Klemi Saban, ( he, רחמים סבן; born February 17, 1980), is a retired
Israeli
football defender.
Saban is mostly known for playing at
Maccabi Netanya, there he played 6 years, captained the club and won over 200 caps in all club competitions.
Biography
Rahamim (Klemi) Saban was born in
Netanya
Netanya (also known as Natanya, he, נְתַנְיָה) is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate I ...
. His younger brother
Avi
Avi is a given name, usually masculine, often a diminutive of Avram, Avraham, etc. It is sometimes feminine and a diminutive of the Hebrew spelling of Abigail.
People with the given name include:
* Avi (born 1937), Newbery award-winning Americ ...
is also a footballer who played in the lower divisions of Israeli football. His father played at midfield for
Beitar Netanya
Beitar Nes Tubruk Netanya ( he, בית"ר נס טוברוק נתניה), formerly Beitar Netanya, is a football club in Netanya, Israel.
History
Beitar Netanya
The original Beitar Netanya team spent several years in the lower divisions, mainly i ...
.
Sports career
Saban began his career in
Maccabi Netanya and then played for several teams –
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Hapoel Tel Aviv ( he, הפועל תל אביב) is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, suc ...
,
Hapoel Petah Tikva
Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C. ( he, הפועל פתח תקווה) is an Israeli football club based in the city of Petah Tikva, currently playing in the Liga Leumit.
Its most successful period was throughout the 1950s and 1960s, in which the club won ...
and
Maccabi Haifa- in
Israel before joining
Romanian club
Steaua București on June 28, 2006.
Saban was signed by
Steaua București in June 2006, and was set to become the first Israel to play in the
Romanian Divizia A. But he ended up staying on the bench for Steaua's league opener and did not make his league debut until August 5, 2006. By then,
Kobi Nachtailer had already become the first Israeli to play in the league because he started his club's (
FC Vaslui) first match of the season.
His club debut came earlier though when he featured in a
UEFA Champions League qualifying match against
ND Gorica. Saban was responsible for Steaua's last goal of the match as he was tripped up in the penalty area and the official gave Steaua a penalty kick that sealed a 3–0 victory for them.
After one year in
Romania Saban returned to Israel, to Maccabi Netanya and signed a four-year contract.
In June 2010 Saban signed a two-year contract with
Maccabi Tel Aviv for a transfer fee of $180,000.
Saban was a member of the
Israel team for which he won 25 caps. He also won 11 caps in the Under 21 squad. He scored his first goal on 10 September 2008 against Moldova in the World Cup 2010 qualifier.
Honours
*
Israeli Premier League
**Winner (1):
2005–06
**''Runner-up (2):''
2001–02,
2007–08
*
Toto Cup
**Winner (2):
2001–02,
2004–05
*
Israeli Second Division
**Winner (1):
1998–99
*
Liga I
**''Runner-up (1):''
2006–07
See also
*
Sports in Israel
References
External links
*
*
1980 births
Living people
Israeli Jews
Israeli men's footballers
Israel men's international footballers
Maccabi Netanya F.C. players
Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. players
Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C. players
Maccabi Haifa F.C. players
FC Steaua București players
Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players
Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. players
Hapoel Acre F.C. players
Footballers from Netanya
Israeli expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Romania
Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Romania
Israeli Premier League players
Liga I players
Israeli football managers
Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C. managers
Israeli people of Egyptian-Jewish descent
Men's association football defenders
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