David Dor Micha (or Miha, he, דוד דור מיכה; born 2 March 1992) 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 ...
who plays as an
attacking midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
for
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 ...
club
Hapoel Be'er Sheva and the
Israel national team.
Early and personal life
Micha was born in
Givatayim
Givatayim ( he, גִּבְעָתַיִים, lit. "two hills") is a city in Israel east of Tel Aviv. It is part of the metropolitan area known as Gush Dan. Givatayim was established in 1922 by pioneers of the Second Aliyah. In it had a population o ...
,
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 ...
, to a family of both
Sephardi Jewish and
Mizrahi Jewish
Mizrahi Jews ( he, יהודי המִזְרָח), also known as ''Mizrahim'' () or ''Mizrachi'' () and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or ''Edot HaMizrach'' (, ), are a grouping of Jewish communities comprising those who remained i ...
(
Iraqi-Jewish
The history of the Jews in Iraq ( he, יְהוּדִים בָּבְלִים, ', ; ar, اليهود العراقيون, ) is documented from the time of the Babylonian captivity c. 586 BC. Iraqi Jews constitute one of the world's oldest and mos ...
) descent.
His father Kobi Micha is a former Israeli footballer who also played for
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) 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 ...
, although he retired at the age of 26 due to a knee injury. Micha attended the Kalai High School in his hometown.
He also holds a Portuguese passport, on account of both his Sephardi Jewish and Mizrahi Jewish (Iraqi-Jewish) ancestry, which eases the move to certain European football leagues.
He was in a relationship with Israeli actress Nuel Berkovich from 2013 to 2020. He married his Israeli girlfriend Almog ( BarNoy) in 2021, and they have a daughter who was born in 2022.
Club career
Micha joined
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) 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 ...
when he was 8 years old. On 2004 he started playing with the youth team and was tagged as a potential talent since he joined. Former international player
Eli Ohana
Eliyahu "Eli" Ohana ( he, אלי אוחנה; born ) is an Israeli former football player and the former chairman of Israeli club Beitar Jerusalem. He played as forward or midfielder for Beitar Jerusalem, KV Mechelen, S.C. Braga, and th ...
, his manager in the
Israel U-19 national team, described him in an interview in August 2011 as "the most talented player I have ever managed".
On 12 February 2011, after the arrival of
Moti Ivanir as the new manager of Maccabi and as a rejuvenation period led by the club, Micha made his debut for the club against
Hapoel Ramat Gan in a match Maccabi Tel Aviv won at the score 3–0. He scored the third goal and assisted another one in that game. On 29 September 2011, he scored his first goal in a European competition, leading his team to a 1–1 draw after a stunning shot against
Dynamo Kyiv
Football Club Dynamo Kyiv (, ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society, the club as a separate business entity was offic ...
in
Bloomfield Stadium
Bloomfield Stadium ( he, אצטדיון בלומפילד) is a football stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel, with a capacity of 29,400. It is the home stadium of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv. The stadium also serves th ...
on the
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
group stage.
In the
2012–2013 season Micha was a key player in Maccabi Tel Aviv's success in retaining the championship, playing 28 games and scoring five goals, and mostly excelled during the latter stages of the season after scoring in both
derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gain ...
matches against
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Hapoel Tel Aviv ( he, הפועל תל אביב) 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, suc ...
in the playoffs.
In the 2013–14 season Micha continued his good run from the end of the last season by scoring a crucial away goal against
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...
in the Europa League group stage, which obtained Maccabi its first ever win in the competitions group stage.
International career
On 5 September 2011, Micha made his international youth debut with the
Israel U-21 team against
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. The decision to not include him in the squad for the
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...
in
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...
was controversial. Micha was a central figure in the team during the
2015 European Under-21 Championship qualifications which Israel finished second and was supposed to qualify but did not since only the best four teams who finished second in the groups qualified.
Micha was called-up to the
senior Israeli squad for a friendly match against
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...
in May 2016.
Career statistics
Club
Honours
Maccabi Tel Aviv
*
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 ...
:
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...
,
2013–14,
2014–15,
2018–19
*
Israel 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 involve ...
:
2014–15
*
Israel 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), and the second division Liga Leumit.
Fro ...
(
Ligat Ha'al
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 b ...
):
2014–15,
2017–18,
2018–19
*
Israel Super Cup
The Israel Super Cup, also known as the Champion of Champions ( he, אלוף האלופים, Aluf HaAlufim), is an Israeli association football club competition played as a single match between the winner of the latest Israeli top league champion ...
:
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
Anorthosis Famagusta
*
Cypriot Cup
The Cypriot Cup () is the main cup competition in Cypriot football, run by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). It began in 1934, the same season with the Cypriot Championship. It is the second most important competition for Cypriot club te ...
:
2020–21
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...
Hapoel Be'er Sheva
*
Israel 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 involve ...
:
2021–22
*
Israel Super Cup
The Israel Super Cup, also known as the Champion of Champions ( he, אלוף האלופים, Aluf HaAlufim), is an Israeli association football club competition played as a single match between the winner of the latest Israeli top league champion ...
:
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...
Individual
* Israeli Premier League Most Assists:
2016–17,
2018–19
*
Israeli Footballer of the Year: 2018–19
See also
*
List of Jewish footballers
The following is a list of Jewish footballers (soccer), organised by nationality.
See also
*List of Jews in sports
This list of Jewish athletes in sports contains athletes who are Jewish and have attained outstanding achievements in spo ...
*
List of Jews in sports
This list of Jewish athletes in sports contains athletes who are Jewish and have attained outstanding achievements in sports. The topic of Jewish participation in sports is discussed extensively in academic and popular literature (See also: Lis ...
*
List of Israelis
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Micha, Dor
1992 births
Living people
Israeli Jews
Jewish footballers
Israeli footballers
Association football midfielders
Israel international footballers
Israel youth international footballers
Israel under-21 international footballers
Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players
Anorthosis Famagusta F.C. players
Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. players
Israeli Premier League players
Cypriot First Division players
Israeli people of Iraqi-Jewish descent
Footballers from Givatayim
Israeli expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Cyprus
Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus
Sephardi Jews
Mizrahi Jews
Israeli Footballer of the Year recipients