| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Toto Adaruns Tamuz Temile | ||
| Date of birth | April 1, 1988 | ||
| Place of birth | Unknown, Nigeria | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Hapoel Tel Aviv | ||
| Number | 99 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2002–2005 | Hapoel Petah Tikva | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2005–2006 | Hapoel Petah Tikva | 28 | (11) |
| 2006–2010 | Beitar Jerusalem | 95 | (43) |
| 2010–present | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 43 | (28) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2006 | Israel U18 | 2 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | Israel U19 | 9 | (4) |
| 2006–2009 | Israel U21 | 11 | (3) |
| 2006–present | Israel | 10 | (2) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 August 2010. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Toto Adaruns Tamuz Temile (born April 1, 1988), known simply as Toto Tamuz (Hebrew: טוֹטוֹ תַּמּוּז) is a Nigerian-born Israeli footballer who plays for Hapoel Tel Aviv.
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Born in Nigeria, his parents came to Israel in 1990, where his father, footballer Clement Temile, played professionally for Beitar Netanya. When the team ran into financial dire straits, and was forced to stop paying salaries, his parents reverted to working various odd jobs. His parents left Israel in 1991 to try to find gainful employment in Nigeria or elsewhere, leaving Toto temporarily with a team mate of his father. When it became obvious that his parents were not coming back for him, Toto was adopted (unofficially) by Orit Tamuz who cared for him and raised him, which is where his Hebrew surname derives from. Although it is unclear if he formally converted to Judaism, it was stated in a 2007 Ynetnews article that Tamuz was raised Jewish, attending synagogue on the holidays and performing kiddush each Friday.[1]
Though most of his formulative years were spent in Israel, Toto still did not carry full Israeli citizenship.[2] His legal status in the country was indeterminable for many years until then Deputy Interior Minister Ruhama Avraham, granted Tamuz an Israeli A1 visa granting temporary residence for a term of three years. After petitioning to FIFA, and given that he has no other citizenship, Toto received special permission to play on Israeli national teams even though he still did not possess an Israeli passport, but only an Israeli laissez-passer.[3] After his temporary visa expired, Tamuz was unable to play for the Israeli national team until he receives full Israeli citizenship, a process which could take 3 years. The Israel Interior Office had refused attempts to fast-track his application.[4] However his eligibility was confirmed when his case was taken to the Supreme Court and after Tamuz began the formal naturalization process he was named in the Israel squad for games against England and Estonia in March 2007.[5] Three-months later, Tamuz was granted full citizenship along with Argentine-born Roberto Colautti after their respective applications were approved by Roni Bar-On, Minister of Internal Affairs.[6]
Toto started to play organized football at Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C., where he made his professional debut during the 2005/06 season in a match against F.C. Ashdod. His debut was electrifying and he made national headlines after scoring two goals during the match.
Toto signed a deal with Ronen Katzav making him his agent. After declaring on numerous occasions that he was not interested in a big money contract, he ended up declaring his will to be transferred to Beitar Jerusalem citing moves made by the management of the club.
After officially signing with Beitar, Toto had to apply for visas to the Netherlands and Romania[7] in order to join the club for their training camps since he possesses an Israeli Travel Document and not an Israeli passport which would not require visas.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | September 6, 2006 | Stadion de Goffert, Netherlands | Andorra | 4-0 | 4-1 | EURO 2008 qualifier |
| 2. | June 6, 2007 | Estadi Comunal, Andorra | Andorra | 1-0 | 2-0 | EURO 2008 qualifier |
Outside of the fact that Toto is the son of a former footballer he is also the cousin of Valletta F.C.'s Omonigho Temile and Dynamo Kyiv's Frank Temile.
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