Sheran Yeini (sometimes Sherran or Shiran, he, שרן ייני; born 8 December 1986) is an Israeli professional

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 le ...

who

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

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 ...

club

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 ...

, and a retired player and captain of the Israel national team. Throughout his career he has played several defensive positions including

defensive 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 ...

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, and both full-back positions.

Early and personal life

Yeini was born in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

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 family of

Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

(

Russian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

and

Polish-Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lon ...

) descent. His late Israeli-born father Lior Yeini (1936–2021) was a prominent singer and actor in Israel during the 1960s and 1970s. His maternal great-aunt is Israeli singer

Naomi Polani Naomi (also "Neomi") Polani ( he, נעמי פולני; born August 4, 1927) is an Israeli musical director, theater director, singer, producer, actress, and dancer. She is the Israel Prize laureate for Theater and Dance in 2019. Music career Pol ...

, granddaughter of

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

pioneer Dr. Chaim Chissin. He also holds a Polish passport, on account of his Ashkenazi Jewish (Polish-Jewish) ancestry, which eases the move to certain European football leagues. He married his Israeli girlfriend Shelly ( Aviv) on 23 May 2015, a PhD in law; and they have a daughter and a son.

Club career

Sheran Yeini began his football career with

's youth ranks.

Maccabi Tel Aviv

He made his professional debut with the senior squad of

under the guidance of coach

Nir Klinger Nir Klinger ( he, ניר קלינגר; born 25 May 1966) is an Israeli football coach and former player. During the 1990s, Klinger served as Captain for Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Israel national football team. He was the coach of Maccabi Tel ...

for an

match against

Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל באר שבע, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli football club from the city of Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The c ...

in 2004–05. In the 2006–07 season, Yeini served on the opening squad for 10 matches due to injuries faced by the team's star

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 ...

at the time:

Avi Nimni Avi Nimni ( he, אבי נמני; born 26 April 1972) is a former Israeli football player and Maccabi Tel Aviv's highest ever scorer. He is regarded as one of Maccabi Tel Aviv's greatest players ever. Until 2006, he served as the captain of the I ...

. Yeini showed great ability, which lead then Israel national under-21 team coach

Guy Levi Guy Levy ( he, גיא לוי, born September 8, 1966), is an Israeli retired footballer who played as a defender. Today, Levy is a team manager that previously managed the Israel national under-21 football team. Honours As a Player *Israeli Pr ...

to summon him up for the

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

campaign, where Yeini appeared in 10 games. In 2012–13, Yeini was named team captain. For the most part, he played at

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

and has become one of the most influential players on a team that won the Israeli Premier League championship after a ten-year drought. On 26 June 2013, Sheran Yeni's contract was extended for an additional four years. In the 2013–14 season, Yeini continued to take a significant role with the team while participating in 29 league games and 42 official games in total, en route to winning a second consecutive state championship. During that season, Yeini reached his 200th Israeli Premier League game with the senior squad, while also becoming Maccabi Tel Aviv's record holder for most caps played in European Competition. By the end of the 2014–15 season, Yeini was part of the Maccabi Tel Aviv team that has won a third straight Israeli Premier League championship along with

Israel State Cup The Israel State Cup ( he, גביע המדינה, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involve ...

as well as the

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. Fro ...

( Ligat Ha'Al).

Vitesse

In the summer of 2015, Yeini has been transferred to Dutch Premier League side Vitesse.

Return to Maccabi Tel Aviv

On 27 January 2017, Yeini returned to his previous

club

, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract.

International career

Yeini was a U-21 youth international for

from 2007 to 2008. He made his first international appearance for the senior Israel national team on 22 March 2013, in a

FIFA World Cup 2014 The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

qualifier match against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, during which he successfully guarded forward

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

and was elected

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the match, that ended in a 3–3 draw (4–4 in aggregation). As the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the senior national team, Yeini declared his retirement from the Israeli squad in a press conference during his last match with it, on 18 November 2020.

Honours

Maccabi Tel Aviv *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2018–19, 2019–20 *

: 2004–05, 2014–15 * Israel Toto Cup ( Ligat Ha'Al): 2008–09, 2014–15, 2017–18, 2018–19,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

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 champion ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

References

External links

UEFA profile
1986 births Living people Israeli Jews Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Israeli men's footballers Jewish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football defenders Men's association football central defenders Men's association football fullbacks Israeli Premier League players Eredivisie players Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players SBV Vitesse players Israel men's youth international footballers Israel men's under-21 international footballers Israel men's international footballers Israeli expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Israeli expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Israeli people of Russian-Jewish descent Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Footballers from Tel Aviv {{Israel-footy-bio-stub