Maccabi Haifa F.C.

Template:Football club infobox Maccabi Haifa F.C. (MHFC) is one of the top football clubs in Israel. It was founded in 1913. Maccabi Haifa is a sports association in Haifa, Israel. It operates sports teams, most notably soccer and basketball.


Contents

General information

Maccabi Haifa F.C.
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Maccabi Haifa F.C.

Israeli records

  • It is the first Israeli club to qualify for the group phase of the UEFA Champions League, and reach the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
  • In the season of 1993/1994 the team won the championship without losing a single match (there were 39 matches in that season).
  • The highest number of games unbeaten in succession: 48 (1993-1995).
  • The highest number of goals scored in one season: 97 (1993/1994).
  • The highest number of goals scored in one season by one player: Alon Mizrahi - 28 (1993/1994).

Successful exported players from Maccabi Haifa

The club had exported to leading European clubs many famous players, and therefore gained a reputation of a "Bounce Platform to Europe". Among the players that were exported to European clubs by MHFC (and their European career):

Titles and Trophies

Adults

  • Championships (9): 1983\4, 1984\5, 1988\9, 1990\1, 1993\4, 2000\1, 2001\2, 2003\4, 2004\5 .
  • National Cups (5): 1962, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1998.
  • Toto Cups (2): 1994, 2002.
  • Other domestic trophies (7): 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1984, 1985, 1989.
  • Major European Achievement: head of group in the Intertoto Cup (1984), 1/8 final in the Cup Winners' Cup (1994), 1/4 final in the Cup Winners' Cup (1999), group stages at the Champions League (2002).

Youth - International

  • "Fox Kids" World Cup for age 12: (2004) This is a cup for national youth teams in age of 12, but the Israeli team was constituted only from Maccabi Haifa youth players.
  • Ireland "Milk Cup": (2004) beat Everton F.C. 5:1 in the final.[1] (http://maccabi-haifa.nana.co.il/reports/article.asp?ArticleID=6404&OpenMenu=2)

History

1980 - 1990

Maccabi Haifa has only entered the Israeli champions club at the 1980s. In the 1983/4 season Maccabi Haifa won its 1st ever championship, under the guidance of coach Shlomo Sharf, overcoming Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Tel Aviv in a dramatic struggle. This was a total surprise to the Greens, a club was known for its "all-around-offense" and flashy technique football style - often resulting in bad defensive formation and as a result losses. Sharf's team played with 4 strikers, positioned at point and midfield and managed to build their defense around the late legendary goalkeeper Avi Ran. A year later, Maccabi Haifa won a second championship in a decisive performance. At 1986 MHFC lost the championship in a controvesial final match against runner-ups Hapoel Tel Aviv. The single goal scored in that match by Gili Landau was said to be scored from a passive offside position, which by the rules of the time should have resulted in a disqualification of the goal and a nil-nil result, guaranteeing MHFC the title. Due to a less-than-satisfactory TV coverage, the issue has never been fully resolved.

1990 - 2000

In 1990 Maccabi Haifa established itself as an elite, and dominating club in Israel. It began by winning the "double" - League championship and the national cup at the 1990/1 season and the introduction of three talented young players: Eyal Berkovich, Reuven Atar and Tal Banin. In 1992 Maccabi Haifa was purchased by Ya'akov Shahar, who became the owner and president of the club. Under Shahar's management, Maccabi Haifa enjoyed a financial stability and a professional working regulation similar to European football clubs' standards. Maccabi Haifa's highlight season was 1993/4. After winning the 1993 cup, Maccabi Haifa gave a stunning performance in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (CWC), beating Torpedo Moscow FC 3-1 and Parma A.C. 1-0 in 1/8 final, only to lose on penalties. During the season in the domestic league (then called Liga Leumit), the team went unbeaten for the entire season, out of an overall unbeaten streak of 48 games, thus winning a spectacular championship, and braking many Israeli records. The Maccabi Haifa 1993/4 squad, under the guidance of coach Giora Spiegel, is considered one of the best squads in Israeli football history.

In 1996 Eyal Berkovich and Haim Revivo left Haifa to European clubs. While the two gained great personal success there, Maccabi Haifa went into a slump. The team's standards of maintaining the services of the manager for multiple seasons was thrown as the team went through several managers during 4 years. As result, the team failed to win the national championship title, despite securing the National cup in 1998.

In 1999, under the guidance of the Czech manager Dushan Ohrin, Maccabi Haifa beat French giants Paris Saint-Germain and Austrian club SV Reid to reach the 1/4 of the Cup Winners' Cup. In the middle of the season, Haifa's excellent striker Alon Mizrahi left to French club Nice resulting in a loss at the CWC quarter finals and an overall decrease in the club's league performance. The club's winning record continue to falter untill the arrival of Avraam Grant.

2000 and henceforth

Previously Maccabi Tel Aviv's coach, Avraham Grant was appointed in 2000 as manager of Maccabi Haifa. Under Grant's guidance, the team regained their dominating offensive style, which, along with a much improved staff, giving the club with an almost unstoppable team, winning the championship with a series of virtouso performances by Israeli prodigy Yossi Benayoun, including what some consider to be several of the finest goals in Isreali league history. The championship ended Haifa's "seven year itch" and the spontaneous burst of celebrating fans onto the pitch caused a tragic disaster. A young fan, Amir Rand, was crushed against the guarding rails and went into a come, from which he hasn't managed to recover as of yet.

A year later, Grant won a second championship with relative ease, relying on a trio of foreign footballers: Giovanni Rosso (Croatia), Reimondas Zutautas (Lithuania) and the young Nigerian striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni. Following the second championship, Avraham Grant left Haifa for the Israeli national team, and Itzhak Shum, who until then managed the U21 national team replaced him.

In 2002, Haifa made Israeli club history by becoming the first Israeli team to qualify for the group phase of the UEFA Champions League. In the group phase, the team defeated Olympiacos CFP and the legendary Manchester United (albeit not in their strongest form after securing their 1/8 finals place earlier in the stage). Haifa scored 7 points overall in the group table, finishing in the third place, allowing it a place in the UEFA Cup.

In the 2003/4 season Maccabi Haifa won an easy but somewhat unconvincing championship with the young coach and ex-Maccabi footballer Ronnie Levy. In the eyes of football fans and media, the team failed to show their usual offensive flair, winning the championship due to an overall weakness of the other league teams. The team's squad, considered the finest in the leage due to a consistent high budget in domestic standards, is seen as one that should score many goals in every match, resulting in a dissapointment when this fails to occur. In this season, Maccabi Haifa youth club (ages 16-18) won the domestic championship, and an Israel national kids team which was constituted from Maccabi Haifa players won Fox Kids World Cup for 12-years-old.

Current Lineup (2004/2005 season)


  1. Nir Davidovich - goalkeeper
  2. Eithan Azaria - right defender
  3. Alon Harazi - right defender / sweeper
  4. Arik Benado (captain) - center back / sweeper
  5. Walid Badeer - defensive midfielder
  6. Wescley Pina Gonçalves - center back
  7. Gustavo Boccoli - right attacking midfielder
  8. Elyaniv Barda - foward / striker
  9. Roberto Damián Colautti - striker
  10. Idan Tal - left center middleplayer
  11. Giovanni Rosso - right center attacking midfielder
  12. -
  13. Oshri Gita - striker / Moved to Hapoel Haifa
  14. Eric Ejiofor - center back
  15. Xavier Dirceu - defensive midfielder
  16. Najwan Grayeb - left defender
  17. Michael Zandberg - left winger / attacking midfielder
  18. Haim Megrelashvili - left defender
  19. Eran Levi - striker / Moved to Maccabi Tel-Aviv
  20. Yaniv Katan - left winger / striker
  21. Dekel Keinan - center back / Moved to Bnei-Sachnin
  22. Tom Almadon - goalkeeper
  23. Ravid Gazal - defensive midfielder / right midfielder
  24. Shai (Eshetu) Biruk - attacking midfielder
  25. Shlomi Hanuka - midfielder
  26. Lior Refaelov - attacking midfielder(youth)
  27. Ori Uzan - right defender \ center back
  28. Eden Ben-Basat - striker (youth)

Famous players who played in Maccabi Haifa:

(Legend: GK = goalkeeper, D = defence player, M = midfield player, F = forward)

Home players: Eitan Aharoni (M) - Avraham Abukarat (M) - Asher Almani (M) - Aharon Amar (F) - Reuven Atar (M) - Tal Banin (M) - Arik Benado (D) - Eyal Berkovich (M) - Nir Davidovich (GK) - Johnathan (Johnny) Hardy (F) - Yeshayahu Heled (M) -Yaniv Katan (F) - Nir Klinger (M) - Baruch Maman (M) - Avraham Menchel (M) - Yaron Parsalani (M) - Avi Ran (GK) - Dani Shmilo Rom (F) - Ronny Rosenthal (F) - Itzhak Visoker (GK).

Purchased players: Zahi Armali (F) - Wallid Badeer (M) - Yossi Benayoun (M) - Alon Harazi (D) - Alon Hazan (M) - Adoram Keissi (D) - Alon Mizrahi (F) - Ronnie Levi (M) - Haim Revivo (F) - Idan Tal (M).

Foreign players: Victor Chanov (GK) - Sergey Kleshchenko (F) - Sergey Kandaurov (M) - Ivan Getzko (F) - Nenad Pralija (M) - Giovanni Rosso (M) - Ayegbeni Yakubu {F) - Raimondas Zutautas (M).

Famous managers\coaches: Avraham Grant - Dror Kashtan - Amatzia Levkovich - Dushan Uhrin - Shlomo Sharf - Giora Spiegel - Itzhak Schum.

See also

External links

he:מכבי חיפה

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