Omer Atzili

Omer Atzili
Omer Yosef Atzili (or Atsili, ; born 27 July 1993) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or as a winger for UAE Pro League club Al Ain.
Atzili has also haven been a full international from 2016 to 2022, and capped six senior matches for his native Israel.
Early life
Atzili was born and raisesd in Holon, Israel, to an Israeli family of Ashkenazi Jewish (Romanian-Jewish) descent. His maternal grandfather was born in Bucharest, Romania.
He also holds a Romanian passport, on account of his Ashkenazi Jewish ancestors, which eases the move to certain European football leagues.
Club career
Atzili started his career at Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv's youth setup in 2002. In 2010, he moved to Israeli side Hapoel Rishon LeZion, spending the last season out of three with them playing for both the youth and senior squads.
Hapoel Rishon LeZion
Atzili made his senior debut on 30 July 2011, coming on as a 77th minute substitute in a 2–1 home win against Hapoel Be'er Sheva, during the Israel Toto Cup for the Israeli Premier League clubs.
Atzili scored his first senior goal in the Israeli Premier League on 12 May 2012, in a 2–1 home loss against Hapoel Acre; his side also suffered relegation in the end of the season. He subsequently became an important unit for the club in Liga Leumit, scoring six goals as his side missed out promotion in the play-offs; highlights included a brace in a 2–2 draw at Maccabi Petah Tikva on 10 May 2013. Atzili helped his side win the 2012–13 Israel Toto Cup for the Israeli Liga Leumit clubs.
Beitar Jerusalem
On 30 July 2013, Atzili signed a four-year contract with Israeli Premier League club Beitar Jerusalem in the main category. He made his debut for the club on 24 August by starting in a 2–0 home loss against Hapoel Be'er Sheva, and was mainly used as a substitute during his first season.
Atzili only became an undisputed starter for Beitar Jerusalem in the 2015–16 season, where he scored a career-best seven goals.
He also captained Beitar Jerusalem.
Granada
On 31 August 2016, Atzili signed a four-year deal with Spanish La Liga side Granada CF, for a rumoured fee of €750,000. He made his debut in the La Liga on 11 September, starting in a 2–1 home loss against SD Eibar.
Atzili played 11 total league and cup matches, starting five, for the Andalusian club. He did not manage to score, the club was relegated at the end of the 2016–17 season and Atzili left Granada.
Maccabi Tel Aviv
On 20 June 2017, Atzili signed a four-year deal with Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Tel Aviv.
APOEL
On 23 August 2020, Atzili signed a two-year contract with the Cypriot First Division club APOEL. In the mid-season transfer window he was released from his contract, leaving on 5 January 2021.
Maccabi Haifa
On 13 January 2021, Atzili signed a three-and-a-half-year deal with Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Haifa.
On 23 August 2022, Atzili assisted his team's last qualifying goal during their 2022–23 UEFA Champions League Play-offs second leg against Serbian side Red Star Belgrade, with a 90th minute free kick that made a rival player score an own goal, earning Maccabi Haifa a 2–2 away draw (5–4 on aggregate), and a place in the UEFA Champions League Group Stage. On 11 October 2022, Atzili scored both his first and second Champions League goals, by netting a brace in a 2–0 home win over Italian side Juventus, to be his club's first victory in the competition since the 2002–03 season. He also received UEFA's Player of the Match award for this game.
Al Ain
On 14 June 2023, he signed a three-year deal with UAE Pro League club Al Ain, becoming the first Israeli Jew to play in an Arab country. His annual salary is estimated to be around $1.9 million, excluding any victory bonuses. During his presentation, he was introduced as a Romanian player rather than an Israeli. Prior to accepting the transfer, he had specific requests related to his faith, Judaism, allowing him the freedom to abstain from playing or training during various Israeli and Jewish holidays and memorial days. Additionally, a clause in the contract states that he will not participate in away matches outside the Emirates for the AFC Asian Champions League. This provision is in consideration of the potential encounters with clubs from countries that are extremely hostile against Jews and especially against his native Israel, such as Iran, Iraq, Lebanon or Syria, among several other Muslim or Arab countries in the AFC competitions. A great number of Emiratis expressed their opposition to his signing as well.
International career
He represented Israel internationally at youth levels from under-19 to under-21.
Atzili was first called-up to the Israeli senior national team on 31 August 2016, for a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers match against Italy. He then made his senior debut with Israel on 5 September 2016, substituting Nir Bitton in a 1–3 home loss against Italy.
On 10 November 2022, Atzili announced his retirement from the Israeli national team.
Personal life
He married his Israeli girlfriend Or (Ben David) in 2018. They have a son who was born in 2018, and a daughter born in 2020.
In June 2020, Atzili was investigated along with Dor Micha for having consensual intercourse with two minors aged under sixteen. Following the investigation, they were both removed from their club by Maccabi Tel Aviv owner Mitchell Goldhar. The State Prosecutor’s Office in September 2020 officially closed the cases against them. Police sources told the media that the reason cited for the closure was that the players provided proof, that each of the two girls had concealed the fact that they were minors at the time. Two years later, resurfaced texts revealed in 2022 showed that the players allegedly knew that the teens were underage students back then, which according to Haaretz contradicts previous claims. Each of them have issued several apologies over the years for any misconduct since the initial incident.
Honours
Hapoel Rishon LeZion
Israel Toto Cup (Liga Leumit): 2012–13
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Israeli Premier League: 2018–19, 2019–20
Israel Toto Cup (Ligat Ha'Al): 2017–18, 2018–19
Maccabi Haifa
Israeli Premier League: 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
Israel Toto Cup (Ligat Ha'Al): 2021–22
Israel Super Cup: 2021
Individual
Israeli Footballer of the Year: 2021–22, 2022–23
Israeli Premier League Top goalscorer: 2021–22, 2022–23
Israeli Premier League Top assists provider: 2020–21, 2021–22
Israeli Premier League Player of the Month: December 2021, March 2023
References
External links
1993 births
Living people
Israeli Jews
Footballers from Holon
Israeli Ashkenazi Jews
Romanian Ashkenazi Jews
Israeli men's footballers
Jewish men's footballers
Hapoel Rishon LeZion F.C. players
Beitar Jerusalem F.C. players
Granada CF footballers
Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players
APOEL FC players
Maccabi Haifa F.C. players
Al Ain FC players
Liga Leumit players
Israeli Premier League players
La Liga players
Cypriot First Division players
UAE Pro League players
Men's association football wingers
Israel men's youth international footballers
Israel men's under-21 international footballers
Israel men's international footballers
Israeli expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Spain
Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus
Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates
Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus
Israeli expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates
Israeli people of Romanian-Jewish descent
Citizens of Romania through descent
Israeli Footballer of the Year recipients