Ofek Melika-Aharon (; born 23 January 2005) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for Israeli club

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 ...

and the Israel national under-19 team.

Early life

Melika-Aharon was born and raised in

Givatayim Givatayim () is a city in Israel east of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area. Givatayim was established in 1922 by pioneers of the Second Aliyah. In it had a population of . The name of the city comes from the "two hills" on w ...

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 an Israeli family of

Mizrahi Jewish Mizrahi Jews (), also known as ''Mizrahim'' () in plural and ''Mizrahi'' () in singular, and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or ''Edot HaMizrach'' (, ), are terms used in Israeli discourse to refer to a grouping of Jews, Jewish c ...

descent. He hails from a family of Israeli football goalkeepers, with his grandfather

Shmuel Malika-Aharon Shmuel Malika-Aharon (; 1 January 1947 – 16 August 2011) was an Israeli footballer. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and ...

and uncle Meir Melika, both playing for the Israel national team. He is also the son of Yaron Melika, who played as a goalkeeper in the Israeli Premier League.

Club career

Melika made his senior debut for

Hapoel Ra'anana Hapoel Ra'anana Association Football Club (, ''Amutat Hapoel Ra'anana Mahleket Kaduregel'') is an Israeli football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to s ...

on 4 April 2022, playing 90 minutes in a

Liga Leumit The Israeli Liga Leumit (, HaLiga HaLeumit, ) is the second division of the professional Israeli association football (soccer) league system. This second-tier league is placed directly below the Israeli Premier League. Structure There are 16 ...

away match against

Hapoel Ramat Gan Hapoel Ramat Gan Givatayim F.C. (, ''Moadon Kaduregel Hapoel Ramat Gan Givatayim'') is an Israeli football club from Ramat Gan and Givatayim. They currently play in Liga Leumit, the second tier of Israeli football. Home matches are played at Rama ...

, that ended in a 2–1 win. On 22 May 2024 signed for 5 years in

International career

He is a youth International for

, who plays for the under-17 national team since 2021.

Career statistics

Club

External links

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References

2005 births Living people Israeli Mizrahi Jews Israeli men's footballers Footballers from Givatayim Hapoel Ra'anana A.F.C. players Maccabi Petah Tikva F.C. players Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players Liga Leumit players Israeli Premier League players Israel men's youth international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers 21st-century Israeli sportsmen {{Israel-footy-goalkeeper-stub