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1.
Name: Yossi Benayoun
Current Club: Maccabi Haifa
Date Of Birth: 5. 5. 80
Position: Attacking midfielder-right/left/centre
Previous Clubs: Hapoel Beer Sheva
Comments: The best talent in Israeli football. He is partly owned by his old club Hapoel Beer-Sheva. He has great pace, he understands the game well, he positions himself into attacking roles, he has a great shot, he has great dribbling skills, good passing and a good personality. The only thing he lacks is strength and this kind of thing Is typical of fast and technical players. In Israel he is nicknamed "The Diamond" or "The Kid" and is considered as the one who will lead the national team into the 2002 world-cup. He says his dream team is Barcelona and indeed the Spanish league would be the most suitable league for him as he could express his skills there. Lots of clubs are monitoring his situation, including Ac Milan, Monaco, Paris S.G, Fiorentina and Lazio. He will stay in Israel for at least a year or two, as he has to finish his service in the army. Moving out of Israel will do him good because in Israel he is under lots of pressure and every club that play against Maccabi Haifa man-mark him. Sometimes even too aggressively. He was the star of Israel's youth teams and U-21 team. He is now playing for the national side. His start in the national team couldn't have been any better as he scored a hat-trick in his first game against San-Marino.
2.
Name: Shimon Gershon
Current Club: Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Date Of Birth: 6.10.77
Position: Central defender/Sweeper
Previous Clubs: None
Comments: Captain of the U-21 team and his club Hapoel Tel-Aviv. He is Israel's future defender. He is now starting to play regularly for the national side. He is a very relaxed player who is good in every aspect of the game. He has good tackling, he is pretty fast, he has great understanding of the game and he even has a good shot and scores a fair amount of goals. His only fault is that even though he is pretty tall his heading ability is not good enough in European standards. He will move to Europe in a year or two. Ac Milan has scouted him in the past.
3.
Name: Yaniv Katan
Current Club: Maccabi Haifa
Date Of Birth: 27.1.81
Position: Attacking midfielder/ Winger/ Forward
Previous Clubs: None
Comments: He had his big brake last year. He grew in Maccabi Haifa's youth academy, the same academy that developed Eyal Berkovic and many other good players. He is very fast with good dribbling skills and good strength. He is currently in a bad spell for his club and at one stage wanted to leave. The reason for that is that Maccabi Haifa's manager was changed and the current manager doesn't have a good relationship with him. He is currently playing for the U-21 team.
4.
Name: Baruch Dego
Current Club: Ironi Ashdod
Date Of Birth: 26. 3. 81
Position: Attacking Midfielder
Previous Clubs: None
Comments: The Ethiopian based midfielder is labeled as one of Israel's best talents. He is a fantastic player for counter attacks because he has great pace and good dribbling skills. He is currently one of the stars for the U-21 team. All the big clubs desire him and it looks like the chase winners will be either Maccabi Haifa or Beitar Jerusalem.
5.
Name: Liron Vilner
Current Club: Maccabi Netanya
Date Of Birth: 7.2. 79
Position: Striker
Previous Clubs: Maccabi Haifa
Comments: The young striker had his big brake this season after moving from Maccabi Haifa. He couldn't get a first-team spot at Haifa so he moved to Netanya for first team chances. He is having a great season being the top scorer in his club. Infact, he has scored goals against all of Israel's big teams- Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Beitar Jerusalem, Maccabi Haifa, Hapoel Petach-Tikva and Hapoel Tel-Aviv. He might as well move back to a big club next year.
6.
Name: Ben Luz
Current Club: Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Date Of Birth: 18.12.78
Position: Attacking Midfielder
Previous Clubs: None
Comments: Another prodigy of Maccabi Tel-Aviv's youth section. He had his first team debut when he was only 16 and even scored. He has great pace, he is very technical and he is one of Maccabi's better players. He should work on his finish, though. He too often misses easy chances. He is currently playing for the U-21 team. He and his club Maccabi are having a very bad year.
7.
Name: Eli Biton
Current Club: Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Date Of Birth: 25.1.82
Position: Attacking midfielder/Striker
Previous Clubs: None
Comments: Another prodigy from Maccabi Tel-Aviv's academy. He still isn't playing first team football for Maccabi. He is extremely fast and technical. He was wanted by Anderlecht but eventually decided to stay in Israel. He was the star of Israel's youth team and now progressed into the U-21 team. He is already a regular there. He has scored a goal on his debut agaist Hapoel Cfar-Saba at the last game of last season. He is considered as Israel's best hope for a good striker.
8.
Name: Cfir Udi
Current Club: Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Date Of Birth: 28.8.79
Position: Attacking midfielder/Forward- Right
Previous Clubs: None
Comments: He had his national team debut against Russia. His call-up for the national team was a shock one. The change for him came when Dror Kashtan, the current manager came to Hapoel Tel-Aviv. He currently plays regularly in the Hapoel side. He plays as a right attacking midfielder for Hapoel but the new national coach, Richard Moller Nielsen called him up as a forward. It was a very surprising call-up but Udi did real well and even scored one in the 4-1 thrashing of Russia. Udi is pretty fast and technical and is a good prospect for the future.
9.
Name: Salim Touma
Current Club: Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Date Of Birth: 9.8.79
Position: Attacking Midfielder
Previous Clubs: None
Comments: A promising attacking midfielder who had his big break last season under the management of Eli Cohen, today Maccabi Haifa's manager. He is very fast and has an explosive shot from distance. He is a good finisher and scores a fair amount of goals. He is currently playing for Israel's U-21 team.
10.
Name: Dudo Awat
Current Club: Hapoel Haifa
Date Of Birth: 17.10.77
Position: Goalkeeper
Previous Clubs: None
Comments: One of the best goalkeepers in Israel. He already played for the national team in their Euro 2000 qualification match against Spain. He is excellent in one-on-one situations and has good kicking and clearances. He needs to improve his catching of crosses. He was the regular goalie for the U-21 team.
11.
Name: Michael Zandberg
Current Club: Hapoel Petach-Tikva
Date Of Birth: 16.4.80
Position: Defensive midfielder
Previous Clubs: None
Comments: A very calm and relaxed player. He started playing regularly this season. He played for Israel's youth teams and U-21 team. He is fast and aggressive. He is still not strong enough, though.
12.
Name: Pini Balili
Current Club: Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Date Of Birth: 18.6.79
Position: Attacking midfielder/ Striker
Previous Clubs: None
Comments: A good player who broke into the scene this year under Dror Kashtan. He is explosively fast and he has good finishing qualities. He is very technical and has good passing skills. He is playing regularly most of the time but is often substituted.
13.
Name: Shuky Nagar
Current Club: Maccabi Haifa
Date Of Birth: 7.10.77
Position: Defensive midfilder/ Left Back
Previous Clubs: Bnei Yehuda
Comments: Last year under coach Doschan Ohrin he played as a defensive midfielder. This season he is playing at left back. He is not a regular in the Maccabi Haifa side. He impressed in Bnei Yehuda so Maccabi Haifa bought him. He is a good solid player. He has a good shot from distance and scored a great winning goal this season with a cracker from distance. He is still playing for the U-21 team.
14.
Name: Omry Afek
Current Club: Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Date Of Birth: 31/3/79
Position: Striker
Previous Clubs: Kiriat Ono
Comments: A very fast striker. He had his break this season under coach Dror Kashtan who involves many youngsters in his squad. He is very technical and has good vision. He is still not a regular but often makes appearances as a substitute.
15.
Name: Dedy Ben Dayan
Current Club: Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Date Of Birth: 27/11/78
Position: Left Defender
Previous Clubs: None
Comments: One of Maccabi's only successful players this year. He started playing as a striker but he turned out to be a defender. The fact that he started as a striker helps him each time he goes up to support the attack. He scores about 6-7 goals a season. His problem is that his defensive side is not as good as his attacking one.
16.
Name: Nadiv Siman-Tov
Current Club: Maccabi Haifa
Date Of Birth: 22/3/80
Position: Attacking Midfielder / Right
Previous Clubs: None
Comments: He started playing for Maccabi Haifa's senior squad this season and made about 10 appearances as a substitute so far. In those games he had shown great technical ability and good passing skills.
17.
Name: Emil Castiel
Current Club: Hapoel Haifa
Date Of Birth: 25/8/80
Position: Attacking Midfielder/ Right/Centre
Previous Clubs: None
Comments: He broke into Hapoel Haifa's senior side this season. He is very fast and pretty technical. He is still not playing as a regular but that might happen next year.
18.
Name: Tom Benado
Current Club: Maccabi Haifa
Date Of Birth: 19/10/81
Position: Central Defender
Previous Clubs: None
Comments: Haven't yet made any appearances for Maccabi Haifa. He is an Israeli youth and U-21 international and based on his brother Arik's abilities he is going to be a class defender.
19.
Name: Yaniv Loozon
Current Club: Hapoel Petach-Tikva
Date Of Birth: 6/8/81
Position: Striker
Previous Clubs: None
Comments: Another prodigy of Hapoel Petach-Tikva's youth ranks. He is currently starring for their youth side which is on his way to winning the youth league championship. He has already made several appearances for the senior side and will probably have his big break next season.
20.
Name: Cfir Leibovic
Current Club: Hapoel Haifa
Date Of Birth: 13/4/78
Position: Defensive Midfielder
Previous Clubs: None
Comments: He had several appearances this season both as a sub and lately as a regular. He is very strong and also is a good man-marker.
A list of players who are either older than 22 or not Israeli who are playing in Israel.
Giovanni Russo(Croatia), Hapoel Haifa, Attacking Midfielder, 27, The best foreigner in Israel. He played for Hiduk Split in Croatia, then moved to Hapoel Beer-Sheva and now he is in Hapoel Haifa. He was the main reason they won the championship last season. He is very technical and has a great shot. He is also a great passer and he understands the game well. He is wanted by Ajax, Mallorcan and Lazio but he will probably stay in Israel.
Andjei Kubica(Poland), Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Striker, 27, A fantastic player. He was the best scorer in the league last season. He is strong and uses his body to perfection. A fantastic finisher with good ball skills and great technique.
Jerji Bzechek(Poland), Maccabi Haifa, Midfielder, 28, Captain of Poland's national team. One of the best players in Israel. Great pace, good finishing, great passes and good vision are his qualities.
Eigebeni Yaakubu(Nigeria), Hapoel Cfar-Sava(On-loan from Maccabi Haifa), Striker, 17, he was bought for the future by Haifa and was loaned to Cfar-Sava where he has great success. He is fast and technical and he currently plays for Nigeria's U-21 side.
Peter Amola(Nigeria), Hapoel Cfar-Sava, Striker, 21, He has only joined Cfar-Sava recently and already made great impact. He had no trouble getting to know the team as he had his Nigerian friend Yaakubu to help him. He is in Nigeria's full squad.
Steve Gury(France), Bnei Yehuda, Striker, Only 19, he has recently joined Bnei-Yehuda from Paris S.G's youth side. He scored 3 goals in his first 2 games in the country.
Arik Benado(Israel), Maccabi Haifa, Central Defender, 26, The best defender in Israel. He is the captain of Israel's national team and of Maccabi Haifa. He is very calm and calculated and rarely makes mistakes. He will move to Europe this summer. He was personally called-up to Alex Ferguson's testimonial.
Ofer Talker(Israel), Hapoel Haifa, Left Defender/Midfielder, 26, A good left defender who is playing for Israel's senior side. He was one of the stars in Hapoel Haifa's championship last season. He might move to Dundee United soon following the trails of Jan Talesnikov who moved there at the beginning of the season.
Amir Turgeman(Israel), Hapoel Haifa, Striker, 27, A good technical striker that moved to Hapoel Haifa from Ironi Rishon Lezion at the beginning of the year. He is playing for Israel's senior side. Dundee United's manager also showed interest in him.
Roy Lieber
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