Tal Ben Haim (footballer, born 1989)

Ben Haim was born in Kfar Saba on 5 August 1989.[1] He began his footballing education in the youth department of hometown club Hapoel Kfar Saba before moving on to train with the youth sides of Bnei Yehuda and then Maccabi Petah Tikva.[1] It was at Maccabi Petah Tikva that he made his senior professional debut, going on to become a central figure in their first-team squad.[1] Before the 2009/10 Israeli Premier League season, he was described as a promising 20-year-old striker who had shown signs of becoming one of the league's best young scorers.[7]

Ben Haim established himself as a key attacking player at Maccabi Petah Tikva over several seasons. By the start of the 2011/12 campaign he had scored 10 league goals in the previous season and was expected to shoulder greater offensive responsibility after the departure of Omer Damari.[8] When Maccabi Petah Tikva were relegated to the National League, he moved to Hapoel Tel Aviv in the summer of 2012, where he contributed seven league goals and five assists in a single season.[1][9]

After one year at Hapoel, Ben Haim crossed the city to join Maccabi Tel Aviv, the club with which he would win his most significant honours. During his first spell there he claimed two Israeli Premier League championships, the State Cup and the Toto Cup, and appeared in the group stages of both the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League.[1] His 2016/17 campaign was described by Sport5 as the best individual season of his career to that point: he scored 15 league goals, his highest league total, recorded 47 key passes, fourth in the league, and completed a league-high 127 dribbles from 223 attempts, with a 56% success rate.[3] Notably, 14 of his 15 league goals that season came from inside the penalty area despite him operating as a winger.[3]

In October 2012, during his time at Hapoel Tel Aviv, he produced one of his most complete individual club performances: against Maccabi Haifa he took a pass from Toto Tamuz, evaded defender Dekel Keinan and rolled the ball in to open the scoring, then broke down the left flank just before half-time to square the ball for Damari's second as Hapoel won 3–0.[10] In February 2017, playing for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the State Cup quarterfinal first leg against Maccabi Petah Tikva, he came off the bench in the 72nd minute, scored a solo goal four minutes later, then won a penalty in the 90th minute but had the spot kick saved as his side held on for a 1–0 win.[11]

In June 2017, Maccabi Tel Aviv sold Ben Haim to Czech club Sparta Prague for €2.9 million, and he signed a four-year contract.[12][4] The fee was described at the time as a Czech-league transfer record.[4][13] He had by then scored 47 goals across four years at Maccabi Tel Aviv and 19 goals in all competitions in his final season alone.[12]

The spell in Prague proved difficult and ultimately damaging. He tore his anterior cruciate ligament at the start of the 2018/19 season and underwent two operations, going almost two years without playing football.[14][5] Ben Haim later described the injury period and the subsequent COVID-19 disruption as perhaps the most difficult mental stretch of his life, saying Sparta's doctors told him after his second operation that they were not optimistic he would return to the pitch.[14] He ultimately made 24 appearances for Sparta without scoring, contributing three assists before severe injuries curtailed his time at the club.[4]

In a 2023 interview, Ben Haim reflected that he had three offers before choosing Sparta and that, in hindsight, the move was not the right decision, describing it as a bad deal for both parties.[14] The desire to play regularly was among his primary reasons for later returning to Maccabi Petah Tikva.[14]

Ben Haim returned to Maccabi Tel Aviv for the 2020/21 season and won the State Cup and Toto Cup with the club.[5] He then made a sentimental return to Maccabi Petah Tikva in the summer of 2022, ten years after leaving, joining following the club's relegation to the National League.[13] He helped them win promotion back to the Premier League and scored 12 goals in all competitions during that campaign, emerging as a leader within the squad.[13] Across his two spells at Maccabi Tel Aviv, he made 244 appearances, scored 52 goals and added 28 assists.[15]

By the end of his professional career, Ben Haim had scored 80 Premier League goals and 12 in the National League, for a total of 123 in all competitions.[2] He announced his retirement from professional football in March 2024 after failing to recover from a knee injury, having played his final professional match, against Maccabi Tel Aviv, roughly three months earlier.[5] In his account of that last game, he entered as a substitute and felt he could not run; when he came off, he told Maccabi Petah Tikva owner Avi Luzon in the tunnel that he was finished and cleared out his locker the following day.[2] Three months after the announcement, he resumed playing on a limited basis with Kfar Saba 1928, a supporters' club in Liga Bet, returning to the city where he was born and grew up while continuing in a professional role at Maccabi Petah Tikva.[6]

Ben Haim made his debut for the Israel national team in March 2011, scoring on his first appearance.[8] Coverage commonly distinguished him from the older defender of the same name by calling him "Tal Ben Haim II" or "Tal Ben Haim 2."[1]

His best-known international moment came in a 2018 World Cup qualifier against Italy in Haifa in September 2016, when he chipped goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon for Israel's goal in a match Italy won 3–1.[16][2] He finished his international career with 29 appearances and either five or six goals, with approved reports differing on the goal total.[2][6]

Across two spells at Maccabi Tel Aviv, Ben Haim recorded 244 appearances, 52 goals and 28 assists.[15] His 15-goal 2016/17 campaign and subsequent €2.9 million transfer to Sparta Prague marked the statistical and financial high point of his club career, while his chip over Gianluigi Buffon became his most widely remembered national-team moment.[3][2]

Ben Haim ended his professional career with 80 Israeli Premier League goals, 12 National League goals and 123 goals in all competitions.[2] After announcing his retirement, he remained involved in football through a professional role at Maccabi Petah Tikva and a limited playing return with the Kfar Saba 1928 supporters' club.[6]

Ben Haim developed a polarizing public reputation for emotional reactions, confrontations and provocative conduct on the field. A 2017 profile discussed disciplinary criticism and his reactions when substituted, while also quoting former coach Guy Azouri describing him as highly emotional and arguing that he would need to adapt his conduct abroad.[3]

In a 2024 retirement interview, Ben Haim said he would not change the provocations that marked his career, including a throw-in incident at Sakhnin and a hard challenge on Moshe Ohayon during a derby disrupted by a pitch invasion. He maintained that such conduct reflected his determination to win rather than personal hostility toward rival supporters.[2]