thinking about walking out on them after they made an offer to him, that Enyeama claimed, "did not include enough money". Maccabi are closely watching Real Madrid Castilla goalie Tomas Mejias in case Enyeama does decide to leave. 

Amit Ben Shushan (wiki)

Ironi Ramat Hasharon have handed midfielder Yossi Shivhon a lifeline after he was relegated with Maccabi Netanya from the top flight, by giving him a 1 year contract at the club. The Israeli 31-year-old will officially sign the deal that will keep him in the Ligat Ha'Al for at least another season after the Jewish fast day of Tisha B'av. Shivhon played 32 games and scored 4 goals last season in the Netanya ranks.

Beitar Jerusalem had to wave a painful goodbye yesterday to Amit Ben Shushan after the Israeli striker decided to leave after 10 years at the club. The 28-year-old will play next season for Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta.
Ben Shushan scored 46 goals in the 248 games that he played for Beitar.. "Beitar Jerusalem will always be my home", said a very emotional Ben Shushan, "I am starting on a new path in a good club that has proved itself in the last few years. I want to personally thank  the Beitar fans who have supported me all the way and wish Beitar a lot of success next season".

"Sofo" (wiki)

Basketball:

Nizan Hanochi (BSL)

Maccabi Tel Aviv have managed to convince Greek center Sofoklis Schortsanitis to return to the Israeli club for a second stint. The 28 year old who played last year for Greek side Panathinaikos has signed on at Maccabi on a 3 year deal that will see him earn $2.5million. The move was made easier for Maccabi after earlier this month Panathinaikos told "Sofo"  that he will not be carrying on at the club. Sofo (2.08 meters) averaged 10.3 points and 3.5 rebounds in 17.6 minutes per game in his first stint at Maccabi. 

Hapoel Eilat have added another player to their roster for next season by signing 27-year-old  Nizan Hanochi from Maccabi Rishon LeZion. The Israeli shooting guard who is 1.94 meters also captained Rishon LeZion last season all the way to the semi-finals. "I am very exited about this signing", commented Eilat Manager Oded Katash. Chanochi averaged 9.2 points per game last season. Chanochi is not the first guard to sign for Eilat his summer, as they also signed Niv Berkovic who averaged 9.9 points per game last season.

Dagan Yavzuri (safsal)

Maccabi Haifa have agreed a one year deal with shooting guard Dagan Yavzuri. 28-year-old Yavzuri has been playing for the last 4 years at Hapoel Gilboa Galil and by signing for Haifa, joined the 7th club of his career. Haifa are still looking for a new coach and a new player to replace Gal Mekel who recently became just the second Israeli to officially sign for an NBA team when he signed for the Dallas Mavericks.
 

Maccabiah 2013:

The Israel Team (The IAB)

Israel's Baseball team's squad for the 19th Maccabiah Games has been announced.  Israel will face strong competition from Baseball heavyweights U.S.A and Canada in their bid to win the tournament that will start next Thursday. All the games in the competition will be played at the Yaron Sports Complex in Petah Tikva (otherwise known as "Baptist Village"). The team's head coach during the competition will be Amit Kurz.
Israel's Squad: Adam Miller, Assaf Lowengart, Avi Watson, Binyamin Mor, Elan Bash, Gilad Zwilling, Ilan Klein, Matan Ritz, Meir Ginensky, Menachem Lafazan, Noam Calisar, Mordy Roth, Roye Shelem, Tal Erel, Yechiel Scheinfeld, Yehuda Joffe, Yoav Halper, Yoav Meoded, Yotam Ben Amram, Ben Laks, Shlomo Lipman,  Elyashiv Segal.