Tal Ben Haim (or Tal Ben Haim II, ; born 5 August 1989), also known as Tal Ben Chaim, is 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 lea ...

who plays for Maccabi Petah Tikva as a winger. He can also play in the

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

position.

Early life

Ben-Haim was born in

Kfar Saba Kfar Saba ( ), officially Kfar Sava , is a List of Israeli cities, city in the Sharon plain, Sharon region, of the Central District (Israel), Central District of State of Israel, Israel. In 2019 it had a population of 110,456, making it the 16th-l ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family. His father is former footballer Ofir Ben Haim.

Career

Maccabi Petah Tikva

Ben Haim started his career with Maccabi Petah Tikva's youth team when he was 14 years old. During the 2007–08 season he started playing for the youth ranks of the club, scoring 19 goals in the

Israeli Noar Premier League The Israeli Noar Premier League (, ''Ligat Ha'al LeNoar'', lit. ''Youth Super League'') is the top division in the Israeli football league system for teenagers between the ages 18–20. From 1994 to 2011, it was called Israeli Noar Leumit League. ...

, and late in the season he earned promotion to the senior team. On 3 May 2008 he made his debut for the club in a match against

Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv F.C. (, ''Moadon Kaduregel Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv''), commonly referred to as Bnei Yehuda (), is an Israeli football club from the Hatikva Quarter of the city of Tel Aviv. The club is a member of the Liga Leumit. History The ...

. He scored his first goal in the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

against

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv () 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, such as football, basketball, w ...

on 24 May 2008. In the 2008–09 season Ben Haim become a regular choice for the senior squad, and in 2009–10 he occupied the

position in the club alongside

Omer Damari Omer Damari (; born 24 March 1989) is an Israeli former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the current head coach of Hapoel Tel Aviv's U17 team. Club career Maccabi Petah Tikva Omer grew up in the youth ranks for Maccabi ...

. At the end of the 2011–12 summer

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

Ben Haim was about to move to

after his teammate

has moved earlier in that period, but the deal was cut short and he remained with the club for another season. That season was a bad one for the club and eventually it was relegated to the second division.

Hapoel Tel Aviv

On 16 July 2012, Ben Haim officially signed a two-year contract with

in a complicated contract that left Maccabi Petah Tikva 75% of the fees from his next transfer, alongside a release clause of €1.5 million. He made his debut for the club on his 23rd birthday, 5 August 2012, in the

Toto Cup The Israel Toto Cup (, ''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, Ligat Ha'Al; and the Israeli 2nd division Liga Leumit. Both of the ...

. Seven days later he scored his first goal for the club in the

against

Maccabi Netanya Maccabi Netanya F.C. () is an Israeli professional football club based in Netanya. Established in 1934, the club was a founding member of the Israeli League in 1949. After winning their first championship in 1971, the club's golden period last ...

. On 23 August 2012 he made his first appearance in a European competition against the

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

side

F91 Dudelange F91 Dudelange (; , ) is a Luxembourgish professional Association football, football club based in Dudelange which plays in the Luxembourg National Division. It was formed in 1991 as a merger between three teams in the town: Alliance Dudelange, ...

in a match he also scored. Three days later he scored his first goal in the

for

against Hapoel Rishon LeZion.

Maccabi Tel Aviv

On 25 June 2013 Ben Haim was purchased by

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () 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 as football, basketball, j ...

in a deal including €1.1 million and a future 25% sell-fee to Maccabi Petah Tikva, and he officially signed a four-year contract with the club. He made his debut for the club on 17 July 2013 in the

2013–14 UEFA Champions League The 2013–14 UEFA Champions League was the 59th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 22nd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was ...

second qualifying round match against

Győri ETO FC ETO FC Győr (''Egyetértés Torna Osztály Futball Club Győr''; ''Concordance Gymnastics Department Football Club of Győr'') or just ETO is a Hungarian professional football club from the city of Győr. They are best known for reaching the se ...

. Ben Haim scored his first goal for the club in the second leg of the match against

just one week later. He made his debut for Maccabi in the

in the first round against

Hapoel Acre Hapoel Acre Football Club (, ''Moadon Kaduregel Hapoel Akko'') is an Israeli professional football club based in Acre. Incorporated in 1946 the club competes in Liga Leumit. History Founded in 1946, the club dwelt in the lower leagues until the ...

, providing an assist in a match won 2–0. On 28 September 2013 he scored his first league goal for Maccabi in a 3–0 victory over

Ironi Kiryat Shmona Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona Football Club () known as Ironi Kiryat Shmona is a professional football club based in Kiryat Shmona, in the northern district of Israel. The club is a current member of the Israeli Premier League, and plays at the Iro ...

. He finished his first season for Maccabi with a championship. The 2014–15 season was successful as well as he won a local Treble with Maccabi. A season later he qualified with his team to the Champions League Group Stage for the first time in 11 years. He finished the season with 10 league goals in 31 appearances.

Sparta Prague

In June 2017, Ben Haim joined

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

on a four-year deal, reportedly worth around €1 million per season after Sparta had activated a €2.9 million release clause in Ben Haim's contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv.

International career

Ben Haim made his debut for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

on 29 March 2011 in a

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held across Europe between 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 7 Febru ...

match against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. In that match he also scored his first goal for the team, which appeared to be the winning goal, just six minutes after he was substituted into the game.

Personal life

He has exactly the same name as central defender

Tal Ben Haim Tal Ben Haim (or Tal Ben Haim I, ; born 31 March 1982) is an Israeli former professional association football, footballer who played at either centre back or right back (association football), right back. He has played for Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. ...

, who also played for

and Maccabi Tel Aviv, and he is referred to in UEFA reports as Tal Ben Haim II or Tal Ben Haim Junior (because he is younger), and wears a jersey with his surname spelled as Ben Chaim to distinguish him from his fellow countryman. Ben Haim II and Ben Haim were also teammates for both Maccabi Tel Aviv and the national team.

Career statistics

Club

;Notes

International

International goals

:''As of match played 9 October 2016. Israel score listed first, score column indicates score after each Ben Haim goal.''

Honours

Maccabi Tel Aviv *

(2):

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2013–14 *

Israel State Cup The Israel State Cup (, ''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 involves clubs of all standards ...

(1): 2014–15 *

(2): 2014–15, 2020-21 *

Israel Super Cup The Israel Super Cup, also known as the Champion of Champions (, Aluf HaAlufim), is an Israeli association football club competition played as a single match between the winner of the latest Israeli top league champions and the winner of the late ...

(1):

2020 The year 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 even ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ben Haim, Tal 1989 births Living people Men's association football wingers Israeli men's footballers 21st-century Israeli sportsmen Jewish Israeli sportspeople Israel men's international footballers Maccabi Petah Tikva F.C. players Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. players Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players AC Sparta Prague players Israeli Premier League players Czech First League players Footballers from Kfar Saba Israeli expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Czech Republic Israeli expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic