Tal Ben-Haim טל בן-חיים
Personal information
Full name	Tal Ben-Haim
Date of birth	31 March 1982 (1982-03-31) (age 27)
Place of birth	Rishon LeZion, Israel
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Centre Back, Right Back
Club information
Current club	Portsmouth
Number	26
Youth career
1988–2001	Maccabi Tel Aviv
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2001–2004 2004–2007 2007–2008 2008–2009 2009 2009–	Maccabi Tel Aviv Bolton Wanderers Chelsea Manchester City → Sunderland (loan) Portsmouth	86 (2) 88 (1) 13 (0) 09 (0) 05 (0) 08 (0)
National team2
2001–2002 2002–	Israel U21 Israel	06 (0) 49 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:49, 26 September 2009 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 16:45, 19 September 2008 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Tal Ben Haim or Tal Ben-Haim (Hebrew: טל בן-חיים‎; born 31 March 1982 in Rishon LeZion) is an Israeli professional footballer currently playing for Portsmouth. He can play at either centre back or right back. He is also a member of the Israeli national squad.

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Maccabi Tel Aviv 1.2 Bolton Wanderers 1.3 Chelsea 1.4 Manchester City 1.5 Sunderland 1.6 Portsmouth 2 Honours 3 Statistics 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Maccabi Tel Aviv

Ben-Haim joined the Maccabi Tel Aviv senior squads in 1998 as a reserve player and it stayed that way, breaking into the first team some time later. His league debut came on 30 April 2001 when he came on in the 90th minute as a substitute in the Tel Aviv derby match. He played a significant part in Maccabi's Ligat ha'Al title in the 2002–03 season, and was appointed club captain the following season, replacing Gadi Brumer who retired in mid-season.

[edit] Bolton Wanderers

After a two week trial with Bolton Wanderers in the summer of 2004, Sam Allardyce secured the services of Ben-Haim on a three-year deal for a fee believed to be in the region of £150,000.^[1] Although Allardyce did not believe Ben-Haim would be ready for the rigours of the Premier League immediately, he was confident that, given time, Ben-Haim would have as big an impact on the English game as illustrious fellow countryman Eyal Berkovic.

His first season at the Reebok Stadium was a successful one as he made 27 appearances. On 1 February 2005, Ben Haim scored his first and only goal for Bolton, heading a free-kick from Stelios Giannakopoulos into the net in Bolton's 3-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur.^[2] This is his only goal in the Premier League to date. The only thing that hampered his campaign a little was a clash with Wayne Rooney in a league match when Rooney appeared to shove him in the face. Ben-Haim, it was claimed, went down too easily and made too much of it and was charged with improper conduct by the Football Association, but was later cleared of charges.^[3]

On 20 October while playing for Bolton in the UEFA Cup away at Beşiktaş, Ben-Haim wore the captain's armband and was praised by the regular team captain Jay-Jay Okocha.

Ben-Haim's impressive defensive displays in his following seasons at Bolton had attracted the interests of many clubs including Chelsea, West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur. In January 2007, Chelsea confirmed that talks to sign Ben-Haim from Bolton were unsuccessful.^[4]

Following the end of the 2006–07 season, Ben-Haim's contract with Bolton had expired and his future at Bolton was in doubt with media reports linking him with a move to Chelsea and Newcastle United, ex-Bolton boss Sam Allardyce admitting that he was ready to make an offer to his former charge to bring him to Newcastle.

His transfer from Maccabi to Bolton in July 2004 is one of those about which the Stevens inquiry report in June 2007 expressed concerns because of the apparent conflict of interest between agent Craig Allardyce, his father Sam Allardyce – the then manager at Bolton – and the club itself.

[edit] Chelsea

On June 2007, Chelsea officially announced the signing of Ben-Haim on a Bosman transfer after he had passed his medical at Stamford Bridge and agreed on personal terms to join the club on a four-year deal. Ben-Haim told the Jewish Telegraph exclusively: "I am very happy to join one of the greatest clubs in the world. I needed a new challenge. I will play in any position Jose Mourinho wants me to play. I am looking forward to starting the new season with Champions League football." He made his competitive début for Chelsea against Manchester United in the FA Community Shield. With injuries to fellow Chelsea defenders John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho Ben Haim remained a regular in the Chelsea first team. However, after the recovery of first team pairing Terry and Carvalho and the impressive form of Alex, Ben Haim found himself to be the fourth choice centre back.

In April 2008, he hit out at former Chelsea manager Avram Grant after Chelsea's 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic stating: "If I knew Avram Grant was going to be the coach I would have signed for another club. It was Jose who brought me here and no one except he and I know the conversation we had when he tried to sign me the first time a year ago last January. The fact is while Jose was the coach I played most of the games and people who know me know that I would not have come here to be a reserve. I knew nothing good would come for me with Grant as Chelsea coach."^[5] In a press conference, Avram Grant responded: "I don’t think José promised Ben Haim he will play before John Terry, Carvalho and Alex, It is internal business but, in my opinion, if a player was wrong we need to deal with it — in our way, my way."^[6] Tal Ben Haim was fined two weeks wages, about £80,000.^[6]

During Ben Haim's stay at Chelsea, he made 13 Premier League appearances, before transferring to Manchester City.

[edit] Manchester City

Ben Haim joined City on 30 July 2008 for a fee around £5m, becoming only the second first-team signing of new manager Mark Hughes.^[7]

He chose to wear the number 26 jersey, vacated by the transfer of Matthew Mills because, apart from his time at Chelsea where it was worn by John Terry, he had always worn that number at club level. After signing, Ben Haim said "I’m definitely going to give my best to City and give my heart in every game. I hope that we can do good things this season. I’m looking forward to starting the season here."^[8] Tal made his City debut in second leg of the UEFA Cup qualifier against EB/Streymur at Barnsley's Oakwell Stadium on 31 July where City won 2-0 on the night.

[edit] Sunderland

Ben Haim signed for Sunderland on loan until the end of the 2008–09 season on 1 February 2009. He made his debut away to Arsenal on 21 February and made his home debut at the Stadium of Light on 7 March against Tottenham Hotspur.

[edit] Portsmouth

On 31 August 2009 it was announced that Portsmouth signed Ben-Haim on a four-year deal.^[9]

[edit] Honours

• Israeli Premier League Winner (1):
  • 2002-03

• Community Shield Runner-up:
  • 2007

• Premier League Runner-up:
  • 2007-08

• League Cup Runner-up:
  • 2007-08

• UEFA Champions League Runner-up:
  • 2007-08

[edit] Statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Israel			League		Israel State Cup		Toto Cup		Europe		Total
2000–2001	Maccabi Tel Aviv	Ligat ha'Al	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
2001–2002			29	1	5	0	3	0	4	0	41	1
2002–2003			30	0	4	0	10	0	4	0	48	0
2003–2004			26	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	Israel		86	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
England			League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
2004–2005	Bolton Wanderers	Premier League	20	1	4	0	2	0	0	0	26	1
2004–2005			35	0	4	0	3	0	7	0	49	0
2006–2007			32	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	34	0
2007–2008	Chelsea		13	0	2	0	3	0	2	0	20	0
2008	Manchester City		9	0	0	0	1	0	5	0	15	0
2009	Sunderland		5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
2009–2010	Portsmouth		3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Total	England		117	1	11	0	10	0	14	0	152	1
Career Total			203	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Bolton Wanderers Profile at Burnden Aces
• Tal Ben-Haim career stats at Soccerbase
• Ben-Haim's homepage
• Uri Geller online regarding Tal Ben-Haim

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