Web Quotableonline.com Frasescelebres.org Greatbookscollection.org

Yossi Benayoun (יוסי
בניון, also spelled
Benayun, born May 5, 1980 in Dimona) is a famous
Israel|Israeli football (soccer)|football player,
considered the best Israeli footballer playing
today. Playing as an attacking midfielder behind
the striker, Benayoun is known for being a
virtuoso, capable of dazzling dribbles and
brilliant passes. In Israel he is nicknamed "The
Kid" or "The Diamond". In   the 2005/06 season,
Benayoun will play for West Ham United F.C. of the
FA_Premier_League|English Premier League, after
leaving Racing Santander. He made his Premiership
debut for West Ham on the opening day of the
2005/6 season (13 August 2005 against Blackburn
Rovers) and he laid on passes for 2 of West Ham's
goals in their 3-1 win.

Benayoun played for the Hapoel Beer Sheva youth
team. At the age of 15 he joined the Football
Academy of Ajax Amsterdam where he played until he
was 17. Due to feelings of loneliness and
homesickness, he left Ajax and returned to Israel.
Many criticized him for letting go of a golden
opportunity.

At the age of 17 1/2, he was promoted to the
Hapoel Beer Shava senior team, but could not
prevent it for being relegated to the second
division league. In the last match of the season
against Maccabi Haifa F.C.|Maccabi Haifa, Benayoun
got a penalty kick on the 90th minute. Haifa's
goalkeeper, Nir Davidovich saved the shot but
Benayoun scored the rebound. He thought he had
saved the team but when he heard on the radio the
his team will be relegated nonetheless as a result
of its bottom rival winning its own match, his
tears of joy became tears of grief. The pictures
of him crying became famous in Israel.

After that season, Benayoun moved to Maccabi Haifa
in a deal signed by Yaakov Shachar (Maccabi
Haifa's president) and Eli Jino (the head of
Hapoel Beer Sheva) that the two clubs will share
the profits from selling Benayoun to a European
club.

Benayoun played in Maccabi Haifa for three
seasons, scoring a total of 55 league goals,
including two hat-tricks. He scored some of the
most beautiful goals in the Israeli premier
league. One example came in a match where he
bounced the ball on his leg to pass over Ashdod's
opposing defenders and goalkeeper to score a
magnificent goal. He is also known for the "spoon
pass", where he arches the ball over the defenders
to one of his team's strikers.

In 1998, under the guidance of Dushan Ohrin and
Daniel Brailovski, Benayoun and Haifa reached the
quarterfinals of the Cup Winners' Cup, and he
scored against Paris Saint-Germain and SV Ried.

The following year, Benayoun again performed well.
But he will always be remembered for his
confrontation with coach Eli Cohen that year, when
Benayoun himself allegedly refused to be
substituted during a match. This incident, plus a
bad month for the club, ultimately caused Cohen's
resignation.

However, in the 2000/2001 season under the
guidance of Avraam Grant, Benayoun led Haifa to a
first championship after seven long years and was
chosen as the MVP of the season. In the next
season, Benayoun helped Maccabi Haifa won another
championship, despite suffering from an injury in
the beginning of the season. When he returned to
play, he combined well with Giovanni Russo,
Raimondas Zutautas and Aiyegbeni Yakubu to win the
championship.

In 2003, Benayoun moved to Racing Santander in
Spain, where he became one of the big stars of the
club and one of its leading scorer during the
2004/2005 season.

During the World Cup 2006 qualifiers, Benayoun
became the leading player of the Israel national
football team|Israeli national team after
equalizing against Cyprus national football
team|Cyprus at home (2-1 to Israel) and scoring
twice against Switzerland national football
team|Switzerland. In the away game in Cyprus,
Benayoun, Israel's traditional black sheep,
assisted the winning goal after Nir Davidovich
saved a crucial penalty.

After his best performances in the Israeli
national team and Racing Santander, his name was
connected with many teams, such as FK Moscow, CSKA
Moscow, Arsenal, Liverpool FC, West Ham United
F.C. and Bolton Wanderers where the Israeli Tal
Ben Haim plays. Benayoun ended up signing for West
Ham.