Baruch Dego (or Barukh, ; born 28 March 1982) is an Ethiopian-born

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 ...

i former association

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 played for the Israel national team.

Early life

Dego was born in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, to an Ethiopian-Jewish family. He immigrated to

in the 1990's, with his parents and younger brothers. His younger brother Messay Dego is also a former association footballer, who played for the Israel U21 national team, and is currently the manager of

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa () 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, Basketball, Weightl ...

Sports career

Dego initially played for Maccabi Ironi Ashdod In 2000-2001 he was transferred to

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 ...

, winning the championship and three national trophies. In 2004/05, he was the only player to score for Maccabi in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

group stage. He scored two goals against

Ajax Amsterdam Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

in the local win 2–1, one goal from penalty against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

(1–1) and another penalty goal at

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

(5–1 to Bayern). After spending 3 seasons with

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 ...

winning two more Israeli State Cup he moved to Maccabi Natanya which was coached by

Lothar Matthäus Lothar Herbert Matthäus (; born 21 March 1961) is a German association football, football pundit and former professional player and manager. He captained Germany national football team, West Germany to victory in the 1990 FIFA World Cup and was ...

He played one official match before being released and signing a two-year contract with

F.C. Ashdod Moadon Sport Ashdod (, ''Sport Club Ashdod''), commonly referred to as F.C Ashdod (, ''Mem Samekh Ashdod''), is an Israeli professional football club, playing in the port city of Ashdod. The unusual name of the team (unlike most Israeli foot ...

. He reunited with his former coach

Nir Klinger Nir Klinger (; born 25 May 1966) is an Israeli football coach and former player. During the 1990s, Klinger served as Captain for Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Israel national football team. He was the coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv for three seasons, be ...

Nea Salamis Famagusta FC Nea Salamis Famagusta FC (alternatively Nea Salamina, ) is a Cyprus, Cypriot professional Association football, football Sports club, club based in Ammochostos (also known by its Romanization of Greek, romanized name, Famagusta). It has been a r ...

. On 28 May

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC (, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Division and has won the championship tit ...

announced that Dego
signed a two-year contract with the club. Dego reunited with his former

attack partner Aldo Adorno with whom he played with during the 2003–2004 season. On 6 July 2011, he joined Ironi Ramat HaSharon. He was released in the middle of the 2012–13 season, and signed a contract to play for Hapoel Rishon LeZion of Israel's second league until the end of the season, with the hope of helping them to move up a league to Israel's top league for the next season.

Honours

Club

;Maccabi Tel-Aviv *

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 ...

(1): 2002–03 *

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 ...

(2): 2001, 2002 ;Hapoel Tel-aviv *

(3): 2005, 2006, 2007

Individual

* Footballer of the Year in Israel (1): 2003

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dego, Baruch 1982 births Living people Ethiopian Jews Footballers from Ashdod Footballers from Addis Ababa Ethiopian emigrants to Israel Citizens of Israel through Law of Return Jewish Israeli sportspeople Israeli men's footballers Israel men's international footballers Maccabi Ironi Ashdod F.C. players F.C. Ashdod players Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. players Maccabi Netanya F.C. players Nea Salamis Famagusta FC players Apollon Limassol FC players Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon F.C. players Hapoel Rishon LeZion F.C. players Hapoel Ashkelon F.C. players Israeli expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Liga Leumit players Israeli Premier League players Cypriot First Division players Israel men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football wingers Israeli Footballer of the Year recipients 21st-century Israeli sportsmen