Maccabi T.A and Haifa both learn of Europa League group-stage fates, Biton joins Celtic

Football:
The UEFA Europa League group-stage draw took place earlier today (Friday) and the 2 Israeli teams that were in it, learnt who their European opponents will be.
Maccabi Tel Aviv were drawn into Group F where they will have to face French Cup winners FC Bordeaux, Cypriot Champions Apoel FC and Eintracht Frankfurt who came 6th in last season's German Bundesliga. Meanwhile, Macabi Haifa were drawn into a slightly easier group (Group L) which consists of Dutch Cup winners AZ Alkmaar, Greek Premier League runners-up P.A.O.K FC and Kazakh champions Shakter Karagandy.

Nir Biton

The Europa League group-stage works in a way that sees each team play against each of the other teams in it's group twice, once at home and once away. As usual a win is worth 3 points whilst a draw is valued at 1 point. The top 2 teams of each group advance to the round of 32.
An exact fixture list has not been released yet but what has been confirmed is that the games will be played between September 19th and December 5th.

In other football news, Israel U-21 national team captain Nir Biton has signed for Scottish champions Celtic FC who qualified for the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday and will face Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Ajax. The 21-year-old midfielder who also has 6 caps for the senior national team, joined his new club on a 4 year deal. Biton will join fellow countryman Beram Kayal at Celtic, who have agreed to pay about 1,000,000 Euros to Ashdod, which is the club that Biton played for last season. For a player as young as himself, Biton's 196cm body frame definitely sticks out and could be a very good value-for-money signing from Celtic's point if view. At the Glasgow based club, he will also play alongside former Ashdod teammate Efe Ambrose.

The fixture list for Week 2 of The Israeli Premier League:
Hapoel Be'er Sheva vs Hapoel Tel Aviv (Saturday Evening)
Hapoel Haifa vs Hapoel Ra'anana (Saturday Evening)
Bnei Sakhnin vs Hapoel Akko (Saturday Evening)
Ironi Kiryat Shmona vs Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon (Saturday Evening)
Maccabi Petach Tikva vs Beitar Jerusalem (Saturday at 20:15) Live on Sport2
Ashdod vs Maccabi Haifa (Sunday at 20:00)
Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Bnei Yehuda (Sunday at 21:00)  

Haifa through to Europa League group-stage after 1-1 draw with Astra

Football:
Maccabi Haifa advanced into the UEFA Europa League group-stage for the second time in 3 seasons after a 1-1 draw last night  (Thursday) against Romanian side Astra Giurgiu in the 2nd leg of their play-off tie put the aggregate score at 3-1 in favor of Haifa. Astra hit first when in the 27th minute a bad punch by Haifa's Serbian goalie Bojan Saranov off of an inswinging corner fell to the feet of Astra defender, Valerica Gaman, who smashed the ball into the back of Haifa's half empty net. That goal was the first one that The Greens had let in their whole Europa League campaign this season, after taking 5 clean sheets in the last 5 games. Haifa atoned very quickly for their goalkeepers error, scoring the Equalizer just 7 minutes later when their Spanish midfielder Ruben Rayos curled a free-kick from the wing of the keeper and into the top corner of Astra's goal. Rayos has now scored 6 goals in Haifa's 6 Europa league games this season.

Dekel Keinan with the ball last night vs Astra (m haifa)

"We had a target", said Haifa's manager Arik Benado after the game, "that target was to reach the next round and that is exactly what we did. I am very proud of my team who despite falling behind didn't lose their heads, and they managed to to get back into the game".
Rayos also had what to say about the game: "It wasn't easy for us to play here. The pitch was muddy and this forced us not to play the way we usually do. Our advancement to the group-stage is very special, it's for the fans".
The Greens will be drawn into a group this afternoon (Friday) as will fellow Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Haifa's next game is in the Israeli Premier League on Sunday (at 20:00) when they face Ashdod, who recently lost play-maker Nir Biton since he is currently in the process of signing for Scottish champions, Celtic.

Haifa face Astra in 2nd leg of Europa League play-off tie, will attempt to finish the Romanians off and Advance to group-stage

Football:
Macccabi Haifa are just 90 minutes away from reaching Europe's secondary competition's group stage for just the 3rd time in the club's history. The only obstacle that stands in their way is Romanian side Astra Giurgiu who will host Haifa tonight (at 19:00) in the 2nd leg of their UEFA Europa League play-off tie. But Haifa won't worry too much as they go into the game with a two goal cushion, having won the 1st leg 2-0 in Kiryat Eliezer Stadium.

Benado and Katan at the press-conerence last night (m haifa)

 "I have been following Astra since we were first drawn against them", said Haifa's manager Arik Benado in a press conference last night, "They haven't played so well in their last two games, but are still a excellent side. We will do all we can to advance. We have not come here to play a defensive game, we will play in our normal style. The pitch is very wet and the rain isn't stopping any time soon, so it looks like we won't see any "great football" tonight, but we will till try our very best to win".
Also present at the press conference was Haifa's legendary captain Yaniv Katan who expressed how he felt ahead of the game. "The way we have played since the beginning of the season is the way Arik believes in", said Katan, "The players are mentally prepared, it is not easy to win away, but we will try our best to advance to the next round". Around 300 Haifa fans are expected to turn up at the Ceahlaul Stadium in Piatra Neamt to cheer their team into the group-stage. The game isn't being played in Astra's usual home stadium due to it being "ineligible" according to UEFA regulations.
Despite what Benado and Katan said, their is a slight chance that Haifa will go easy in attack and rest their usual front-man, Shimon Abuhatzira, and put South African striker, Dino Ndlovu - who played very impressively in the 1st leg after coming off the bench in the second half - upfront instead.
Haifa's expected lineup:
GK: Bojan Saronov, DF: Eyal Meshumar, Dekel Keinan, Taleb Twatiha, Edin Cocalic, MF: Gustavo Boccoli, Yaniv Katan (captain), Ruben Rayos, Hen Ezra, Alon Turgeman, FW: Shimon Abuhatzira (or Dino Ndlovu).

(The game will be broadcast live on the ONE sports channel from 19:00)

Guttman announces Israel squad for upcoming World Cup Qualifiers vs Azerbaijan and Russia

Football:

Yossi Benayoun has been left out of the Israel squad 

Israel national team manager Eli Guttman has announced the squad that will face Azerbaijan and Russia in their FIFA World Cup qualification campaign on the 7th and the 10th of September respectively. The most surprising omission from the squad list was Israel's captain Yossi Benayoun. It has been a long time since Benayoun last found himself in the starting lineup for Israel and has made substitute appearances in their last couple of games. The 33-year-old who is probably the most famous Israeli footballer ever, was released by his former club Chelsea at the end of last season and he is currently a free agent. "I have talked to Yossi", said Guttman yesterday after the squad list was released to the press, "together we came to an understanding that if on the day that I announce the squad he will not be signed for a club, then I will not include him". Benayoun is currently in serious talks with English sides Crystal Palace and West Brom and could rejoin the Israel squad if he does manage to sign for either of them. This was confirmed by Guttman who also said: "I hope that Yossi will find a team in the coming days, come back to train with the national team and make his way back into the starting 11".  Also missing from the squad are midfielders Avi Rekan and Beram Kayal and defender Rami Gershon all through injuries.

The full Israel national team squad for their games vs Azerbaijan and Russia:
GK: Dudu Aouate (Mallorca), Ariel Harush (Beitar Jerusalem) Danny Amos (Hapoel Tel Aviv), DF: Tal Ben Haim (Standard Liege), Yuval Spungin (Mons), Dekel Keinan (Maccabi Haifa), Eitan Tibi (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Sheran Yeini (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Eyal Meshumar (Maccabi Haifa), Taleb Tawatha (Maccab Haifa), Shir Tzedek (Ironi Kiryat Shmona), Oz Raly (Bnei Yehuda), MF: Bibras Natkho (Rubin Kazan), Lior Rafaelov (Club Brugge) Maor Melikson (Valenciennes), Gal Alberman (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Eran Zahavi (Maccabi Tel Aviv) Maharan Radi (Maccab Tel Aviv), Hen Ezra (Maccabi Haifa), Nir Biton (Ashdod), FW: Elyaniv Barda (Hapoel Be'er Sheva) Itay Shechter (Hapoel Tel Aviv), Eden Ben Basat (Toulouse), Shimon Abuhatzira (Maccabi Haifa), Eliran Atar (Reims). 

In other football news, the Israel Football Association has released the fixtures for the 2nd week of the Israeli Premier League which will be played this coming weekend.
The fixture list for Week 2 of The Israeli Premier League:
Hapoel Be'er Sheva vs Hapoel Tel Aviv (Saturday Evening)
Hapoel Haifa vs Hapoel Ra'anana (Saturday Evening)
Bnei Sakhnin vs Hapoel Akko (Saturday Evening)
Ironi Kiryat Shmona vs Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon (Saturday Evening)
Maccabi Petach Tikva vs Beitar Jerusalem (Saturday at 20:15)
Ashdod vs Maccabi Haifa (Sunday at 20:00)
Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Bnei Yehuda (Sunday at 21:00)  

Glushko advances into 2nd round of U.S Open

Tennis:

Julia Glushko (usopen)

Julia Glushko produced the biggest surprise by any Israeli player this year, yesterday (Tuesday), as she advanced into the 2nd round of the U.S Open after defeating the Russian, Nadia Petrova, who is currently ranked 23rd in the world, by an impressive 6-3, 6-4 scoreline in a match that lasted just 1 hour and 12 minutes. "I'm really happy, I felt good from the moment that I started to actually manage to return her serves", said Glushko after the historic win, "without believing, things like this can't ever happen. In the 2nd round Glushko will face American, Sachia Vickery, who defeated Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Crotia 6-4, 6-4 in the 1st round. The 23-year-old shouldn't find it to hard do defeat the American due to the fact that Vickery is currently ranked 229th and only qualified for the main draw of the Open after winning the USTA National Junior Championship whilst the Israeli is currently ranked 128th and reached the main draw after advancing through 3 qualifying rounds. If Glushko does manage to beat Vickery, then in the 3rd round she will have quite an easy tie, as both of her possible opponents, Danela Hantuchova and Victoria Duval, are unseeded. Meanwhile, late Monday night, fellow Israeli, Dudi Sela, also advanced to the second round after defeating Andrey Kuznetsov 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-7(2), 5-7, 6-4 in what seemed like an endless game, as it was competed in just less than 4 hours. The 28-year-old will face 18th seed Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia in the the next round.

Sorry For Recent Absents Of New Content..... Will Be Back To Normal Soon

Netanya add Israeli center Nir Cohen to roster ahead of new season

Basketball:

Nir Cohen (sdu)

Barak Netanya have made yet another addition to their roster ahead of the upcoming season by signing Israeli center Nir Cohen on a 1 year contract. The 202cm 32-year-old who can also play as a power forward played last season at Maccabi Rishon LeZion, where he averaged 2.8 points and 1.8 rebounds per game in an average of 9 minutes per game. Cohen started his career in College basketball when he played for the San Diego Toreros for 2 seasons. After finishing his career in
college, in 2008, Cohen returned to Israel and went on to play for B.C. Habikaa, Hapoel Holon, Hapoel Afula, Galil Gilboa, Ironi Ramat Gan and as mentioned above, Maccabi Rishon LeZion.

In other Basketball news, Dan Chalutz has been appointed Chairman of the Israel Basketball Association (IBBA). Chalutz is an Israel Air Force Lt. General, a former Air Force Commander and was the Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces from 2005 until 2007. The appointment of Chalutz by the IBBA has come under heavy fire from a number of parties including those that are supposed to have a voice in the selection of a new chairman and in this case didn't get one, meaning that the appointment could still be cancelled.  

Israeli Premier League Week 1 Results

Football:

Premier League Week 1 results:

Akko 0-2 Maccabi Tel Aviv 
Hapoel Ra'anana 1-0 Maccabi Petach Tikva 
Hapoel Ramat HaSharon 0-2 Hapoel Haifa 
Bnei Yehuda 1-0 M.S Ashdod 
Beitar Jerusalem 0-2 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 
Hapoel Tel Aviv 0-0 Bnei Sakhnin 
Maccabi Haifa 3-1 Ironi Kiryat Shmona

Possible woes for Eli Guttman as Beram Kayal picks up thigh injury

Football:
Legionaries:

Beram Kayal (wiki)

Israel national team midfielder Beram Kayal returned to Scottish club Celtic's starting line-up for their game yesterday (Saturday) against Inverness, after being dropped for their UEFA Chamions League play-off match against Shakhter Karagandy on Tuesday which Celtic lost 2-0. Kayal didn't last very long though as he picked up a thigh injury in the 24th minute and was subbed out of the game which ended 2-2. His injury could be a big blow for Israel national team manager Eli Guttman as he usually plays Kayal in the defending midfield role and Israel have two very important games coming up in their World Cup qualifying campaign, against Russia and Azerbaijan. However, recent reports have suggested that Guttman is thinking of benching Kayal anyway for at least the first of those two games due to the fact that in Israel's last game, a friendly vs Ukraine which Israel lost 2-0, a mistake by Kayal led to the Ukrainians first goal.
Meanwhile in the French top flight Israel national team striker Eliran Atar played 71 minutes as his team, Stade Reims, beat Lyon 1-0 and Israeli midfielder Maor Melikson was on the pitch for 65 minutes as his team, Valenciennes, were beaten 1-0 by Marseille.

Israeli Premier League season starts with no surprises as holding champions Maccabi T.A beat Akko 2-0

Football:

Eran Zehavi scores Maccabi Tel Aviv's 2nd goal (maccabi t.a)

Maccabi Tel Aviv started the new season in the same way they finished the last, with a 2-0 win over Akko. The Yellows opened the game with fire, scoring both goals in the first 7 minutes of the match through Barak Yitzhaki in the 1st minute and Eran Zehavi in the 7th but then more or less fell asleep for the rest of the game. Meanwhile Hapoel Be'er Sheva who finished a disappointing 8th last season showed signs of a new beginning by beating Beitar Jerusalem 2-0. Be'er Sheva's first goal came from a Siraj Nassar header that was pushed by Beitar's goalie Ariel Harush into his own net. After a terrible first half from Beitar, they played much better in the 2nd and made a lot of goal-scoring chances including a shot from striker Omer Nachmani that rattled the crossbar. But all of Beitar's attempts to equalize were worthless when in the final minute of normal time Tomer Swisa took a free-kick that was supposed to be comfortably saved by Harush but the Israeli goalie let the ball slide off his hands and into the net for Be'er Sheva's second. Elsewhere Hapoel Haifa shut-out Ramat HaSharon with 2-0 win, Bnei Yehuda squeezed past Ashdod with a 1-0 win and newly promoted team Hapoel Ra'anana beat fellow newcomers Maccabi Petach Tikva 1-0.
On Sunday evening Hapoel Tel Aviv start their Premier League campaign with a home fixture against Bnei Sakhnin and Maccabi Haifa host Ironi Kiryat Shmona 3 days after beating Astra Giurgiu 2-0 in the Europa League.

All Saturday Premier League Results:
Akko 0-2 Maccabi Tel Aviv 
Hapoel Ra'anana 1-0 Maccabi Petach Tikva 
Hapoel Ramat HaSharon 0-2 Hapoel Haifa 
Bnei Yehuda 1-0 M.S Ashdod 
Beitar Jerusalem 0-2 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 

Sunday Premier League Fixtures:
Hapoel Tel Aviv vs Bnei Sakhnin (at 20:00) Live on Sport1
Maccabi Haifa vs Ironi Kiryat Shmona (at 21:00) Live on Channel 1
  

Haifa take big stride towards Europa League group stage with 2-0 first leg win over Astra

Football:
Just a few hours before kick-off 2 Katyusha rockets, fired by Hezbollah terrorists from southern Lebanon, landed near Haifa's neighboring city of Akko. But this clearly didn't faze the 12,500 Maccabi Haifa fans who turned up at Kiryat Eliezer and cheered their team on to a 2-0 victory over Romanian club Astra Giurgiu in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League play-off tie.

Haifa's Hen Ezra runs past two Astra defenders (m haifa)

Haifa started the game full of confidence and dominated the ball throughout the first half. Unsurprisingly they only had to wait until the 30th minute for their first goal, when the club's Spanish midfielder Ruben Rayo directed a free-kick from just outside the area into the top corner of Astra's goal. Following the goal The Greens played even better and managed to force a penalty in the 41st minute when Haifa's Israeli striker Shimon Abuhazira's header hit the arm of Astra's Brazilian defender Junior Morais. Despite showing such great ability with his goal 11 minutes earlier, Rayo stepped up to take the penalty but hit it very lightly and too close to Astra's goalie Silviu Yung to the extent that Yung managed to actually catch the shot. The 2nd half started with Haifa playing at a much slower pace but despite that managed to find a second goal through a slow Alon Turgeman shot from the edge of the box that rolled off the post and in. Haifa have gone undefeated so far in their Europa League qualifying campaign and have scored 15 goals without conceding even one.
"We pressurized them, and we made quite a lot of chances", said Haifa's manager Arik Benado after the final whistle, "I am very proud of the way the players played. 2-0 is a good result but the story is not over until after the 2nd leg next week. It is true that we are still looking to add certain players to our squad but i really liked what i saw from my current squad today. I saw a strong and serious team".
Haifa defender Dekel Keinan also had what to say about the result: "2-0 is a good result, especially because we kept a clean sheet and we managed to create a lot of chances, but nevertheless the tie isn't over until after next week's match. It was our first important test and we got through it. You could see why they (Astra) are currently at the top of the Romanian first division but tonight, we were at the top of our game in every possible perspective".
Amongst the spectators was Israel Football Association chairman, Avi Luzon, whose job came into question recently after allegations made against him claimed that he is too connected to the club that he used chair, Maccabi Petah Tikva, and it is causing a conflict of interest in Israeli Football.
Haifa start their domestic season on Sunday when they host Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona and play the second leg of their Europa League play-off tie with Astra next Thursday.

Fixtures for week 1 of the Israeli Premier League:
Akko vs Maccabi Tel Aviv (Saturday evening)
Hapoel Ra'anana vs Maccabi Petach Tikva (Saturday evening)
Hapoel Ramat HaSharon vs Hapoel Haifa (Saturday evening)
Bnei Yehuda vs M.S Ashdod (Saturday evening)
Beitar Jerusalem vs Hapoel Be'er Sheva (Saturday at 20:15) Live on Sport1
Hapoel Tel Aviv vs Bnei Sakhnin (Sunday at 20:00)
Maccabi Haifa vs Ironi Kiryat Shmona (Sunday at 21:00)*
     ( * times of all games are subject to changes) 

 

Maccabi Haifa host Romanian club Astra Giurgiu tonight in first leg of their Europa League Play-Off showdown

Football:
Every Israeli football team dreams of making it to the main draw of a European competition and Maccabi Haifa have a chance of making that dream a reality for the 8th time in the club's history as they face Romanian club Astra Giurgiu in a two legged tie, which is their last obstacle before reaching the main group-stage draw of the UEFA Europa League. Haifa host Astra, who came 4th in the Romanian Premier League last season and this season are currently leading the table, tonight (Thursday) at 19:30 in the first leg of the tie which is probably Haifa's manager Arik Benado's biggest challenge since becoming manager mid-way through last season.

Gustavo Boccoli and Arik Benado at the press conference (m haifa)

"Our opponents (Astra) are in good form", said Benado in a press conference last night, "If we pass them it will give us a big push and boost our confidence going into the new season. It is important for the club and for the fans. Despite having said all this, the tie will only be decided after the second leg, meaning that tomorrow no matter how well we play nothing will be for certain. They have a dangerous attack, with young dynamic players. They have already advanced through 3 stages, but we have studied them and we have managed to get to know their style of play. We have a hard week ahead, with 3 very important games. It is very intense around the club right now, but we have a very good and big squad, so we are ready. Me and my team will never be complacent, because who are we to underestimate the ability of the current top team in Romania?".
Haifa reached the play-off round by beating Latvian side Ventspils 3-0 on aggregate in the last round whilst Astra got to the play-offs after beating Trencin of Slovakia 5-3 over 2 legs in the previous round.
"We are hoping to play a good game against Haifa", said Astra's manager Daniel Isaila at last night's press conference, "We are very glad to be here. We have watched some of Haifa's previous games and we now realize how good they are. We will try to surprise and stop Haifa from playing it's usual way. Just like Haifa we also have a good team and we have come with a big appetite in order to leave Israel with a good result to take into the second leg".
Haifa midfielder Gustavo Boccoli was also present at the press conference and he also had what to say about the game: "The Romanian teams that we play against are always good, but we know what we have to do in order to play well at home. It is an important game for the club and each player knows he has to give all he can regardless of how many minutes he gets on the pitch. We know it won't be easy and if we don't come ready our opponents will punish us".
11,000 Haifa fans are expected tot turn up to cheer their team on to victory an Haifa initiated a plan hours before the match that allows anyone to get a ticket to the game for just 10nis as long as they come to the stadium in a green shirt.

Haifa's expected lineup:
GK: Bojan Saronov, DF: Eyal Meshumar, Dekel Keinan, Taleb Twatiha, Edin Cocalic, MF: Gustavo Boccoli, Yaniv Katan (captain), Ruben Rayos, Hen Ezra, Alon Turgeman, FW: Shimon Abuhatzira.

(You can watch the game live on Sport1 from 19:30)
 

Maccabi Ashdod sign center Sean Lebanowski

Basketball:

Sean Lebanowski (left) (maccabi haifa)

Maccabi Ashdod has extended it's roster for next season with the signing of American-Israeli center Sean Lebanowski on a 3 year contract. The 204cm 21-year-old who can also play as a power forward, played most of last season at Maccabi Kiryat Bialik in the second division after spending the first 5 games of last season at eventual Israeli Champions, Maccabi Haifa. In all 5 of those games Lebanowski didn't play more than 2 minutes and decided to move down to the second division where he played almost every minute in some games. At Kiryat Bialik Lebanowski averaged 10 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.
"Lebanowski has great potential", said Ashdod's head coach Nati Cohen after the deal was completed, "I have no doubt that in the future he will be a leading player. He has great physical features: 204cm and a strong and athletic body. I think that the fact that we have handed him a 3 year contract, proves how much we believe in his ability".

Basketball: Tamir Ariely joins Hapoel Tel Aviv

Basketball:

Tamir Ariely (right) (sport5)

Israel's national cadet team's star guard Tamir Ariely has signed a deal at Hapoel Tel Aviv that will see him play at the club for the next 2 seasons. The 190cm 23-year-old played last season at Barak Netanya and the season before that at Maccabi Haifa. Ariely started his career in the Israeli second division with Hapoel Kiryat Tiv'on where he played for 2 seasons before moving up to the top flight where he played first for Hapoel Holon and then Maccabi Rishon LeZion followed by, as mentioned above, current Israeli champions Maccabi Haifa.

Carlton Brown (wiki)

At Hapoel Tel Aviv Ariely is expected to struggle to get minutes on the court as 10 days ago Hapoel also added American guard Carlon Brown to their roster who just 11 months ago was signing on at the Golden Sate Warriors in the NBA but was waived after not being picked in the draft. The Warriors took interest in the 196cm 23-year-old after he had a comfortable NCAA career playing for 3 years at the Utah Utes followed by 2 years at the Colorado Buffaloes and it was there that he was picked as the Pacific-12 Tournament's 2012 MVP.

Beitar get striker Teteh Bangura on loan from Bursaspor

Football:
Until recently it looked like Beitar Jerusalem would start the upcoming season with absolutely no attacking force but the signing of two strikers in the last five days has changed all of that. Last Thursday Beitar signed striker Itzik Cohen who was one of city rivals and second division club Hapoel Jerusalem's star players last season.

Teteh Bangura (uefa)

 Cohens signing has been followed up with the adding of Sierra Leonean striker Teteh Bangura after agreeing a loan deal with his current club Bursaspor that will see Beitar pay just 180,000 of the 500,000 Euro yearly salary that Bangura receives from the Turkish club. Bangura has been in the Bursaspor squad for the last two seasons and played 31 league games but only managed to score 6 times.
 "I have no doubt that Beitar fans, who I heard are very warming, will let me prove to them that the deal was worth it", said Bangura after the deal was completed, "I am the type of player who likes to play and not sit on the bench. The second that I realized that i wasn't wanted at the club (Bursaspor) I started looking for other places to go to".
The fact that the 23-year-old was not really wanted at the Turkish club was confirmed by the Sporting Chairman of Bursaspor who was quoted as saying: "At our club he didn't settle in".
Bangura is going to land in Israel on Thursday and start training strait away with the Beitar team and his expected new striking partner Itzik Cohen. Despite the fact that he didn't play so well in Turkey, before that bad stint he played for two different Swedish clubs where he scored an amazing 26 league goals in just 28 league games.
Beitar start their season on Saturday night (at 20:15) with a game against Hapoel Be'er Sheva. The match is supposed to be a home fixture for the Jerusalemites but the game will be played in Ramat Gan Stadium due to the fact that their usual home stadium, Teddy Stadium, is being repaired after its pitch was ruined in the Maccabiah Games opening and closing ceremony. It is not clear how many Beitar fans will attend the match but about 2,500 Be'er Sheva fans will make the long journey from the Negev capital to Ramat Gan.

In other news Maccabi Haifa defender Dekel Keinan and midfielder Ran Abukarat both signed new 3 year contracts at the club.

Preseason friendly results:
Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona 1-1 Nazareth Illit

Maccabi Rishon LeZion makes 4th foreign signing of the summer with Nigerian Dinma Odiakosa joining the club

Basketball:

Dinma Odiakosa (ibba)

Maccabi Rishon LeZion have added yet another foreign player to their squad for the upcoming season by signing 203cm Nigerian center Dinma Odiakosa on a 1 year deal. 31-year-old Odiakosa who played last season in the Israeli second division with Hod HaSharon also had a 5 year NCAA career playing for Illinois State between 2005 and 2010.
 "Odiakosa has already played in Israel, we saw him in a few games and we were very impressed with his physical ability", said Rishon LeZion manager Roni Bussani after the player signed his contract, "We hope and we believe that he will stick to our terms from a professional and social point of view".
Last season Odiakosa averaged 19.6 points and 11.7 rebounds per game and led Hod HaSharon to the Play-Off final where they were defeated by Ness Ziona.

In other news the Israel National Basketball Team finished a 3 game EuroBasket warm up series last night with a 77-59 loss to Belgium after beating Italy 78-74 on Sunday night and losing to Poland 75-72 on Saturday night. Omri Casspi led Israel in all 3 games scoring 18 against Belgium, 17 points in their win against Italy and 24 points against Poland. Israel start their EuroBasket Slovenia 2013 campaign on September 4th with a tough game against Great Britain which will be played in the city of Ljubljana. Next Wednesday (28th of August) Israel will host Georgia in its final warm up game.
 

Sakhnin make last ditch addition to squad by signing Ravid Gazal

Football:

Ravid Gazal (wiki)

Bnei Sakhnin start their season on Sunday with a tough game away at Hapoel Tel Aviv and as the opening weekend draws ever closer they are still making changes to their squad. Last night Sakhnin signed Israeli midfielder Ravid Gazal on a 1 year deal. In an official statement the club said: "We are glad to report on the joining of Ravid Gazal to the Bnei Sakhnin family, we believe that his vast experience and his high level of professionalism will help us during this upcoming season". Gazal who is currently 31-years-old has been a professional footballer for over 13 years in a career that saw him help Maccabi Haifa to the 04/05 Israeli Championship and Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona to the 11/12 Championship and in signing for Sakhnin has joined his 8th club. He played the second half of last season at Hapoel Be'er Sheva where he appeared in 11 league games and scored a single goal. Gazal also played 9 times for the Israel national team between the years 2004 and 2008. At Bnei Sakhnin manager Marco Balbul is expected to play Gazal as a defensive midfielder but will face competition from teammate Stephen Sunday who usually plays in that roll.

In other news the Israel Football Association has released all the Premier League fixture times for the opening weekend which will be played this coming Saturday and Sunday:
Akko vs Maccabi Tel Aviv (Saturday evening)
Hapoel Ra'anana vs Maccabi Petach Tikva (Saturday evening)
Hapoel Ramat HaSharon vs Hapoel Haifa (Saturday evening)
Bnei Yehuda vs M.S Ashdod (Saturday evening)
Beitar Jerusalem vs Hapoel Be'er Sheva (Saturday at 20:15)
Hapoel Tel Aviv vs Bnei Sakhnin (Sunday at 20:00)
Maccabi Haifa vs Ironi Kiryat Shmona (Sunday at 21:00)*
     ( * times of all games are subject to changes)
      

Steven Cohen joins Akko after 3 seasons at Beitar

Football:
Israeli-French midfielder Steven Cohen has joined Hapoel Akko after spending 3 seasons at Beitar Jerusalem. The 27-year-old French born player who grew up in the youth ranks of French club Montpelier signed for his new club on a 1 year contract. Cohen could be a vital reinforcement for the Premier League club who has had a horrible preseason that included a 1-0 loss to second division side Hapoel Afula this past Thursday. Cohen came to play in Israel for the first time in 2009 when he signed for Hapoel Ra'anana. He left Ra'anana at the end of the 2009/2010 season and joined Beitar Jerusalem where he had played until now.

Steven Cohen (right) celebrates after scoring a goal
for Beitar Jerusalem (sport5)

Israel national team striker Eden Ben Basat scored yesterday in his French Ligue 1 club Toulouse FC's 1-1 draw with Bordeaux. Towards the end of the match Ben Basat picked up a light injury and was subbed out of the game.

Bnei Yehuda fly past Hapoel Petach Tikva in 2-0 pre-season friendly win

Football:

Dror Kashtan on the sideline during a Bnei Yehuda game
last season (bnei yehuda)

Bnei Yehuda look more than ready for the new premier league season that starts in 8 days as they beat second division Hapoel Petach Tikva 2-0 in a pre-season friendly this morning (Friday). The first goal of the game came in the 22nd minute when Israeli midfielder Ness Zamir lifted a corner kick into the box that found Orr Barouch who headed the ball into the back of the net. Bnei Yehuda's second goal came just 8 minutes later when Oz Raly scored a penalty. At half-time both teams subbed most of their starting lineups for younger players and this made the second half much slower paced and empty as neither team managed to create chances. Bnei Yehuda who are currently coached by the legendary Dror Kashtan start their season with a match against Ashdod who were beaten yesterday by Hapoel Ra'anana 2-0 in a friendy match.


Other pre-season friendly results:
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2-1 Bnei Lod

Maccabi Haifa B.C add Brian Randle to roster for upcoming season

Basketball:

Brian Randle (hapoel)

American power forward Brian Randle has joined Maccabi Haifa on a 1 year contract.  In signing for Haifa Randle who played last season for Hapoel Tel Aviv became the 8th player to sign for The Greens this summer after Dagen Yavzuri, Sherwood Brown, Kervin Bristol, Ben Rice, Ike Ofoegbu, Moran Roth and David Cubillan. "I am happy that such a winner as Brian Randle is joining our team", said Haifa's coach Danny Franco, "I have no doubt that his leadership ability and his winning background will help us face the challenges that we have waiting for us this season in the league and in Europe". Haifa's president and owner Jeff Rosen added: "I am very exited about his (Randle's) signing for the team he is a proven winner in Israel and he will be hard match-up for every opponent in Israel and in Europe". 28-year-old Randle started his professional career at Hapoel Gilboa Galil after playing his college career at Illinois. In his second season at Gilboa Galil (2009/2010) Randle helped the team become Israeli champions beating Maccabi Tel Aviv in the final. After that triumph Randle joined Hapoel Jerusalem on a 2 year contract and at the end of that contract he signed for German club Alba Berlin where he played for just 1 season. Following his short stint in Germany Randle returned to Israel signing for Hapoel Tel Aviv ahead of the 2012/2013 season.

Beitar shut out Ashkelon in 1-0 pre-season friendly win

Football:

Beitar midfielder Omer Atzily prepares to take a corner during
Beitar's 1-0 win over Ashkelon (sport5)

We are just 9 days away from the opening of the new Israeli Premier League season and Beitar Jerusalem look ready for their opening game as they beat second division Hapoel Ashkelon 1-0 in a pre-season friendly match on Ashkelon's training pitch. The only goal of the game came in the 66th minute when Beitar's captain for the game Shai Hadad took a free-kick from just outside the area and fired the ball past the wall and into the bottom corner of Ashkelon's net. Beitar's usual captain, goalie Ariel Harush, was absent from the game due to his landing in Israel earlier today after flying out to Ukraine with the Israel National Team for their match against the Ukraine National Team in a game which Israel lost by 2 goals to nil. Harush was replaced by second choice goalie Ohad Saidof. "I know that the line-up that we have going into the season isn't one that everybody was hoping for", said Beitar midfielder Ofir Kriaf after the win, "but i believe that we can do good things during the season".

Other pre-season friendly results:
Bnei Sakhnin 3-3 Kiryat Shmona
Hapoel Ra'anana 2-0 Ashdod
Hapoel Haifa 1-1 Maccabi Petach Tikva

Israel lose 2-0 to Ukraine in friendly match

Israel midfielder Biram Kayal (right) battles for the ball with Oleh Husyev

Football:
The Israel National Team were defeated last night (Wednesday) 2-0 by Ukraine for their first loss of 2013 in a match that was played in a waterlogged Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kiev. Israel started the game poorly as they rarely managed to string more than two attacking passes together in the whole of the first half and it was in that half that Israel's failure to keep the ball made them pay when in the 29th minute Israel's Biram Kayal slipped and lost the ball on the halfway line to the Ukrainians and their play-maker Edmar picked out a pass to fellow midfielder Ruslan Rotan who placed the ball into the bottom corner of Israeli goalkeeper Dudu Aouate's net. Russia's second goal came in the 72nd minute when once again Edmar found himself with enough space to play a perfect pass to Yevhen Seleznyov who managed to slot the ball home from the edge of the box. "It was a very bad game", said Israel's manager Eli Guttman after the defeat, "We were playing with the ball in defense for too long. Our opponents took advantage of a mistake that we made and they started a counter attack that ended up with them scoring. We have pointed this out to the players and we must make sure that nothing like that ever happens again. In the second half we played better but still not good enough to keep up with our opponents and that really annoyed me. Every move that they did with one touch we did with with two touches". The only positive point of the game from Israel's point of view was when captain Yossi Benayoun was subbed into the game in the 73rd minute to make his 94th appearance for the National Team tying him with Arik Benado at the top of the Israel National Team appearance leaderboard. Israel host Azerbaijan on the 7th of September and play against Russia three days after that in Group F of the World Cup Qualifying and for Israel to take points in both of those games could be vital in their fight to get into the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. When Guttman was asked about these two important games he said: "The matches next month are very different. If we want to beat Azerbaijan we will have to control the ball like the Ukrainians did today. If we manage to do that, and we have players who can do that, then we can win. As for the Russia game I don't really want to talk about it until after the Azerbaijan match".

   

THERE WILL BE NO EXTRA CONTENT ON THIS BLOG UNTIL Thursday, 15th of AUGUST

4/8/3013: Hapoel Ra'anana sign Brazilian striker Eudis

Eudis (wiki)

Hapoel Ra'anana  have signed Brazilian striker Eudi Silva de Sousa. The 30-year-old whose nickname is Eudis has played his whole professional career until now at clubs in Switzerland with his last club being Servette, where he played for the last 5 seasons. Eudis was also part of the F.C Zurich squad of 06/07 that won the Swiss League. Other Swiss clubs that he played at include Young Boys, Lausanne Sport and Yverdon Sport. The signing of Eudis came about after the Ra'anana backroom staff including manager Menachem Koretski watched DVDs of him playing, which was followed up by the recipient of positive feedback from people in Swizerland about the player.

Nikola Mitrovic alongside Jordi Cruyff after signing (maccabi t.a)

Maccabi Tel Aviv are playing the second leg of their UEFA Champions League 3rd qualifying round tie with FC Basel of Switzerland which they are losing 1-0 on Tuesday but they nevertheless are still making changes to their squad 2 days before the big game. Today Maccabi signed Serbian defensive midfielder Nikola Mitrovic on a 1 year deal. After the signing was completed Maccabi's general manager Jordi Cruyff said: " We are happy to add to our squad a versatile player such as Nikola who will make it a great competition for players to try to make it into the match-day team and the starting lineup". The 26-year-old who is known as the "Serbian Gatusso" played last season at Hungarian side Videoton. Mitrovic was part of the FK Patizan squad that took the Serbian double back in the 07/08 season and also has 1 cap for Serbia. Last season he scored 6 league goals in 26 games which is very good from a defensive position.


Israeli midfielder Bibras Natcho was included in the starting lineup and played 90 minutes as his team Rubin Kazan drew 0-0 with CSKA Mosow today in the Russian Premier League. Natcho has now started in all 4 of Kazan's league fixtures so far this season. Kazan now lie in 5th place in the league but remain undefeated as they have won 1 and drew 3 of the 4 games they have played thus far.  

3/8/2013 : Almog Cohen gets off to great start at new club FC Ingolstadt as they advance in German Cup

Football:

Almog Cohen

Israeli midfielder Almog Cohen had a perfect competitive debut at his new club FC Ingolstadt of the German second flight as they beat SF Baumberg 4-1 in the German Cup and advanced to the next round. Cohen who played 90 minutes in the match moved to the second division club after he failed to be picked for the starting line-ups at his previous club FC Nuremberg in the top flight ever since he moved there from Maccabi Netanya in 2010.

2/8/2013 : Hapoel T.A, Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Ramat Gan all draw in Europa League

Football:

Lucas Sasha celebrates after scoring his goal (hapoel t.a)

Hapoel Tel Aviv finished the first leg of their UEFA Europa League 3rd qualifying round tie against Romanian side Pandurii Târgu Jiu with the score tied at 1-1. Despite the fact that overall it was not such a great game from Hapoel's point of view, they scored a vital away goal that gave them the advantage going into the home leg of the tie. Pandurii scored first when in the 4th minute midfielder Dan Nistor released a light shot from just inside the area that was fumbled by Hapoel goalie Danny Amos and ended up in the back of the net. In the 29th minute Hapoel found an equalizer when the team's Brazilian midfielder Lucas Sasha took a free-kick form 19 meters and smashed it into the far top corner of Pandurii's goal. " We knew it would be a hard game against the Romanian top flight runners-up", said Hapoel midfielder Shai Abutbul after the draw, " It was important to score that away goal and to have the decisive match at Bloomfield. We are a very talented squad and i am sure that we will improve our game and we will show that we have improved our game in the future. For now we have to concentrate on the current target, which is to advance to the next round. I am sure that Bloomfield will be full next Thursday and that our fans will push us to achieve our target".
The second leg of the tie will be played next Thursday at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv at 20:00 where a packed crowd will attempt to cheer on their team towards a win.

Shimon Abuhatzira battles for the ball with Kaspars Dubra

Maccabi Haifa came out of their match vs FK Ventspils with a poor 0-0 draw in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League 3rd qualifying round tie. Haifa had a couple of good chances to score a goal during the game with the best one coming just before halftime when Spanish midfielder Ruben Rayo hit one from just outside the area but the ball bounced off the crossbar. Another good chance came towards the end of the match when Haifa's Israeli striker Shimon Abuhatzira found himself in a 1-on-1 situation with the Ventspils goalie but smashed the ball straight into his hands.
Haifa play the second leg of their tie at home in the Kiryat Eliezer Stadium in Haifa next Thursday at 19:30.

Other Europa League Results:
Estoril 0-0 Hapoel Ramat Gan 

Spanish giants F.C Barcelona will land in Israel tomorrow to hold training sessions with Israeli kids. They have a scheduled session in Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv and another one in Jerusalem. On their trip they will also meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres. Barcelona are supposed to arrive with all their biggest stars including Messi, Neymar, Iniesta and Xavi.

 Preseason friendly results:
Ironi Kiryat Shmona 1-0 Hapoel Haifa 


  

1/8/2013 : Maccabi Haifa face Latvian side Ventspils tonight in Europa League 3rd qualifying round

Haifa midfielders Gustavo Boccoli and Ruben Rayos yesterday in Latvia

Football:
Maccabi Haifa will start its Europa League 3rd qualifying round tie with FK Ventspils of Latvia tonight in Latvia at 19:00. Haifa will head into the match having notched up a 10-0 aggregate score in the last round against Khazar Lankaran that included an 8-0 win in the away leg. " This game is up to us. Tonight we will be playing a match against a team that is very good in attack", said Haifa's manager Arik Benado to his players in a training session this morning, "They are a tall team and we have to take that into account. I don't want any of you guys to be surprised , start concentrating from the first second of the match". Ventspils beat in Jeunesse Esch of Luxembourg 5-1 on aggregate in the last round to set up this tie with Maccabi. In a press conference yesterday Benado said: "We know Ventspils, they are a good team, we watched them in a few games, they have very dangerous attacking players and overall are a good attacking team. We will do all we can to get passed them. It will be a tough game, all away games are, but we must score".  As for the Haifa lineup for tonight's game, it looks like midfielder Avichai Yadin will not play due to a knee injury that he received yesterday that kept him out of this morning's training session.
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, Alon Turgeman, FW: Shimon Abuhatzira.
(You can watch the match live on sport5 tonight from 19:00)

Other Europa League fixtures tonight:
Pandurii vs Hapoel Tel Aviv (21:00)
Estoril vs Hapoel Ramat Gan (22:00)

Dario Fernandez (sport5)

 Hapoel Haifa have signed Argentine midfielder Dario Fernandez on a 2 year deal. Fernandez became available yesterday after his last club, Beitar Jerusalem, released him due to the fact that he made some negative comments about the club to manager Eli Cohen during a training session two weeks ago. The 34-year-old is expected to receive about $120,000 per season at the Haifa club. In signing Fernandez became just the 5th none-Israeli in the Hapoel Haifa roster for next season.