Jonathan Victor Gerard Assous (born September 2, 1983) is a French-Israeli football player who is currently contracted to Beitar Ramat Gan in

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 ...

. In France, Assous was widely known for his temper and rough play.

Playing career

Assous began his professional career in the

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligu ...

with club

AS Nancy Association Sportive Nancy Lorraine (), commonly known as AS Nancy Lorraine, or simply Nancy, is a French association football club founded in 1967 in Nancy, Grand Est and located in Tomblaine, in the inner suburbs of Nancy. The club currently ...

. Sparingly making a league appearance, he moved down to the

Championnat National The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, ...

to play with Nîmes. Fine performances in the Championnat earned him a contract with Angers SCO. There he grabbed headlines for his rough play which got him ejected on numerous occasions. During his stint with

Créteil Créteil () is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Créteil is the '' préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-de-Marne department as well as the seat of the Arrondissement of ...

, he trialed with

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

and impressed then-manager Frédéric Antonetti. Unfortunately, contractual problems with Créteil ended his chance of making it to

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

for the first time in his career. Instead, Assous joined

Stade Reims Stade de Reims () is a French professional football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1910 and plays in Ligue 1, the top level of Football in France, having been promoted from Ligue 2 in 2018. Reims plays home matches at the Sta ...

where he was able to carve out a spot in the starting 11. After the successful acclimation of French midfielder

Rudy Haddad Rudy Haddad ( he, רודי חדד; born 5 February 1985) is a former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Career Haddad is Jewish, and was born in Paris and raised in France to a family of Tunisian Jewish descent. He ...

to life in Israel, Maccabi decided to look for more Jewish footballers who would not count against the foreign player cap. Frenchman Kevin Pariente and

Americans Americans are the citizens and nationals of the United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many dual citizens, expatriates, and permanent residents could also legally claim Amer ...

Benny Feilhaber and

Jonathan Bornstein Jonathan Rey Bornstein (born November 7, 1984) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a left-back. He has captained and made 38 appearances for the United States national team. In addition to also playing for Chivas USA in Majo ...

were originally scouted for the club. After Maccabi could not come to terms with their respective clubs, they turned to Assous who was having a good season in France. Some fans were vocally opposed to signing Assous because of his previously unsuccessful trial with Hapoel Kfar Saba and lack of "star quality". Immediately after being bought, Assous went to the

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...

offices in Paris to fill out all necessary forms for receiving Israeli citizenship under the

Law of Return The Law of Return ( he, חֹוק הַשְׁבוּת, ''ḥok ha-shvūt'') is an Israeli law, passed on 5 July 1950, which gives Jews, people with one or more Jewish grandparent, and their spouses the right to relocate to Israel and acquire Isr ...

. In 2008, he was joined in Israel by his brother, Gary who signed with Maccabi Netanya. From 2009 to 2011, he was playing for

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 ...

. In January 2011, he joined Hapoel Ramat Gan but the club had been relegated to Liga Leumit, so he did not want to continue in this team. In August 2011, he joined for a second Time Hapoel Petah Tikva, club where he is liked by all ultras, for his temper, and his aggressive style of play. In May 2012, Hapoel Petah Tikva was relegated to Liga Leumit, but Assous decided to continue with the club, and to sign a 3 years contract, in August 2012. In October 2014, he joined

Liga Gimel Liga Gimel ( he, ליגה ג', lit. ''League C'') is the fifth and bottom division of Israeli Football League, a position it has held since 2009. From Liga Alef and downwards to this, each league is separated by region as well. History Liga Gime ...

club,

Shimshon Tel Aviv Shimshon Tel Aviv F.C. (, ''Moadon Kaduregel Shimshon Tel Aviv'') is an Israeli football club based in Tel Aviv. In 2000 it merged with Beitar Tel Aviv to create Beitar Shimshon Tel Aviv.

.Amazing: Jonathan Assous signed for Shimshon Tel Aviv
Michael Weissermann, doublepass.sport5.co.il, 7 October 2014

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Assous, Jonathan 1983 births Living people 21st-century French Jews French men's footballers Israeli Jews Men's association football midfielders Israeli men's footballers Jewish French sportspeople French emigrants to Israel Jewish men's footballers AS Nancy Lorraine players Nîmes Olympique players Angers SCO players AS Cannes players US Créteil-Lusitanos players Stade de Reims players Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C. players Hapoel Ramat Gan Givatayim F.C. players Hapoel Ashkelon F.C. players Maccabi Akhi Nazareth F.C. players Shimshon Tel Aviv F.C. players Footballers from Val-d'Oise Israeli Premier League players Liga Leumit players Sportspeople from Sarcelles

Playing career

See also

Footnotes