Walid Badir ( ar, وليد بدير, he, ואליד באדיר; born 12 March 1974) is an

Arab-Israeli 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 ...

former 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 ...

who played as a

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 ...

. He won four league titles in five seasons with

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

before joining Hapoel Tel Aviv in 2005. He served as their captain, and won a further league title before retiring in 2013. Badir scored 12 goals in 74 games for the Israel national team between 1997 and 2007.

Early life

Badir was born in

Kafr Qasim Kafr Qasim ( ar, كفر قاسم, he, כַּפְר קָאסִם), also spelled as Kafr Qassem, Kufur Kassem, Kfar Kassem and Kafar Kassem, is a hill-top city in Israel with an Arab citizens of Israel, Arab population. It is located about east ...

, Israel. to an

Arab-Muslim Arab Muslims ( ar, العرب المسلمون) are adherents of Islam who identify linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Arabs. Arab Muslims greatly outnumber other ethnoreligious groups in the Middle East and North Africa. Arab M ...

family.

Club career

Early career

Badir was recognized early on as a valuable prospect, and played for the youth clubs Hapoel Kafr Qasim and

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 later was given a spot on the second team's Premier League squad. Badir played for Petach Tikva for seven consecutive seasons (1992–1997) and scored 19 goals.

Wimbledon

During Badir's time at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

he scored one league goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford. However, other than this he did not make a major impact in his time with the club, making only 21 team appearances in total.

Maccabi Haifa

Badir returned to Israel to

in 2000–01 at the beginning of the

Avram Grant Avraham "Avram" Grant ( he, אברהם "אברם" גרנט; born Avraham Granat; ) is an Israeli professional football manager. He has spent the majority of his career coaching and managing in Israel, winning a number of national league and cup ...

era. Grant created one of the most gifted teams in the history of Israeli football. With Badir, Haifa won four championships, failing only once, in 2002–03 when Maccabi Tel Aviv won the title.

Hapoel Tel Aviv

In 2005, while Haifa began a major campaign to revamp the squad with South American players such ad

Gustavo Boccoli Gustavo Boccoli ( he, גוסטבו בוקולי; born 16 February 1978) is a retired Brazilian-Israeli footballer. He was a versatile midfielder who played most of his career for Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Haifa. Early and personal lif ...

and

Roberto Colautti Roberto Damián Colautti ( he, רוברטו דמיאן קולאוטי; born 24 May 1982) is an Argentine-Israeli former professional footballer who played as a forward. He began his career in Argentina with Boca Juniors, and joined the Israeli ...

, Badir signed with Hapoel Tel Aviv. He became a major part of their 2005–06 season when they were runners-up to his former team and State Cup winners. He was awarded the captaincy of the team and held it until his retirement. On 26 August 2013, in Bloomfield Stadium, the club and its fans made a thankful standing ovation in honour of Badir's last appearance with Hapoel Tel Aviv before formally retiring.

Coaching career

17 November 2012, Badir was appointed as caretaker manager for Hapoel Tel Aviv.

International career

Badir appeared in 74 games with the Israel national team, and scored 12 goals. His first appearance was on 5 August 1997 in a friendly match against

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

(3–2). One of his most notable games was his 83rd-minute goal in Israel's draw against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in a 2006 World Cup qualifying match.

Honours

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 ...

: 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2009–10 *

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 ...

: 2002–03 * Israel State Cup: 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Badir, Walid 1974 births Living people Arab citizens of Israel Footballers from Kafr Qasim Arab-Israeli footballers Israeli footballers Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C. players Wimbledon F.C. players Maccabi Haifa F.C. players Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. players Liga Leumit players Israeli Premier League players Premier League players Israel international footballers Israeli expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Israeli expatriate sportspeople in England Association football central defenders Association football midfielders Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. managers Israeli Premier League managers Israeli Muslims