Elyaniv Barda (or Elianiv, ; born 15 December 1981) is an Israeli former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player, and the current manager of

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 ...

. His former clubs include

Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club (, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli professional association football, football club from the city of Beersheba, Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The club was estab ...

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 ...

and Belgian side

Racing Genk Koninklijke Racing Club Genk (), commonly known as KRC Genk or Racing Genk, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Genk in Belgian Limburg. Racing Genk plays in the Belgian Pro League and have won four championship title ...

, with whom he won four trophies during a successful six-year spell. Barda is considered by many to be

’s biggest player of all time.

Early life

Barda was born in

Beer Sheva, Israel Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most po ...

, to a Tunisian-Jewish family.

Club career

Hapoel Be'er Sheva

Barda began through the youth ranks of his hometown team,

, and then the first team. Between 1998 and 2002, which included seasons in both the

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 ...

and the second division, he scored 19 goals in 78 matches.

Maccabi Haifa

In 2003, Barda was sold to Israeli champions

despite the promises made by the club’s owners to not sell him. At Maccabi Haifa, Barda played in the championship winning teams of 2003–04 and 2004–05. In two seasons at Maccabi Haifa, the forward scored 12 goals in 63 appearances.

Hapoel Tel Aviv

On the eve of the 2005–06 Israeli season, Barda, along with Haifa teammate Walid Badir, was signed by

. Barda played 62 matches for

, scoring on 17 occasions. He also scored 3 goals in Hapoel's successful

2006–07 UEFA Cup The 2006–07 UEFA Cup was the 36th edition of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup, Europe's second-tier club association football, football tournament. On 16 May 2007, at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Sevilla FC, Sevilla won their second consecu ...

campaign, where the Israeli team progressed past the group stages. Barda won silverware at Hapoel when he was a member of two

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 ...

winning sides; in the 2005–06 season and the 2006–07 season.

Racing Genk

On 22 June 2007, Barda was signed by Belgian side

on a three-year contract, with the transfer fee believed to be in the region of €90,000. He had earlier failed to agree a move to Cypriot club APOEL F.C. In his first season at Genk in 2007/08, he scored 16 goals in 32 appearances, finishing as the second highest goalscorer in the league. This included a hat-trick against Zulte-Waregem in a 5–2 victory. Barda, known for his versatility and pace in the early stages of his career in Belgium, was often employed as a lone striker in his first season at Genk, linking up well with midfield but still scoring and assisting to goals. On 6 January 2009, despite interest from Scottish club

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

, and Dutch clubs

FC Twente Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...

and

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian language, West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch professional association football, football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherla ...

, the Israeli forward signed a new four-and-a-half-year deal that would keep him at Genk until June 2013. Barda's second season at Genk was marred by injuries. He featured in just 25 league matches and contributed 5 league goals, plus another goal during the semi-finals of the

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

. On 23 May 2009, Genk defeated K.V. Mechelen 2–0 in the Cup final, securing a berth in the play-off round of the UEFA Europa League 2009–10. In this match, Barda provided the assist for the first goal of the match. The coming of age of young attacking players such as

Jelle Vossen Jelle Vossen (born 22 March 1989) is a Belgian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a striker (association football), striker for Belgian First Division A club S.V. Zulte Waregem, Zulte Waregem. Club career Genk Vosse ...

Christian Benteke Christian Benteke Liolo (born 3 December 1990) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club D.C. United. Benteke began his career at Standard Liège, playing a part in their 2008–09 Belgian Firs ...

and

Kevin De Bruyne Kevin De Bruyne (; born 28 June 1991) is a Belgian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club SSC Napoli, Napoli and captains the Belgium national football team, Belgium national team. After spending mos ...

, as well as the expensive purchase of the popular Genk-born Benji De Ceulaer saw Barda increasingly being used as a substitute during the final two years of his Genk career. However, he remained an influential figure on the pitch, often scoring important goals when coming off the bench and tilting the momentum in Genk's favour because of his intelligent and determined playing style. On 21 May 2013, Genk announced that negotiations with the player would not continue after both parties failed to agree terms on a contract extension. During six years at the club, Barda made 196 appearances in all club competitions, scored 67 goals and provided 50 assists. He also holds Genk's record for most goals scored by a foreign player.

Return to Hapoel Be'er Sheva

After his spell in Belgium, Barda returned to Israel. On 25 June 2013 he signed a three-year contract at his hometown club

, where he started his professional career. He signed for Be’er Sheva just months after the team managed to avoid relegation in the final game of the season. His comeback to his childhood team is considered remarkable and historic, and it completely changed Hapoel Be’er Sheva’s history. Barda was a key player in his first 2 seasons, Scored 18 league goals and paced the way for high profile players to join Be’er Sheva, but saw his team finish 2nd and 3rd between 2013 and 2015. In the 2015/16 season he scored 14 league goals and finished as his team’s top scorer as Be’er Sheva celebrated their first league winning campaign in 40 years. Consequently, Barda was selected as the 2015/16 player of the season in the Israeli Premier League. Barda had a less successful 2016/17 season despite scoring a few important goals, and ended the season with 5 goals. In November 2017, Barda suffered a heart attack during a training session. The club’s physiotherapist saved his life, but Elyaniv was forced to retire. He came on as a substitute in the 90th minute on the final day of the season, Making his last appearance ever in a 6–0 win against Maccabi Netanya that marked the end of Be’er Sheva’s 3rd consecutive title-winning season.

International career

Barda scored three times in 17 matches for the Israel U21 team between 2001 and 2003. On 17 November 2007, he scored the opening goal in Israel's win against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, a goal that could have saved

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2008 finals tournament took place between August 2006 and November 2007. Fifty teams were divided into seven groups. In a Round-robin tournament, double round-robin system, each team played against each of the others ...

campaign if England beat or even drew with

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

on 21 November 2007, but England lost the match 2–3, meaning they did not qualify. On 21 November 2007, he scored his second goal for Israel in their 1–0 win against

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

. He made his debut for

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 ...

on 24 March 2007 in the Euro 2008 Qualifier against England (0–0).

Managerial career

Since joining Hapoel Be’er Sheva for the 2nd time in 2013, Barda spoke a few times about the possibility of becoming a director of football after he hangs up his boots. After his retirement, Elyaniv had various responsibilities in the club, ranging from scouting to supervising Be’er Sheva’s academy and its partnership with Atlético Madrid. Elyaniv was also an assistant coach and a caretaker manager in the 2020/2021 season. At the start of the 2021/2022 season, Barda officially became Director of Football. After Be’er Sheva’s coach at the time, Ronny Levi, was fired he was replaced by Barda who was supposed to be a temporary manager until the end of the season. However, due to the team’s improved performance, and mostly due to winning the 2021/2022 Israeli State Cup, Barda’s job became permanent in the summer of 2022. Since then Hapoel Be’er Sheva won the 2022 Israeli Super Cup against Maccabi Haifa, who Be’er Sheva won the cup against the season prior. Barda’s Be’er Sheva also qualified for the 2022/2023 conference League group stage.

Career statistics

Club

:''(correct as of 9 July 2015)''

International goals

Honours

Player

Maccabi Haifa * Toto Cup Top Division: 2002–03 *

: 2003–04, 2004–05 Hapoel Tel Aviv *

: 2005–06, 2006–07 Genk *

: 2008–09,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( ; ; ), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian Pro League champions (also received the Super Cup host) and the Belgian Cup winners. If both teams are the same, ...

(1):

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Hapoel Beer Sheva *

: 2015–16, 2016–17 2017–18 * Toto Cup Top Division: 2016–17 Individual * Footballer of the Year in Israel: 2015–16 st place/small> *

Top scorer (1): 2015–16 nd place/small>

Manager

Hapoel Beer Sheva *

: 2021–22

References

External links

Elyaniv Barda profile and club history on Maccabi Haifa Official Website

Elyaniv Barda Profile and Statistics on One.co.il
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barda, Elyaniv 1981 births Living people Israeli men's footballers Men's association football forwards Footballers from Beersheba Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. players Maccabi Haifa F.C. players Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. players K.R.C. Genk players Liga Leumit players Israeli Premier League players Belgian Pro League players Israel men's under-21 international footballers Israel men's international footballers Israeli expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Israeli football managers Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. managers Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. managers Israeli Premier League managers Israeli people of Tunisian-Jewish descent Israeli Mizrahi Jews Israeli Footballer of the Year recipients 21st-century Israeli sportsmen