Oscar Garcia has been appointed Maccabi Tel Aviv manager just 12 months after leaving the club that he led to the Ligat Ha'Al title.

Garcia replaces Paulo Sousa who recently took charge at Basle after guiding Maccabi to back-to-back titles.

Having led Brighton to the Championship playoffs, Garcia has signed a two-year deal worth €1 million and has been promised that the team will be strengthened ahead of the Champions League campaign.

His first task will be to persuade the club's top-scorer, Eran Zahavi, to stay in Israel, with Sousa reportedly wanting to take him to Basel.

Meanwhile, Israel qualified for next month's Uefa European under-19 Championships finals in Hungary with a 1-0 victory over Georgia. Substitute Sagiv Jehezkel's scored the winner.