Israeli footballer
Klemi Saban, (Hebrew: רחמים (קלמי) סבן; born February 17, 1980), is a retired Israeli football defender.
Saban is mostly known for playing at Maccabi Netanya, there he played 6 years, captained the club and won over 200 caps in all club competitions.[1]
Biography
Rahamim (Klemi) Saban was born in Netanya. His younger brother Avi is also a footballer who played in the lower divisions of Israeli football.[2] His father played at midfield for Beitar Netanya.[3]
Sports career
Saban began his career in Maccabi Netanya and then played for several teams – Hapoel Tel Aviv, Hapoel Petah Tikva and Maccabi Haifa- in Israel before joining Romanian club Steaua București on June 28, 2006.
Saban was signed by Steaua București in June 2006, and was set to become the first Israel to play in the Romanian Divizia A. But he ended up staying on the bench for Steaua's league opener and did not make his league debut until August 5, 2006. By then, Kobi Nachtailer had already become the first Israeli to play in the league because he started his club's (FC Vaslui) first match of the season.
His club debut came earlier though when he featured in a UEFA Champions League qualifying match against ND Gorica. Saban was responsible for Steaua's last goal of the match as he was tripped up in the penalty area and the official gave Steaua a penalty kick that sealed a 3–0 victory for them.
After one year in Romania Saban returned to Israel, to Maccabi Netanya and signed a four-year contract.
In June 2010 Saban signed a two-year contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv for a transfer fee of $180,000.
Saban was a member of the Israel team for which he won 25 caps. He also won 11 caps in the Under 21 squad. He scored his first goal on 10 September 2008 against Moldova in the World Cup 2010 qualifier.
Honours
See also
References
External links
