Haim Megrelashvili

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Personal information
Haim Megrelashvili חיים מֶגְרֵלָשוִילִי‎

Date of birth	July 4, 1982 (1982-07-04) (age 25)
Place of birth	Tirat Carmel, Israel
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Vitesse
Number	5
Youth clubs
	Hapoel Haifa
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2000-2004 2004-2007 2007-present	Hapoel Haifa Maccabi Haifa Vitesse	- (-) 66 (0) 22 (1)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:32, 30 September 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Haim Megrelashvili (Hebrew: חיים מֶגְרֵלָשוִילִי‎; born July 4, 1982 in Tirat Carmel) is an Israeli football defender currently playing for Dutch club, Vitesse, signing from Maccabi Haifa. He joined Maccabi in 2003 from cross-town rival Hapoel Haifa, and within a short time became Israel's rookie of the year. Haim is also known for his attacking skills, often joining Maccabi attacks from the wings.

He is of Georgian Jewish ancestry and his surname literally means "son of Megrelia" in Georgian. Due to its complexity, his surname is almost always misspelled as "Magrashvili" instead.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Going green

Haim started his footballing career at Maccabi, as a schoolboy before giving up football altogether and concentrating on athletics and gymnastics. His brother, Akiva, continued playing football and joined Hapoel Kiryat Shmona. During Haim's first season at Maccabi he managed to start a total of twenty-six matches. His second season at Maccabi was far from a progression as he managed to start a mere seven games. Ronny Levy would give Megrelashvili more opportunities in the 2006/07 season and Haim played an integral part of the squads progression to the round of sixteen in the UEFA Cup. His European performance as well as domestic performance caused him to garner interest from Dutch club Vitesse.^[1] He joined the Eredivisie side for the 2007-08 season, signing a deal until 2010.

On March 15, 2008, in the match against FC Twente, Megrelishvili was substituted after only 6 minutes into the game, after a number of defensive errors. Two weeks later, in the match against AZ, Megrelishvili was replaced after 16 minutes.