Reuven Atar ( he, ראובן עטר; born January 3, 1969) is a retired

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 ...

i football player who was mostly known for his career in

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 Footbal ...

and now he works as the manager of

Bnei Lod Hapoel Bnei Lod Rakevet F.C. () are a football club, from the central Israeli city of Lod. The club plays in an all-red kit, and are currently in , the third tier of Israeli football. Home matches are played at the Lod Municipal Stadium. Histor ...

. As a manager, he is mostly known for his work with Maccabi Netanya.

Early life

Atar was born in Tirat Carmel,

, to

Sephardic Jewish Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...

immigrant parents from

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

. During his adolescence, he played football for the

youth club. For many, he is one of the greatest players to ever wear the Haifa colors.

Professional career

After playing eight seasons for Maccabi Haifa and winning three titles for the club (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, Ligat Ha'Al), and the second division Liga ...

, and the Israeli Cup twice – one of which as both a Cup and a championship title at the same year), he joined the local rival team –

Hapoel Haifa Hapoel Haifa Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל חיפה, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Haifa'') is an Israeli football club located in the city of Haifa. The club won one championship (1998–99) and 4 Israeli cups ( ...

for four seasons, before being signed off to

Beitar Jerusalem Beitar Jerusalem Football Club ( he, מועדון כדורגל בית"ר ירושלים, Moadon Kaduregel Beitar Yerushalayim), commonly known as Beitar Jerusalem () or simply as Beitar (), is an Israeli football club based in the city of Je ...

. At Beitar he played only one match before being injured, which rendered him unable to play during the rest of the season. In the next season, Atar moved to

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 ...

for a single season, before moving back to Hapoel Haifa and a few months later back to Beitar Jerusalem, where he became one of the most popular players. In 2000, he returned to Maccabi Haifa, winning two championships. Atar left Haifa for Maccabi Netanya before the 2002/03 season, the last team in his professional career as a player.

Coaching career

During the season in Netanya, Atar was injured and decided to retire from his career as a player. He quickly signed as assistant coach in Netanya, first alongside Gili Landau and later on

Eli Cohen Eliyahu Ben-Shaul Cohen ( he, אֱלִיָּהוּ בֵּן שָׁאוּל כֹּהֵן‎, ar, إيلياهو بن شاؤول كوهين‎; 6 December 1924 – 18 May 1965), commonly known as Eli Cohen, was an Egyptian-born Israel ...

. At the end of the 2003/04 season, Cohen has left the club, and Atar was chosen as the club's head-coach. Even though the M.C Netanya was relegated at the end of that season to the second league in Israel, "Liga Leumit", Atar remained in his position and helped the club return to the Premier League after only one season. In 2006, Atar was sent home by Netanya's new manager, Eyal Berkovich, and proceeded to move and coach Maccabi Herzliya, from which he was fired after only 8 league games before returning to Netanya, later guiding the club to the second place in the Israeli Premier League, and the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cla ...

Qualifying rounds. Atar was later dismissed from Netanya, after team's owner Daniel Jammer signed

Lothar Matthäus Lothar Herbert Matthäus (; born 21 March 1961) is a German football pundit and former professional player and manager. After captaining West Germany to victory in the 1990 FIFA World Cup where he lifted the World Cup trophy, he was awarded the ...

. In September 2008, he signed for Beitar replacing Shum. Later that year he won the Israeli Cup, but was dismissed and replaced by Shum. On September 29, 2009, Atar returned once again to Maccabi Netanya, making it his 3rd stint as the manager of the club. On May 7, 2011, he broke Netanya's undefeated streak from 1971 as he managed the team for 16 straight games without losing a single game. On April 23, 2012, he signed a two years contract for his home club of

. In November 13 he was sacked from Haifa. On March 19, 2013, he returned to Maccabi Netanya for his 4th stint as the manager of the club. In the start of the 2014–15 season he worked as the manager of Hapoel Haifa. He was fired after 4 months on the job. On November 6, 2015, Atar returned to Maccabi Netanya for his 5th stint as the manager of the club.

Honours

Player

;

Winner *

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 ...

: 1988–89, 1990–91, 1993–94, 2000–01, 2001–02 *

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 involves ...

: 1991, 1993 *

: 1993–94, 2001–02 Runner-up *

: 1987, 1989, 2002 ;

Runner-up *

: 1994–95, 1995–96

Manager

; Maccabi Netanya * Toto Cup (Leumit): Winner : 2004–05 * Israeli Second Division : Runner-up : 2004–05 *

: Runner-up : 2006–07, 2007–08 ;

: Winner : 2009

career statistics

Club

International

International goals

Managerial stats

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atar, Reuven 1969 births Living people Israeli Sephardi Jews Israeli footballers Israel international footballers Beitar Jerusalem F.C. players Maccabi Haifa F.C. players Hapoel Haifa F.C. players Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C. players Maccabi Netanya F.C. players Israeli football managers Maccabi Netanya F.C. managers Maccabi Herzliya F.C. managers Maccabi Haifa F.C. managers Hapoel Bnei Lod F.C. managers Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Footballers from Tirat Carmel Liga Leumit players Israeli Premier League players Association football midfielders