Maor Melikson

Maor Melikson

Melikson playing for Wisła Kraków in 2012
Personal information
Date of birth (1984-10-30) 30 October 1984
Place of birth Yavne, Israel
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position Winger
Club information
Current team
 Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Number 24
Youth career
Maccabi Yavne
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2002 Maccabi Yavne
2002–2006 Beitar Jerusalem 111 (8)
2006–2008 Maccabi Haifa 24 (1)
2008 Hapoel Kfar Saba 15 (0)
2008–2011 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 77 (18)
2011–2013 Wisła Kraków 46 (6)
2013–2014 Valenciennes 52 (4)
2014– Hapoel Be'er Sheva 60 (9)
National team‡
2002–2003 Israel U-19 8 (1)
2003–2007 Israel U-21 15 (2)
2010– Israel 20 (3)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:41, 10 January 2016 (UTC).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 28 July 2015

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.

Return to Beer Sheva

On 10 July 2014, It was announced that Melikson will be back in Beer Sheva, After a big campaign in social medias to bring him back. However in his first season Melikson was disappointing, Scoring mostly in cup games. His best game in 2014\15 was in the cup Semi finals, Against Afula. Melikson Assisted 2 Goals and scored one, Helping his team to qualify to the cup final. In 2015\16, Under new coach Barak Bakhar, Melikson startedd to shine. he scored in the opening day in the 1-3 Away win over Kyriat Shmona, Scored against Beitar Jerusalem (Again Beer Sheva won 1-3 Away), Scored an amazing goal in the game of the season against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the 1-2 win away And scored against Acre in the 3-0 Win in Turner Stadium. Melikson also assisted 9 Goals.

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

Club career statistics

(correct as of July 2015)
Club Season League League Cup League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Beitar Jerusalem 2002–03 Premier League 273500000323
Beitar Jerusalem 2003–04 262700000332
Beitar Jerusalem 2004–05 291710000362
Beitar Jerusalem 2005–06 292710030393
Maccabi Haifa 2006–07 181006090331
Maccabi Haifa 2007–08 60009100151
Hapoel Kfar Saba 2007–08 150320000182
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2008–09 Second League 28510103004911
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2009–10 Premier League 3092242004113
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2010–11 194004000234
Wisła Kraków 2010–11 Ekstraklasa 154200000174
Wisła Kraków 2011–12 1813100113325
Wisła Kraków 2012–13 131200010151
Valenciennes 2012–13 Ligue 1 162000000162
Valenciennes 2013–14 362000000362
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2014–15 Premier League 302621000374
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2015–16 0000002020
Career 3553945934626347460

Honours

Club

Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Wisła Kraków

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "ONE: מאור מליקסון".
  2. ↑ בית"ר ירושלים שיחררה את מאור מליקסון
  3. ↑ "בית"ר ירושלים: גאידמק שוחח שוב עם גרנט". 17 May 2006 – via Ynet.
  4. ↑ "מאור מליקסון סיכם לשלוש שנים במכבי חיפה". 8 June 2006 – via Ynet.
  5. ↑ מאור מליקסון נמכר להפועל כפ"ס
  6. ↑ "מליקסון חתם בהפועל באר שבע - וואלה! ספורט".
  7. ↑ "הפועל ב"ש: אילוז ימשיך, מליקסון מונה לקפטן". 13 July 2009 – via Ynet.
  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. ↑ "Melikson: Było trochę łez i wzruszeń". wisla.krakow.pl. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  21. ↑ "Melikson otrzymal polskie obywatelstwo". sport.pl. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
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