Yossi Benayoun

Who is this?

Yossi Shai Benayoun (Hebrew: יוסי שי בניון; born 5 May 1980) is an Israeli former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his career in Israel and England and captained the Israel national team. Born in Dimona, he is sometimes nicknamed "The Diamond from Dimona" in Israel. As of 2023, he has been the sporting director of the Israel national team. Benayoun played for Hapoel Be'er Sheva and Maccabi Haifa before moving to Racing de Santander in Spain. Three years later he moved to the Premier League with West Ham United, and later Liverpool. In 2010, he signed for Chelsea, where he was used rarely, being loaned to Arsenal and back to West Ham, but nonetheless won the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. After that, he was released by the club and spent a season in the Football League Championship with Queens Park Rangers before returning to Maccabi Haifa. A full international for twenty years from 1998 to 2018, Benayoun is Israel's most capped player of all time with 102 caps, and their joint third top scorer with 24 international goals. Benayoun holds the position of sporting director for Beitar Jerusalem, the club that he last played for.

Career

1. 1980
   Born
2. 1995
   Joined Israel national under-17 football team
3. 1996
   Joined Israel national under-18 association football team
4. 1997
   Joined Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C.
5. 1998
   Joined Maccabi Haifa F.C.
6. 1998
   Joined Israel national under-21 football team
7. 1998
   Joined Israel men's national football team
8. 2002
   Joined Racing de Santander
9. 2005
   Joined West Ham United F.C.
10. 2007
    Joined Liverpool F.C.
11. 2010
    Joined Chelsea F.C.
12. 2011
    Joined Arsenal F.C.
13. 2012
    Joined West Ham United F.C.
14. 2013
    Joined Queens Park Rangers F.C.
15. 2014
    Joined Maccabi Haifa F.C.
16. 2016
    Joined Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C.
17. 2017
    Joined Beitar Jerusalem F.C.
18. 2018
    Joined Maccabi Petah Tikva F.C.
19. 2019
    Joined Beitar Jerusalem F.C.

Trivia

• •Place of birth: Dimona
• •Citizenship: Israel
• •Known as: association football player, sporting director
• •Sport: association football