Eliyahu "Eli" Ohana ( he, אלי אוחנה; born ) is an Israeli former

football player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and the former chairman of Israeli club

Beitar Jerusalem Beitar Jerusalem Football Club ( he, מועדון כדורגל בית"ר ירושלים, Moadon Kaduregel Beitar Yerushalayim), commonly known as Beitar Jerusalem () or simply as Beitar (), is an Israeli football club based in the city of Jerus ...

. He played as

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

, KV Mechelen,

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese ...

, and the

Israel national football team The Israel national football team ( he, נבחרת ישראל בכדורגל, ) represents Israel in international football, and is governed by the Israel Football Association (IFA). Israel's national team is the direct successor of the M ...

, and was considered one of Israel's finest players, often named "the King". He managed Beitar Jerusalem,

Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv F.C. ( he, מועדון כדורגל בני יהודה תל אביב, ''Moadon Kaduregel Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv''), commonly referred to as Bnei Yehuda (), is an Israeli football club from the Hatikva Quarter of the city of Tel ...

Maccabi Petah Tikva Maccabi Petah Tikva F.C. ( he, מכבי פתח תקווה) (Full name: "Maccabi Avshalom Ironi Petah Tikva F.C., ) is an Israeli football club based in the city of Petah Tikva. It is part of the Maccabi World Union for international Jewish spo ...

Hapoel Kfar Saba Hapoel Kfar Saba F.C. ( he, מועדון כדורגל הפועל כפר סבא, ''Moadon Kaduregel Hapoel Kfar Saba'') is an Israeli football club based in Kfar Saba. The club competes in the Liga Leumit and plays home matches at Levita Stadiu ...

, the

Israel national under-19 football team Israel's national under-19 football team ( he, נבחרת הנוער של ישראל בכדורגל עד גיל 19), also known as Israel Under-19s or Israel U19s, is regarded as the feeder team for the Israel national under-21 football team. ...

, and the Israel national football team. Ohana played for Team Israel at the 1981 Maccabiah Games, winning a bronze medal.

Early and personal life

Ohana was born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

to a Sephardic Jewish family from

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

who

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

to Israel, and settled in the

Wadi Salib Wadi Salib ( ar, وادي صليب, he, ואדי סאליב; lit. Valley of the Cross) is a primarily Palestinian neighbourhood located in downtown Haifa, Israel, on the lower northeastern slope of Mount Carmel, between the Hadar HaCarmel and th ...

ma'abara Ma'abarot ( he, מַעְבָּרוֹת) were immigrant and refugee absorption camps established in Israel in the 1950s, constituting one of the largest public projects planned by the state to implement its sociospatial and housing policies. ...

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

, Israel. He has seven brothers and two sisters, one of whom is from his father's previous marriage. The family struggled with financial problems. At age 11, Ohana joined the youth club of

at the encouragement of his brother Yossi. His father, a traditional Jew, was initially opposed but allowed him to join on the condition that he attend

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

before practice every Saturday. Although good on the field, Ohana had problems at school and Yossi advised him to choose between football and school. He chose football and went to live with Yossi, who had recently married. In 1982, Ohana's girlfriend, Sarit Shwartz, was in a fatal car accident. Sarit's death drove Ohana into depression and social seclusion. In December 1991, he married model Ronit Ben Basat, with whom he had a son, Tom. They separated in 2004 without filing for divorce.

Club career

In 1977, Ohana led the youth league team of

to the state youth title. He stood out for his ability to find the back of the net and was promoted to first team. Beitar played in the second league (Artzit) at the time. Although Ohana did not do well in his first matches, he and

Uri Malmilian Uri Malmilian ( he, אורי מלמיליאן; born April 24, 1957) is an Israeli former football player and current manager. Early life and playing career Born in the neighbourhood of Mamilla in West Jerusalem, Malmilian had a memorable playi ...

later pushed the club into the first league (Leumit), and helped to bring the club its first league title and two State Cups. In 1986, Ohana joined Australian club Sydney City on a short-term loan, in which he played five matches. At age 23, Ohana signed with KV Mechelen in Belgium. (The money from the Ohana sale paid for the

Bayit VeGan Bayit VeGan ( he, בית וגן, lit. ''House and Garden'') is a neighborhood in southwest Jerusalem. Bayit VeGan is located to the east of Mount Herzl and borders the neighborhoods of Kiryat HaYovel and Givat Mordechai. History Bronze Age A 4,0 ...

pitches used since then for the team practice.) After one season, Ohana was instrumental in the club winning the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

, becoming the first Israeli soccer player to win a European title. His goal in the semi-final and his assist on the game-winning goal in the final secured his place in Mechelen's history books. Italian magazine ''Guerin' Sportivo'' awarded Ohana the

Bravo Award The Bravo Award was an annual award which was handed out by the Italian magazine ''Guerin Sportivo'' to the most outstanding young European footballer. The first winner of the award was Englishman Jimmy Case. The first non-European to win the ...

, which is given to the best player under 23 in European competition. Ohana also took part in the testimonial match to

Oleg Blokhin Oleg Vladimirovich Blokhin, or Oleh Volodymyrovych Blokhin ( uk, Оле́г Володи́мирович Блохі́н, rus, Оле́г Влади́мирович Блохи́н; born 5 November 1952), is a former Ukrainian and Soviet footbal ...

. Despite his success in Europe, Ohana returned home to sign again with Beitar, which was then playing in the Liga Artzit (Nationwide League). After one season, Ohana helped them return to the Liga Leumit (National League) and then guided the club to a league title. Five years later, Ohana led the club to back-to-back league titles. After an injury in the 7th game of the 1997/98 season, Ohana did not play any more that season. He played some games in 1998/99 but retired before the end of the season. In the youth team of Beitar he played under number 9, in Mechelen under 10, in Beitar Jerusalem under 11.

International career

Ohana played for Team Israel at the 1981 Maccabiah Games, winning a bronze medal. He was called up to the

in 1983. After a friendly match in which Israel lost to Argentina 7–2,

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the F ...

said there is one great player in Israel, Eli Ohana. Ohana secured himself a place in Israeli football history when the national team was in a crucial

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

qualifier against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 1989. Australia manager

Frank Arok Ferenc "Frank" Arok ( hu, Árok Ferenc; 20 January 1932 – 12 January 2021) was a Yugoslavian-Australian ethnic Hungarian association football player and coach. Career Arok played for FK Jedinstvo in Yugoslavia during the 1950s before coach ...

apparently had made

antisemitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

comments before the game. During the match, Ohana dribbled through two defenders and fooled the keeper, giving Israel a 1–0 lead. Ohana then ran up to the Australian manager and kissed the

Star of David The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...

in front him. In 1990 Ohana was called to the squad for a game against the

Soviet Union national football team The Soviet Union national football team ( rus, сбо́рная СССР по футбо́лу, r=sbórnaya SSSR po futbólu) was the national Association football, football team of the former Soviet Union. After the Dissolution of the Soviet U ...

. Minutes before the game began, Ohana and the two other legionnaires of the Israeli team, Ronny Rosenthal and Shalom Tikva, realized that their insurance had not been arranged as promised, and they refused to go onto the pitch. All the players were punished, with Ohana receiving the worst punishment, banned from 10 league games and banned for four years from the national team. In 1995/1996 Ohana had a weak season and decided to quit international football. The

Uruguay national football team The Uruguay national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Uruguay) represents Uruguay in international Association football, football, and is controlled by the Uruguayan Football Association, the governing body for football in Uruguay. T ...

was invited to Israel for his testimonial match, which Israel won 3–1 with Ohana scoring the first goal. In 1996–97 Ohana had an excellent season (he was chosen player of the year at the end of it) and

Shlomo Sharf Shlomo Scharf ( he, שלמה שרף; born 1 January 1943) is a former Israeli football player and manager who now works as a regular commentator on Israeli Sport 5 TV channel. Scharf managed Maccabi Haifa to three championships, and was Israel ...

returned him to the team, with Ohana again scoring often.

Managerial career

His managerial career started during his last playing season, when he served as an assistant to

Dror Kashtan Dror Kashtan ( he, דרור קשטן, born 1 October 1944) is an Israeli former football player and manager. As a player, he represented the Israeli national team three times. As a manager, he took charge of numerous clubs as well as the Israel ...

. After retiring, he was promoted to manager, replacing Kashtan. After leading his childhood club to a sixth place league finish and cup final, he left for

but resigned after they were relegated to the

Liga Leumit Liga Leumit ( he, ליגה לאומית, lit. ''National League'') is the second division of the Israeli Football League, and below its Premier League. Structure There are 16 clubs in the league. At the end of each season, the two lowest-place ...

. After seven matches in charge of

in 2001, he was fired and rejoined Bnei Yehuda, the club he had led to relegation the year before. This time he was able to guide them to a return to the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

. The next season, he was able to keep the team from being relegated again. Calls came from fans of Beitar Jerusalem to bring Ohana back; he returned before the 2003–2004 season and stayed for three seasons. He stepped down as manager when the club was sold to

Arcadi Gaydamak Arcadi Aleksandrovich Gaydamak ( he, ארקדי אלכסנדרוביץ' גאידמק; russian: Аркадий Александрович Гайдамак; born 8 April 1952 in Moscow, USSR) is a Russian-born French-Israeli businessman, philanthr ...

. He returned to management with

and saved them from relegation, for which he earned Coach of the Year. At the end of 2007-08 Israeli Premier League Ohana was relegated with Hapoel Kfar Saba to Liga Leumit despite their having won the last game of the season. On 18 June 2008 Ohana was appointed manager for Israel U19. In 2010,

, the coach of the

quit from his position, and Ohana was made the caretaker. With Ohana on the lines, Israel beat Romania 2–0 in a friendly match. That game started rumours Ohana would become the new head coach, but Ohana said in an interview his time was yet to come.

Politics

Some of his friends are well-known politicians of the

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...

Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon ...

party (

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

Reuven Rivlin Reuven "Ruvi" Rivlin ( he, רְאוּבֵן "רוּבִי" רִיבְלִין ; born 9 September 1939) is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the tenth president of Israel between 2014 and 2021. He is a member of the Likud party. R ...

) and he attended the bar mitzvah celebrations of the son of the Likud party leader in

. Ahead of the 2015 elections,

Naftali Bennett Naftali Bennett ( he, נַפְתָּלִי בֶּנֶט, Transliterated: , ; born 25 March 1972) is an Israeli politician who served as the 13th prime minister of Israel from 13 June 2021 to 30 June 2022, and as the 3rd Alternate Prime Minist ...

, the head the

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

religious Zionist Religious Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת דָּתִית, translit. ''Tziyonut Datit'') is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' ( "National Religious"), and in Israel, the ...

Jewish Home The Jewish Home ( he, הַבַּיִת הַיְהוּדִי, HaBayit HaYehudi) is an Orthodox Jewish and religious Zionist political party in Israel. It was originally formed by a merger of the National Religious Party, Moledet, and Tkuma in ...

party, placed Ohana on position number ten of his party's election list. After three days of harsh criticism from party members who were displeased by Bennett's choice of an outsider who did not match the party's right-wing character, Ohana withdrew "after being asked to do so by minister Bennett".

Honours

Player

Beitar Jerusalem * Israeli championship: 1986–87, 1992–93, 1996–97, 1997–98 * Israel State Cup: 1984–85, 1985–86 *

Toto Cup The Israel Toto Cup ( he, גביע הטוטו, ''Gvia Ha'Toto'') is an association football tournament that features clubs in the two highest divisions in Israel: the Israeli Premier League (Ligat Ha'Al), and the second division Liga Leumit. F ...

Top Division: 1997–98 *

Israel Super Cup The Israel Super Cup, also known as the Champion of Champions ( he, אלוף האלופים, Aluf HaAlufim), is an Israeli association football club competition played as a single match between the winner of the latest Israeli top league champio ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

KV Mechelen *

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

: 1988–89 *

European Cup Winners Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourna ...

: 1987–88 (winners) * European Super Cup:

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

Amsterdam Tournament The Amsterdam Tournament ( nl, Amsterdam Toernooi) was a pre-season association football competition, held in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The competition was hosted by Eredivisie club Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena. It was inaugurated in 1975 as the A ...

: 1989 *

Joan Gamper Trophy The Joan Gamper Trophy ( ca, Trofeu Joan Gamper) or Joan Gamper Cup is an annual association football exhibition match held in August, before the start of Barcelona's La Liga season, where top division clubs from Europe compete against them. The c ...

: 1989 *

Jules Pappaert Cup Trophy Jules Pappaert or Pappaert cup is a Belgian football trophy since 1953 and is awarded annually to a club in the first, second or third division of the Belgian Pro League with the longest uninterrupted series of unbeaten games. The award is ...

: 1990 Individual *

: 1988 * Israeli Footballer of the Year: Israeli player of the Year: 1984, 1997 * Member of the Israeli Football Hall of Fame

Manager

*Israeli Coach of the Year: 2007

References

External links

About Eli Ohana from a fan site of Beitar Jerusalem
(Hebrew) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ohana, Eli 1964 births Association football forwards Association football midfielders Competitors at the 1981 Maccabiah Games Israeli Sephardi Jews Living people Israeli footballers Beitar Jerusalem F.C. players K.V. Mechelen players S.C. Braga players Israel international footballers Israeli expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Portugal Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Israeli football managers Maccabiah Games footballers Maccabiah Games bronze medalists for Israel Beitar Jerusalem F.C. managers Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv F.C. managers Hapoel Kfar Saba F.C. managers Maccabi Petah Tikva F.C. managers Israel national football team managers Liga Leumit players Belgian First Division A players Footballers from Jerusalem Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Israeli Mizrahi Jews Israeli Football Hall of Fame inductees Israeli Footballer of the Year recipients