Jonathan Assous

Jonathan Assous
Personal information
Full name Jonathan Victor Gerard Assous
Date of birth September 2, 1983 (1983-09-02) (age 28)
Place of birth Sarcelles, France
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Defensive Midfielder
Club information
Current club Hapoel Ramat Gan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2001–2003 AS Nancy 7 (0)
2003–2004 Nîmes 21 (0)
2004–2006 Angers SCO 22 (0)
2006–2007 AS Cannes 6 (0)
2007 Créteil 15 (1)
2007–2008 Stade Reims 17 (1)
2008–2009 Maccabi Tel Aviv 34 (1)
2009–2011 Hapoel Petah Tikva 23 (1)
2011 Hapoel Ramat Gan 0 (0)
2011- Hapoel Petah Tikva 10 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of January 28, 2011.
† Appearances (Goals).

Jonathan Victor Gerard Assous[1] (born September 2, 1983, in Sarcelles) is a French-Israeli[2] football player who is currently contracted to Hapoel Ramat Gan in Israel.[1] In France, Assous was widely known for his temper and rough play.[3]

Playing career

Assous began his professional career in the Ligue 2 with club AS Nancy. Sparingly making a league appearance, he moved down to the Championnat National to play with Nîmes. Fine performances in the Championnat earned him a contract with Angers SCO. There he grabbed headlines for his rough play which got him ejected on numerous occasions.[3] During his stint with Créteil, he trialed with Nice and impressed then-manager Frédéric Antonetti. Unfortunately, contractual problems with Créteil ended his chance of making it to Ligue 1 for the first time in his career. Instead, Assous joined Stade Reims where he was able to carve out a spot in the starting 11.

After the successful acclimation of French midfielder Rudy Haddad to life in Israel, Maccabi decided to look for more Jewish footballers who would not count against the foreign player cap.[4] Frenchman Kevin Pariente and Americans Benny Feilhaber and Jonathan Bornstein were originally scouted for the club. After Maccabi could not come to terms with their respective clubs, they turned to Assous who was having a good season in France.[2] Some fans were vocally opposed to signing Assous because of his previously unsuccessful trial with Hapoel Kfar Saba and lack of "star quality".[5]

Immediately after being bought, Assous went to the Jewish Agency offices in Paris to fill out all necessary forms for receiving Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return.[6]

In 2008, he was joined in Israel by his brother, Gary who signed with Maccabi Netanya.[7]

From 2009 to 2011, he was playing for Hapoel Petah Tikva.

On January 2011, he joined Hapoel Ramat Gan.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Assous Jonathan Victor Gerard
  2. ^ a b Spunder, Or (January 24, 2008). "הקשר ג'ונתן אסוס מועמד למכבי ת"א" (in Hebrew). One.co.il. http://www.one.co.il/Article/109149.html. Retrieved January 28, 2008. 
  3. ^ a b Maruani, David. "Mac. Tel Aviv's new French signing: 'I'm not a mad dog'". Ha'aretz. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/949358.html. Retrieved February 16, 2008. 
  4. ^ Bar-Dayan, Shirley (January 28, 2008). "מכבי ת"א רכשה את אסוס, גם דגאנו מסושו מועמד להצטרף" (in Hebrew). Sport 5. http://www.sport5.co.il/HTML/Articles/Article.64.31761.html. Retrieved January 28, 2008. 
  5. ^ Kessler, Barak (January 28, 2008). "אבי נמני מציג: כדור הרגעה לאוהדים" (in Hebrew). One.co.il. http://www.one.co.il/Oppinion/154/109400.html. Retrieved January 28, 2008. 
  6. ^ Botz, Lee (January 28, 2008). "מכבי ת"א רכשה את אסוס, בני פילהאבר לא יגיע" (in Hebrew). Yedioth Ahronoth. http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3499771,00.html. Retrieved January 28, 2008. 
  7. ^ Michelle, Hen (April 30, 2008). "אחיו של ג'ונתן אסוס חתם במכבי נתניה [Brother of Jonathan Assous Signs With Maccabi Netanya]" (in Hebrew). One.co.il. http://coop2.one.co.il/Article/115166.html. Retrieved September 13, 2009.