Maor Melikson

Maor Melikson
Personal information
Date of birth30 October 1984
Place of birthYavne, Israel
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing positionMidfielder
Club information
Current team
Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Number20
Youth career
Maccabi Yavne
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2001–2002Maccabi Yavne
2002–2006Beitar Jerusalem111(8)
2006–2008Maccabi Haifa24(1)
2008Hapoel Kfar Saba15(0)
2008–2011Hapoel Be'er Sheva77(18)
2011–2013Wisła Kraków46(6)
2013–2014Valenciennes52(4)
2014–Hapoel Be'er Sheva0(0)
National team‡
2002–2003Israel U-198(1)
2003–2007Israel U-2115(2)
2010–Israel17(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 April 2013.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 10 September 2013

Maor Melikson (Hebrew: מאור מליקסון‎; born 30 October 1984 in Yavne) is an Israeli footballer who plays as a midfielder for Hapoel Be'er Sheva and the Israel national football team.

Club career

Israel

Melikson started in the youth department of Maccabi Yavne. During the 2001–02 season, he made his senior debut in Liga Alef in a match against Ironi Ramat HaSharon.[1] At the end of that season Maccabi Yavne were relegated to Liga Bet, and Melikson moved to Beitar Jerusalem. At the end of 2005–06 season after not reaching a financial settlement with Beitar,[2][3] Melikson decided to join Ligat ha'Al champions, Maccabi Haifa on a three-year contract.[4] During the 2007–08 season, Maccabi Haifa sold Melikson to Hapoel Kfar Saba.[5] After just six months which included a relegation to Liga Leumit, he signed in June 2008 a five-year contract with Hapoel Be'er Sheva,[6] and later was appointed as the team captain.[7]

Wisła Kraków

Melikson with Wisła Kraków

On 31 January 2011, Melikson joined Polish Ekstraklasa side Wisła Kraków on a four-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee from Hapoel Be'er Sheva.[8] He won the Ekstraklasa championship in his debut season. He was also named the Ekstraklasa Revelation of the Season, even though he only played for one half of the season.[9] On 27 July, Melikson scored his first goal in European Cups in the first leg of a UEFA Champions League third qualifying round match against Litex Lovech, giving a vital 2–1 win to Wisła. Melikson scored again twice in the second leg and helped Wisła secure qualification for the play-off round, where they eventually lost to APOEL. He picked up an injury in September's league match against Ruch Chorzów, which ruled him out of play until December.[10] Melikson returned to play the last two UEFA Europa League group stage matches and helped his team to qualify for the round of 32. He was chosen the biggest discovery of Ekstraklasa by other players in Polish Footballers' Association voting, as well as named to the Ekstraklasa Best XI in 2011.[11]

Valenciennes

On 15 January 2013, Melikson joined Ligue 1 club Valenciennes on a two-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee from Wisła Kraków. He made his debut on 25 January in a 0–2 loss against Lyon, coming on as a substitute in the second half.

International career

Melikson played in Israel national under-21 football team for several years, and helped the team qualify for the 2007 UEFA Under-21 Championship, but missed out on the final tournament due to injury.[12]

He made his debut for the Israeli senior national team in a friendly match against Uruguay on 26 May 2010.[13] On 10 August 2011, in his second appearance for the national side Melikson scored two goals for Israel in the 3–4 loss against Côte d'Ivoire.

On 20 September 2011, the Polish Football Association chairman Grzegorz Lato revealed that Melikson in a conversation with him expressed his desire to play for the Poland national football team.[14] Melikson is eligible to play for Poland based on a FIFA ruling allowing players to switch their national teams if the player had not yet played in an official FIFA competitive match with the senior team despite having played at the youth level. The next day, Israel Football Association issued a statement that Melikson is a member of Israel national football team and he is called for the upcoming match against Malta in the last fixture of the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying phase.[15] Melikson, however, refrained from making any comment for the Polish media, but Wisła Kraków manager Robert Maaskant confirmed his intentions to switch to Poland national team.[16] Later Melikson said to Israeli media that he chose to play for Poland, but subsequently on 22 September declared that he has decided not to play for either national side for the time being.[17] In January 2012 Melikson met with the new coach of Israel national team, Eli Guttman, and declared his desire to continue playing for Israel.[18]

In his first appearance in 2012, Melikson assisted Ben Sahar's goals in a 2–3 home loss to Ukraine in a friendly match.[19]

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 10 August 2011 Stade de Genève, Geneva  Ivory Coast 2–3 3–4 Friendly
2. 3–4
3. 12 October 2012 Stade Josy Barthel, City of Luxembourg  Luxembourg 0–4 0–6 2014 World Cup qualifying

Personal life

Melikson was born in Yavne, Israel, to a Jewish family.[20] His mother was born in Legnica, Poland, and made Aliyah to Israel as a child.[21] Melikson holds both Israeli and Polish citizenship.[22]

Statistics

As of 9 December 2012
Club Season League Domestic League Domestic Cups European Cups Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Beitar Jerusalem 2002–03 Ligat ha'Al 27350–323
2003–04 26270–332
2004–05 29171–362
2005–06 2927130393
Total 111 8 26 2 3 0 140 10
Maccabi Haifa 2006–07 Ligat ha'Al 1816090331
2007–08 609100151
Total 24 1 15 1 9 0 48 2
Hapoel Kfar Saba 2007–08 Ligat ha'Al 15032–182
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2008–09 Liga Leumit 285113–398
2009–10 Ligat ha'Al 30964–3613
2010–11 19440–234
Total 77 18 21 7 – 98 25
Wisła Kraków 2010–11 Ekstraklasa 15420–174
2011–12 18131113325
2012–13 13120–151
Total 46 6 6 1 11 3 64 10
Career Total 273 33 72 13 23 3 368 49

Honours

Player

Hapoel Be'er Sheva

Wisła Kraków

Individual

References

  1. ↑ מאור מליקסון
  2. ↑ בית"ר ירושלים שיחררה את מאור מליקסון
  3. ↑ בית"ר ירושלים: גאידמק שוחח שוב עם גרנט
  4. ↑ מאור מליקסון סיכם לשלוש שנים במכבי חיפה
  5. ↑ מאור מליקסון נמכר להפועל כפ"ס
  6. ↑ מליקסון חתם בהפועל באר שבע
  7. ↑ הפועל ב"ש: אילוז ימשיך, מליקסון מונה
  8. ↑ Maor Melikson zawodnikiem Wisły! 31 January 2011, wisla.krakow.pl
  9. ↑ "Melikson odkryciem Ekstraklasy". wisla.krakow.pl. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  10. ↑ "Kontuzje Małeckiego i Meliksona". wisla.krakow.pl. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  11. ↑ "Wyniki piątego plebiscytu Polskiego Związku Piłkarzy!". pzp.info.pl. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  12. ↑ "Maor Melikson – kosztowne błędy młodości". onet.pl. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  13. ↑ "Uruguay Israel". eng.football.org.il. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  14. ↑ "Maor Melikson mówi tak dla Polski". pzpn.pl. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  15. ↑ "פרננדס: "מליקסון זומן לנבחרת בכל פעם שהיה כשיר"". football.org.il. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  16. ↑ "Trener Maaskant o Maorze Meliksonie". wisla.krakow.pl. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  17. ↑ "מליקסון: החלטתי שלא לשחק באף נבחרת. הלב גבר על הראש". Sport5.co.il. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  18. ↑ "אלי גוטמן נפגש עם מאור מליקסון". football.org.il. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  19. ↑ "Ukraina lepsza od Izraela. Asysta Meliksona". interia.pl. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  20. ↑ "Israeli Sports". Jewish Sports Review 8 (87): 20. September/October 2011, accessed 16 September 2011. Check date values in: |date= (help);
  21. ↑ "Melikson: Było trochę łez i wzruszeń". wisla.krakow.pl. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  22. ↑ "Melikson otrzymal polskie obywatelstwo". sport.pl. Retrieved 17 February 2011.

External links