Ness Nissim Zamir (; born 31 October 1990) 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 lea ...

who plays for

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 ...

side Hapoel Rishon Lezion. Zamir also played for the Israel under-21 national football team.

Club career

Early years

Zamir progressed through the youth ranks of clubs in Israel. When he was only 17 years old, Zamir had a trial with Getafe B, which decided to sign him on a professional contract. After playing there in the Segunda División B Groups 1–4, Zamir signed with Albacete B. A number of great games drew the attraction of some

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

clubs such as

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, with whom he agreed terms on a multi-year contract. However, the transfer was put on hold and eventually avoided due to issues with Zamir receiving recognition from the IDF allowing him to be exempt from compulsory military service as an 'elite athlete'. Zamir is also awaiting a

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passport.

Real Zaragoza

On 28 July 2011, Zamir signed with

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

on a four-year contract. A key factor in Zamir's decision to sign with Zaragoza was the fact that their football director, Juan Esnáider, knew Zamir well from when he was an assistant coach at

Getafe Getafe () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city c ...

Maccabi Petah Tikva

On 30 January 2012, due to his continued failure to receive the status as an 'elite athlete' from the IDF, Zamir signed on a four-month loan deal with

side Maccabi Petah Tikva. It was hoped that this move would satisfy the military authorities as to Zamir's abilities and pave the way for him to become an 'elite athlete'. On 4 February 2012, Zamir made his debut for Petah Tikva as an 80th-minute substitute in their league match against

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 ...

. Zamir played a key role in Petah Tikva's second goal, which turned out to be the winning goal in the 2–1 result.

Hapoel Haifa

Zamir signed for Hapoel Haifa in July 2018.

International career

On 23 March 2011, Zamir made his debut for the Israel under-21 national football team in a friendly tournament against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in the Austrian town of Sankt Veit. He came on as a 57th-minute substitute for

Mohammad Ghadir Mohammed Ghadir (, ; born 21 January 1991) is a retired Israeli professional football (soccer), footballer who plays for Hapoel Hadera F.C., Hapoel Hadera. Club career Maccabi Haifa After progressing through the youth ranks of Maccabi Haifa F.C ...

, scoring six minutes into his debut. Israel won this match 2–0.

References

External links

Israel FA league player profile

Israel FA national team player profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zamir, Ness 1990 births Living people Israeli men's footballers Footballers from Rishon LeZion Beitar Nes Tubruk F.C. players Atlético Albacete players Getafe CF B players Deportivo Aragón players Maccabi Petah Tikva F.C. players Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv F.C. players Beitar Jerusalem F.C. players Hapoel Rishon LeZion F.C. players Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C. players Hapoel Haifa F.C. players Sektzia Ness Ziona F.C. players Hapoel Hadera F.C. players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Israeli Premier League players Liga Leumit players Israeli expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Spain Israel men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders 21st-century Israeli sportsmen