Salim Tuama ( ar, سليم طعمه, he, סלים טועמה; born August 9, 1979) is an Arab-Israeli footballer who plays as a midfielder for

Maccabi Sha'arayim Maccabi Sha'arayim ( he, מכבי שעריים) is an Israeli football club from the city Rehovot, currently playing in Liga Alef. The club spent the past seven seasons in the top division from 1963 to 1969, and a single season in 1985–8 ...

. His former clubs include

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 ...

, Standard Liège, Maccabi Petah Tikva, Kayserispor,

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

Hapoel Bnei Lod Hapoel Bnei Lod Rakevet F.C. () are a football club, from the central Israeli city of Lod. The club plays in an all-red kit, and are currently in , the third tier of Israeli football. Home matches are played at the Lod Municipal Stadium. Histor ...

and the youth club Gadna Tel Aviv Yehuda. An

Arab citizen of Israel The Arab citizens of Israel are the largest ethnic minority in the country. They comprise a hybrid community of Israeli citizens with a heritage of Palestinian citizenship, mixed religions (Muslim, Christian or Druze), bilingual in Arabic an ...

, he has 13 caps for the Israel national team.

Career

Tuama has lived his life in the city of

Lod Lod ( he, לוד, or fully vocalized ; ar, اللد, al-Lidd or ), also known as Lydda ( grc, Λύδδα), is a city southeast of Tel Aviv and northwest of Jerusalem in the Central District of Israel. It is situated between the lower Shephe ...

, but began his career using the facilities of the Gadna club due to the poor conditions of Lod's fields and football schools. Tuama became the hottest prospect in Israeli football in the 1998–99 season when he, along with Kfir Udi, Omri Afek, and Pini Balili, all of whom had been chosen by Israeli manager Dror Kashtan, led Hapoel to their first State Cup title since 1983, followed by a double in the next season 1999–2000. He also played a main role in the historic appearance of Hapoel Tel Aviv in the quarter finals of the

2001–02 UEFA Cup The 2001–02 UEFA Cup was won by Feyenoord at their home ground in the final against Borussia Dortmund. It was the second time they won the competition. Liverpool could not defend their title as they automatically qualified for the 2001–02 U ...

where they were defeated by AC Milan. At the time it was believed that Hapoel was on its way to a golden age, but Kashtan left the club in 2004 to take a break from football. By then Tuama had moved on to Maccabi Petah Tikva, where they won the Toto Cup (an event staged each year by league level for a financial prize). He received his first big break the following season by signing with the Turkish club Kayserispor (today, "Kayseri Erciyesspor"), where he filled in a disappointing season with little playing time. At the same time his old Hapoel teammate Balili had signed with Sivasspor, a B league club he helped climb to the Süper Lig. In the same season he returned to Maccabi Petah Tikva to help them log in perhaps their most impressive finish, second place and a ticket to the UEFA Cup. After a disappointing 2005–06 season with Maccabi Petah Tikva, after a great start in the UEFA Cup qualifiers, he signed with

. On June 28, 2007, Toama had signed a three-year contract with Standard Liège. Tuama left Belgium after two seasons at Standard Liège, as he was injured for many parts of his second season there, and did not get many chances. He signed for Greek side

and spent one season there, scoring two goals. At the end of the 2009–10 season, Tuama returned to Israel and signed, for the third time in his career, with then double holders Hapoel Tel Aviv. He scored the winning goal in a 1–0 victory over newly crowned champions Maccabi Haifa in the Israeli State Cup final of 2010–11.

International goals

Honours

* Israeli Premier League (1): ** 1999–00 *

State Cup The Israel State Cup ( he, גביע המדינה, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in Israel, Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first he ...

(5): **1999, 2000, 2007, 2011, 2012 * Toto Cup (1): **2001–02 * Belgian League (2): ** 2007–08, 2008–09 *

Belgian Supercup The Belgian Super Cup ( nl, Belgische Supercup, ; french: Supercoupe de Belgique; german: Belgischer Fußball-Super Cup), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian First Division A champion ...

(1): **

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Toto Cup Leumit 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. Fro ...

(1): ** 2014-15

References

External links

Profile at One.co.il
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuama, Salim 1979 births Living people Arab-Israeli footballers Israeli Arab Christians Israeli footballers Israel international footballers Israeli expatriate footballers Gadna Tel Aviv Yehuda F.C. players Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. players Maccabi Petah Tikva F.C. players Kayserispor footballers Standard Liège players Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. players Hapoel Bnei Lod F.C. players Maccabi Sha'arayim F.C. players Süper Lig players Israeli Premier League players Super League Greece players Belgian First Division A players Liga Leumit players Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Belgium Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Greece Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Footballers from Lod Association football midfielders