Tal Ben Haim
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| Tal Ben-Haim טל בן-חיים |
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | March 31, 1982 | |
| Place of birth | Rishon LeZion, Israel | |
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | |
| Playing position | Centre Back/Left Back | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Chelsea | |
| Number | 22 | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | ||
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1998–2004 2004–2007 2007– |
Maccabi Tel Aviv Bolton Wanderers Chelsea |
147 (2) 88 (1) 13 (0) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1998 2001-2002 2002– |
Israel U16 Israel U21 Israel |
2 (0) 6 (0) 39 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Tal Ben Haim or Tal Ben-Haim (Hebrew: טל בן-חיים; born March 31, 1982 in Rishon LeZion, Israel) is an Israeli professional football player. Ben-Haim plays both centre back and right back, and is currently contracted to Chelsea in the Barclays Premier League and is a member of the Israel national football team.
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[edit] Club career
[edit] Maccabi Tel Aviv
Ben-Haim joined Maccabi Tel Aviv in 1998 as a reserve player and it stayed that way, breaking into the first team some time later. From 2000 to 2002, he served in the IDF. Upon completing his term and returning to the team, Ben-Haim played a significant part in Maccabi's Ligat ha'Al win in the 2002–03 season.
[edit] Bolton Wanderers
After a two week trial with Bolton Wanderers in the summer of 2004, Sam Allardyce secured the services of Ben-Haim on a three-year deal for a fee believed to be in the region of £150,000.[1] Although Allardyce did not believe Ben-Haim would be ready for the rigours of the Premier League immediately, he was confident that, given time, Ben-Haim would have as big an impact on the English game as illustrious fellow countryman Eyal Berkovic.
His first season at the Reebok Stadium was a successful one as he made 27 appearances and scored his first goal for Bolton in a 3–1 home victory against Tottenham Hotspur. The only thing that hampered his campaign a little was a clash with Wayne Rooney in a league match when Rooney appeared to shove him in the face. Ben-Haim, it was claimed, went down too easily and made too much of it and was charged with improper conduct by the Football Association, but was later cleared of charges.[2]
On October 20, 2005 while playing for Bolton Wanderers in the UEFA Cup match, away at Beşiktaş, Tal Ben-Haim wore the captain's arm band and was praised by the regular team captain Jay Jay Okocha.
Ben-Haim's impressive defensive displays in his following seasons at Bolton had attracted the interests of many clubs including Chelsea, West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur. In January 2007, Chelsea confirmed that talks to sign Ben-Haim from Bolton were unsuccessful.[3]
Following the end of the 2006–07 season, Ben-Haim's contract with Bolton had expired and his future at Bolton was in doubt with media reports linking him with a move to Chelsea and Newcastle United, ex-Bolton boss Sam Allardyce admitting that he was ready to make an offer to his former charge to bring him to Newcastle.
His transfer from Maccabi to Bolton in July 2004 is one of those about which the Stevens inquiry report in June 2007 expressed concerns because of the apparent conflict of interest between agent Craig Allardyce, his father Sam Allardyce – the then manager at Bolton – and the club itself.
[edit] Chelsea
On June 14, 2007, Chelsea officially announced the signing of Ben-Haim on a Bosman transfer after he had passed his medical at Stamford Bridge and agreed on personal terms to join the club on a four-year deal. Ben-Haim told the Jewish Telegraph exclusively: "I am very happy to join one of the greatest clubs in the world. I needed a new challenge. I will play in any position Jose Mourinho wants me to play. I am looking forward to starting the new season with Champions League football." He made his competitive debut for Chelsea against Manchester United in the FA Community Shield. With injuries to fellow Chelsea defenders John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho Ben Haim remained a regular in the Chelsea first team. However, after the recovery of first team pairing Terry and Carvalho and the impressive form of summer signing Alex, Ben Haim found himself to be the fourth choice center back.
In April 2008, he hit out at current Chelsea manager Avram Grant to the British tabloid The Sun after Chelsea's 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic stating: "If I knew Avram Grant was going to be the coach I would have signed for another club. It was Jose who brought me here and no one except he and I know the conversation we had when he tried to sign me the first time a year ago last January. The fact is while Jose was the coach I played most of the games and people who know me know that I would not have come here to be a reserve. I knew nothing good would come for me with Grant as Chelsea coach."[citation needed] In a press conference, Avram Grant responded: "I don’t think José promised Ben Haim he will play before John Terry, Carvalho and Alex, It is internal business but, in my opinion, if a player was wrong we need to deal with it - in our way, my way,"[citation needed] Tal Ben Haim has since been fined two weeks wages (estimated at £80,000).[citation needed]
[edit] International career
Ben-Haim has been a regular for the Israeli national team. He has proven to be of extreme importance in Israel's success in their 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign. During the Israel vs. France match in World Cup 2006 qualifying, David Trézéguet took exception to a Ben-Haim tackle and headbutted the Israeli at the cost of a red card. Israel went on to draw the game 1–1 against ten man France.
Ben-Haim was called up by Israel for the UEFA EURO 2008 qualifiers.
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- Tal means Dew in Hebrew. Literally, Ben-Haim means Son of Life. However, the Hebrew word "Ben" also has several borrowed meanings, such as "one who has", "one who belongs to", etc. So a more precise translation would be "Belongs to Life", or "Has the virtue of living".
- On 17/6/2007 he married Michal Hemo in Israel, guests included FA Premiership footballers.
[edit] References
- ^ Tal Ben-Haim. ESPNsoccernet. Retrieved on August 20, 2007.
- ^ Tal Ben-Haim - Bolton Wanderers Player Profile. Carling Football. Retrieved on August 20, 2007.
- ^ No Ben-Haim Deal. chelseafc.com. Retrieved on August 20, 2007.
[edit] External links
- Tal Ben-Haim career stats at Soccerbase
- Ben-Haim's homepage - currently redirects to this page.
- Uri Geller online regarding Tal Ben-Haim
- Goal.com profile
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