Northern Ireland v Israel

ISRAEL SQUAD

Words Liam Blackburn

GOALKEEPERS

ARIEL HARUSH Hapoel Be’er Sheva Age 30 Caps 11 Goals 0

GUY HAIMOV Maccabi Haifa Age 32 Caps 1 Goals 0

DANNY AMOS Maccabi Netanya Age 31 Caps 0 Goals 0

Moved to Hapoel Be’er Sheva ahead of this season after a year outside of the domestic league with Cypriot club Anorthosis. Israel used four goalkeepers during the World Cup 2018 qualifiers and Harush appeared in only three games. David Goresh, who is behind Harush in his club’s pecking order, made five appearances.

Haimov has not won a cap for Israel since his debut in 2011, when he came on for the second half in a Euro 2012 qualifier. Israel were 1-0 up against Croatia at the time but would lose 3-1. The 32-year-old joined Maccabi Haifa having spent last season with Hapoel Be’er Sheva.

Born in South Africa, Amos has spent his entire career in the Israeli Premier League. He has a connection with Northern Ireland too as his brother, Nathan, spent many years playing rugby union for Rainey Old Boys in Co Londonderry and he has represented his country at international level, too.

DEFENDERS

EITAN TIBI Maccabi Tel Aviv Age 30 Caps 35 Goals 1

SHERAN YEINI Maccabi Tel Aviv Age 31 Caps 18 Goals 0 Yeini’s two spells in Tel Aviv have come sandwiched between a stint in the Netherlands with Vitesse. An international debutant in 2013, the Tel Aviv-born defender made six starts for Israel in the Euro 2016 qualifiers but was restricted to only a solitary appearance during the following campaign for World Cup qualification.

TALEB TAWATHA Eintracht Frankfurt Age 26 Caps 9 Goals 0

A long-serving Maccabi Tel Aviv defender who had a short, unsuccessful stint in Belgium. Only four players featured in more games than Tibi in the World Cup 2018 qualifiers and he also had to serve a suspension having been sent off against Macedonia. He made his debut for Israel in 2012.

Tawatha is one of the fewmembers of this Israeli squad who plays his club football away from the domestic league, having joined German club Eintracht Frankfurt in 2016. The defender was an unused substitute in the German Cup final when Frankfurt defeated Bayern Munich in Berlin back in May.

ELI DASA Maccabi Tel Aviv Age 25 Caps 9 Goals 0

BEN BITTON Hapoel Be’er Sheva Age 27 Caps 4 Goals 0

SAMUEL SCHEIMANN Hapoel Be’er Sheva Age 30 Caps 1 Goals 0

Bitton has just started his sixth season with Hapoel Be’er Sheva, who he has helped to win a host of domestic trophies. Represented Israel at Under-19 level and made his debut for the senior side in a 2016 friendly against Croatia. Featured in just two World Cup 2018 qualifiers.

Has helped Maccabi Tel Aviv to three runner-up finishes in the Israeli Premier League since moving to the club in 2016. Dasa started half of Israeli’s World Cup 2018 qualifiers after featuring in three games in the preliminaries for Euro 2016. Yet to score an international goal in nine appearances.

A left-back who started his senior career away from Israel in the Netherlands, firstly with Den Bosch and then with Excelsior. Returned to Israel in 2012 and joined Maccabi Haifa initially. Scheimann has only been capped once for his country and that was back in 2012 against Czech Republic.

LOAI TAHA Hapoel Be’er Sheva Age 28 Caps 1 Goals 0

AYID HABSHI Maccabi Haifa Age 23 Caps 0 Goals 0

NISSO KAPILOTO Hapoel Haifa Age 28 Caps 0 Goals 0 Something of a journeyman defender having arrived at Maccabi Haifa after stops in Cyprus, Switzerland and with several other Israeli clubs. Kapiloto, yet to receive his first international cap, made 33 starts for Hapoel Haifa in 2017-18 and helped them to beat Beitar Jerusalem and win the State Cup final.

The third Hapoel Be’er Sheva defender in the squad, Taha made 29 starts in their title- winning campaign last season. He is another with limited experience of international football and his first minutes came in a 2-1 loss to Romania in March in what was Israel’s most recent game prior to this international break.

Habshi is one of two uncapped defenders in the squad who both play their club football at Maccabi Haifa. He spent the 2017-18 season on loan with Bnei Yehuda and he featured in both legs of a Europa League tie with Zenit Saint Petersburg that the Russian side would win 2-1 on aggregate.

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