David Ben Dayan

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Personal information
Dedi Ben Dayan

Full name	David Ben Dayan
Date of birth	27 November 1978
Place of birth	Holon, Israel
Nickname	Dedi
Position	Left Defence/Midfield
Club information
Current club	Maccabi Netanya
Number	-
Youth clubs
1994–95 1995-97	Hapoel Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1997-2002 2002 2003 2003-2005 2005–2006 2006-present	Maccabi Tel Aviv Hapoel Petah Tikva Hapoel Kfar Saba Hapoel Be'er Sheva Colorado Rapids Maccabi Netanya	? (?) 5 (0) 9 (0) 58 (2) 25 (7) 6(1)
National team**
2000–2003	Israel	10 (0)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 October 2006. ** National team caps and goals correct as of 24 June 2006.

David "Dedi" Ben Dayan, (Hebrew: דוד "דדי" בן דיין) (born November 27, 1978) is an Israeli football (soccer) midfielder, who currently plays for Maccabi Netanya in Israel.

1 Playing Career
- 1.1 Move to the United States
- 1.2 Return to Israel
2 Notes

[edit] Playing Career

Ben Dayan started his career at Maccabi Tel-Aviv, where he saw limited action over the span of six(6) seasons. After a break out 2000-01 season, Ben Dayan was called up to the Israel national football team by then manager, Richard Møller Nielsen, for a friendly against Hungary. His most successful club season though was in 2001-02 when he started and helped the club win the Israel State Cup having not played a single fixture in the clubs previous cup title.

In 2002 Dedi was transferred to Hapoel Petah Tikva where he would start each match but was unimpressive, usually being the first player substituted. He moved on to Hapoel Kfar Saba but after the club was relegated and Dedi was left in 2003 looking for a new club in a little less than a year.

Dedi Ben Dayan would head south to Be'er Sheva to join Hapoel for the 2003-04 season. There he would revive his career playing under Eli Guttman. This even led to him getting a second chance to play on the national team, but he only featured in two friendlies against Azerbaijan and Moldova.

[edit] Move to the United States

After two seasons in Be'er Sheva, Ben Dayan became the second Israeli ever to play in the United States' top football league, Major League Soccer, when he signed a one year contract with Colorado Rapids (the other was Guy Melamed who was released on a free transfer shortly after Ben Dayan's arrival). When his first season ended, Dedi had proven his worth to Colorado manager, Fernando Clavijo, and was signed to a three year contract estimated at $120,000 per annum.During his time there, when Dedi would score a goal for Colorado at INVESCO Field, he would generally run to his family in Colorado who would throw him the Israeli flag.

[edit] Return to Israel

Dedi returned to Israel to play for Maccabi Netanya in August 2006. He stated that he asked to return due to the Second Lebanon War and wanted to be closer to his family. In an interview with a sport website, Ben Dayan stated that he didn't improve at all during his time in the United States and it was time to go back to Israel^[1]. The website in turn stated that his time there was a waste.