Nisim Elmaliah ( he, ניסים אלמליח; November 11, 1928 – October 24, 1989) was an Israeli

footballer 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 ...

who played mainly in the uniform of Beitar Tel Aviv. Elmaliah was known to have particularly strong kick, which helped him to score many goals. Among his achievements, he won the award of the top scorer in the 1954–55 season after scoring 30 goals in 26 games for Beitar Tel Aviv, a record that held until April 11, 2016, when

Eran Zahavi Eran Zahavi (or Zehavi, he, ערן זהבי; born 25 July 1987) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as a forward for Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Tel Aviv. Zahavi was named Israeli Footballer of the Year twice (2013–14 ...

broke it. Elmaliah is remembered by a

beret A beret ( or ; ; eu, txapela, ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap, usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in 19th century France and Spain, and the beret rema ...

that he put on his head at the beginning of his professional career, a relic of his religious and observant. There is also known case in which during a league game he dropped his beret on the opponent's goal. Elmaliah dribbled back, put again the beret and continued to attack his opponents without disturbing the game. Elmaliah ability as an outstanding offensive footballer brought teams from all over Israel to pursue him and try to convince him to play their dimensions. For example, he was invited to strengthen

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

squad during a long journey of games in

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

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 ...

also offered him a share of Egged if he would play in its ranks but Elmaliah remained loyal to Beitar Tel Aviv. Elmaliah also had two appearances for Israel's national team. He died at the age of 61.

External links

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Top Scorer at the IFA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elmaliah, Nisim 1928 births 1989 deaths 20th-century Israeli Jews Israeli footballers Israel international footballers Association football forwards Beitar Tel Aviv F.C. players Footballers from Jerusalem Footballers from Tel Aviv Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent