Nisim Elmaliah

Nisim Elmaliah (Hebrew: ניסים אלמליח‎; November 11, 1928 – October 24, 1989) was an Israeli footballer who played mainly in the uniform of Beitar Tel Aviv. Elmaliah was known to have particularly strong kick, which helped him to score many goals. Among his achievements, he won the award of the top scorer in the 1954–55 season after scoring 30 goals in 26 games for Beitar Tel Aviv, a record that held until April 11, 2016 when Eran Zahavi broke it.

Nisim Elmaliah
Personal information
Full name Nisim Elmaliah
Place of birth Jerusalem, Israel
Youth career
Beitar Tel Aviv
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1948–1959 Beitar Tel Aviv 109 (69)
1959–1960 Beitar Jerusalem 19 (9)
1960–1961 Beitar Ramla 12 (1)
1961–1962 Beitar Tel Aviv 9 (1)
Total 149 (80)
National team
1950 Israel 2 (0)
Teams managed
1962 Beitar Ramla
1963 Beitar Holon
1964 Beitar Haifa
1965 Beitar Kiryat Shmona
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Elmaliah is remembered by a beret that he put on his head at the beginning of his professional career, a relic of his religious and observant. There is also known case in which during a league game he dropped his beret on the opponent's goal. Elmaliah dribbled back, put again the beret and continued to attack his opponents without disturbing the game.

Elmaliah ability as an outstanding offensive footballer brought teams from all over Israel to pursue him and try to convince him to play their dimensions. For example, he was invited to strengthen Maccabi Tel Aviv squad during a long journey of games in Yugoslavia. Maccabi Petah Tikva also offered him a share of Egged if he would play in its ranks but Elmaliah remained loyal to Beitar Tel Aviv. Elmaliah also had two appearances for Israel's national team. He died at the age of 61.

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