Yossi Benayoun

Yossi Shai Benayoun (Hebrew: יוסי שי בניון, born 5 May 1980) is an Israeli former professional footballer who last played for Beitar Jerusalem and captained the Israel national team. He played as an attacking midfielder, often occupying the space just behind the striker. Born in Dimona, he is sometimes nicknamed "The Diamond from Dimona" in Israel.

Benayoun played for Hapoel Be'er Sheva and Maccabi Haifa before moving to Racing de Santander in Spain. Three years later he moved to the Premier League with West Ham United, and later Liverpool. In 2010, he signed for Chelsea, where he was used rarely, being loaned to Arsenal and back to West Ham, but nonetheless won the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. After that, he was released by the club and spent a season in the Football League Championship with Queens Park Rangers before returning to Maccabi Haifa.

A full international for twenty years from 1998 to 2018, Benayoun is Israel's most capped player of all time with 102 caps, and their joint third top scorer with 24 international goals.

Benayoun currently holds the position of sporting director for Beitar Jerusalem, the club that he last played for.

International Career

Benayoun was a member of the Israel U16 team that came third in the 1996 UEFA European Under-16 Championship.

He made his senior debut for Israel against Portugal in a friendly on 18 November 1998 that resulted in a 2–0 away loss. Benayoun scored his first international hat-trick in a UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier against San Marino at Ramat Gan Stadium on 8 September 1999. The match finished as an 8–0 win for Israel.

During the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Benayoun became the leading player of the Israeli national team after equalizing against Cyprus at home (in a game that ended 2–1 to Israel) and scoring twice against Switzerland.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Йосси Бенаюн (russian)