Salim Tuama
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Salim Tuama | ||
 |
||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Salim Tuama | |
| Date of birth | 9 August 1979 | |
| Place of birth | Lod, Israel | |
| Position | Midfield | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Hapoel Tel Aviv | |
| Number | 15 | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1995–97 | Gadna Yehuda | |
| Professional clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (goals) |
| 1998-2003 2003-2004 2005 2005-2006 2006–present |
Hapoel Tel-Aviv Maccabi Petah Tikva Kayserispor Maccabi Petah Tikva Hapoel Tel-Aviv |
? (?) 28 (5) ? (?) 31 (4) 0 (0) |
| National team** | ||
| 2005–present | Israel | 4 (0) |
|
* Professional club appearances and goals |
||
Salim Tuama (Hebrew: סלים טועמה), is an Israeli Arab Christian footballer. He is a midfielder currently playing for Hapoel Tel Aviv, and who has in the past played for Maccabi Petah Tikva FC, Kayserispor, and the youth club Gadna Yehuda. Tuama has lived his entire life in the city of Lod, yet began his career using the facilities of the Gadna club due to the poor conditions of the local fields and football schools in Lod.
Tuama became the hottest prospect in Israeli football in the 1998/99 season when he, along with wunderkinds Kfir Udi, Omri Afek, and Pini Balili, all of whom had been harvested by renowned Israeli manager Dror Kashtan led Hapoel to their first State Cup title since 1983, following by a double on the next season 1999/2000. He also played a main role in the historic appearance of Hapoel Tel Aviv in the quarterfinals of the 2001/02 UEFA Cup where they were finally taken down by AC Milan. At the time it was believed that Hapoel was on its way to a golden age, but then Kashtan left the club in 2004 to take a break from football. By then Tuama had moved on to the less prestigious Maccabi Petah Tikva where they nevertheless won the Toto Cup (an event staged each year by league level for a financial prize). He received his first big break the following season by signing with the Turkish club Kayserispor (today Kayseri Eyssispor) where he filled in a disappointing season with little playing time. At the same time his old Hapoel teammate Balili had signed with Sivasspor, a B league club he helped climb to the Turkish Super Premier League. In the same season he returned to Maccabi Petah Tikva to help them log in perhaps their most impressive finish, second place and a ticket to the UEFA Cup.
After a disappointing 2005-06 season with Maccabi Petah Tikva, where Tuama had to shoulder the team almost single handedly at times after a great start in the UEFA Cup qualifiers, he signed back with Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
