Hen Ezra (; born 19 January 1989) is an Israeli

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 an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Maccabi Netanya Maccabi Netanya F.C. () is an Israeli professional football club based in Netanya. Established in 1934, the club was a founding member of the Israeli League in 1949. After winning their first championship in 1971, the club's golden period last ...

Career

Ezra played in the youth teams of

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 ...

and

Beitar Tubruk Beitar Nes Tubruk Netanya (), formerly Beitar Netanya, is a football club in Netanya, Israel. History Beitar Netanya The original Beitar Netanya team spent several years in the lower divisions, mainly in the second division there the club played ...

. In 2007, he moved to

, and the following season was loaned to Hapoel Kfar Saba to gain experience in that season he finished with 4 goals and 3 assists in summer 2009 he returned to Maccabi Netanya.

Breakthrough season: 2011–12

In summer 2011 Ezra was closed in

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 ...

, but eventually stayed in Netanya. under the guidance of

Reuven Atar Reuven Atar (; born 3 January 1969) is an Israeli football manager and former player. As a player, he played as a midfielder, most notably with Maccabi Haifa. As a manager, he's mostly known for having five spells with Maccabi Netanya. Early l ...

Ezra excelled in all games playing in the left winger position He scored his first goal of the new season in a 6–2 win against Hapoel Rishon LeZion in which he added another goal and had a terrific match Ezra then continued his fine season by scoring another 10 goals and assists 3 Ezra was heavily praised by the Israeli media this season.

Maccabi Haifa

In June 2012 he moved to

for a fee of $1,000,000 and a four years contract worth approximately $700,000 In 2012/2013 season he played for Maccabi Haifa Ezra excelled under the guidance of coach

Arik Benado Ariel "Arik" Benado (; born 5 December 1973) is an Israeli association football, football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. Playing career Benado was a second-generation player at one of Israel's major association footbal ...

(that replaced Reuven Atar) finishing the season with 9 goals and 14 assists and was selected "Team of the season" of Ma'ariv.

International

He has played for the Israel national side at U17, U18, U19, and senior level, and was a part of the U21 squad (although he never won a cap). On September 7, 2012 Ezra made his debut on the national team, when he played in the game against

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

in 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. On June 2, 2013 he scored his debut goal, in a friendly match against

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

Club career statistics

:''(correct )''http://www.one.co.il/Player/10-11/1,1,8,38927/%D7%A4%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%A1_%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%92%D7%A8%D7%91%D7%99

Honours

Club

;

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 ...

''Runner-up (1)'':

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 ...

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 ...

(1): 2015–16

Individual

–

Most assists (13)

International goals

:''Scores and results list Israel's goal tally first.''

References

1989 births Living people Israeli men's footballers Beitar Nes Tubruk F.C. players Maccabi Netanya F.C. players Hapoel Kfar Saba F.C. players Maccabi Haifa F.C. players Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. players Beitar Jerusalem F.C. players Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. players AC Omonia players Israeli Premier League players Liga Leumit players Cypriot First Division players Israeli people of Iraqi-Jewish descent Footballers from Beersheba Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Men's association football midfielders Israel men's international footballers 21st-century Israeli sportsmen {{Israel-footy-midfielder-stub