Maor Bar Buzaglo (Hebrew: מאור בוזגלו; born 14 January 1988) is an Israeli former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Maor Buzaglo
Buzaglo with Standard Liège in 2011
Personal information
Full name Maor Bar Buzaglo
Date of birth (1988-01-14) 14 January 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth Holon, Israel
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1996–1999 Maccabi Tel Aviv
1999–2000 Hapoel Tel Aviv
2000–2001 Beitar Jerusalem
2001–2002 Hapoel Tel Aviv
2002–2003 Lyon
2003–2006 Maccabi Haifa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2008 Maccabi Haifa 2 (0)
2006–2007Hapoel Petah Tikva (loan) 21 (5)
2007–2008Bnei Sakhnin (loan) 33 (9)
2008–2011 Maccabi Tel Aviv 84 (17)
2011–2013 Standard Liège 25 (1)
2013–2017 Hapoel Beer Sheva 122 (36)
2017–2018 Maccabi Haifa 5 (0)
2018–2019 Beitar Jerusalem 24 (4)
2019–2020 Hapoel Tel Aviv 21 (3)
Total 337 (75)
International career
2004–2005 Israel U17 12 (9)
2005–2007 Israel U19 34 (21)
2007–2010 Israel U21 15 (8)
2007–2016 Israel 23 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early life

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Buzaglo was born in Holon, Israel, to a Sephardic Jewish family.[2][3][4]

He also holds a Portuguese passport, which eased his moved to some European football leagues.[5]

Club career

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Youth career

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Buzaglo played for the youth clubs of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Beitar Jerusalem. In 2002, he went on trial to Juventus and participated in a youth tournament. At this tournament he was scouted by Lyon with whom he signed. After a year in France he returned to Israel joining Maccabi Haifa.

Hapoel Petah Tikva (loan)

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Buzaglo played two matches for Maccabi Haifa, before being loaned out to Hapoel Petah Tikva for the 2006–07 season. In 21 league matches for the club he scored five goals including a hat-trick against Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan in a 3–2 victory.

Bnei Sakhnin (loan)

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Buzaglo spent the following 2007–08 season on loan at newly promoted club Bnei Sakhnin. He scored nine goals in the season while the club finished fourth in the league earning qualification for the opening rounds of the Intertoto Cup. He was named Discovery of the Year at the end of the season.

Maccabi Tel Aviv

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On 30 July 2008, Buzaglo left Maccabi Haifa and signed to a four-year contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv after long negotiations between Haifa and his father (who is also his agent).[citation needed] In the last game of 2008–09 season Buzaglo tore his knee ligaments forcing him out of action for seven months. He returned midway through the 2009–10 season and went on to score 3 goals and assisting 5. He finished the 2010–11 season with four goals. At the end of the 2010–11 season he criticised the club publicly in an interview to the Israeli press which, along with his father's criticism, resulted in a misconduct fine and suspension from the club.[citation needed] On 26 June club owner Mitchell Goldhar announced that Buzaglo would no longer be part of the first-team's plans and instead be placed on the transfer list.[citation needed]

Standard Liège

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On 19 August 2011, Buzaglo signed a two-year contract with Belgian club Standard Liège for a transfer fee of €440,000.[6] In his first season with the club he made ten caps without any goals or assists. In his second and last season with the club he made 21 caps with a goal and two assists to his name.

Hapoel Be'er Sheva

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On 1 July 2013, Buzaglo signed a one-year contract with Hapoel Be'er Sheva, with option for two more years.[7] In his first season at Be'er Sheva, he scored ten goals and assisted 14 becoming the highest assist provider of the 2013–14 season. On 15 September 2016, Buzaglo scored the second goal versus Inter Milan at San Siro in a Europa League match, which lead to a 2–0 victory for his team (Hapoel Be'er Sheva 5–2 Inter Milan on aggregate).[8][9][10][11]

Maccabi Haifa

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In December 2017 Buzaglo re-injured one of his ACLs after a long period of recuperation, meaning that he would be unable to participate in the rest of the season as a Maccabi Haifa player.[12]

Beitar Jerusalem

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In August 2018, Buzaglo signed for Beitar Jerusalem. Still not fully fit following the knee injury that had kept him out during the previous season, it was expected that he would be able to resume full training after a month. The transfer was subject to an agreement between the clubs that the contract would be cancelled if Buzaglo were to suffer a recurrence of the injury.[13] He scored his first goal at Beitar Jerusalem on 5 November 2018 with a free kick from 20 meters against Maccabi Haifa. On 21 May 2019, Buzaglo scored twice in a friendly match versus Atlético Madrid, at the Teddy Stadium of Jerusalem, where Beitar finished with a 2–1 win.[14][15]

Hapoel Tel Aviv

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On 29 June 2019, Buzaglo signed at Hapoel Tel Aviv for two years.[16]

Retirement

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Buzaglo announced his retirement from playing in January 2022, aged 34.[17]

International career

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Buzaglo playing for Israel in 2015

Buzaglo has represented his country from a very early age, from the U17 level to the senior team. At U19 level, Buzaglo scored 21 goals in 34 matches, including four goals in one game against Denmark in a Milk Cup match in 2007. For the Israel U21 team, Buzaglo scored three times in eight matches.

Buzaglo made his senior international debut for the Israel national team against the Russia in a EURO 2008 qualifier on 17 November 2007.

Personal life

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Maor's father is Jacob Buzaglo a former Israeli footballer who played in the 70's and 80's for Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Beitar Jerusalem. Older brother Asi Buzaglo is also a former footballer, youngest brother Almog Buzaglo is an active player, and eldest brother Ohad Buzaglo is a football manager.[18]

Maor is married to Miran Nimni, Israeli former footballer Avi Nimni's niece (as well as his former manager at Maccabi Tel Aviv). They had their first set of twins in 2012, and another set of twins in 2017.[citation needed]

Career statistics

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup League Cup Super Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Maccabi Haifa 2005–06 2 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 7 0
Hapoel Petah Tikva (loan) 2006–07 21 5 1 0 1 0 0 0 23 5
Bnei Sakhnin (loan) 2007–08 33 9 1 1 8 0 0 0 42 10
Maccabi Tel Aviv 2008–09 33 9 1 0 8 3 0 0 42 12
2009–10 17 4 1 0 1 0 0 0 19 4
2010–11 34 4 1 0 6 1 6 0 47 5
Total 84 17 3 0 15 4 0 0 6 0 108 21
Standard Liège 2011–12 5 0 1 0 4 0 10 0
2012–13 20 1 1 0 0 0 21 1
Total 25 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 31 1
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2013–14 35 10 4 1 0 0 39 11
2014–15 35 13 5 1 3 0 2 1 45 15
2015-16 25 6 5 0 5 0 2 0 37 6
2016-17 27 7 1 0 3 2 2 1 11 2 44 12
Total 122 36 15 2 11 2 2 1 15 3 165 44
Maccabi Haifa 2017–18 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
Beitar Jerusalem 2018–19 24 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25 4
Hapoel Tel Aviv 2019–20 21 3 2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 28 3
Career total 337 75 25 3 46 6 2 1 25 3 435 88

Honours

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Maccabi Haifa

Maccabi Tel Aviv

Hapoel Be'er Sheva

Individual

References

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  1. ^ Maor Buzaglo at Soccerway
  2. ^ "Israeli and Iranian footballers pose together on Facebook". 19 March 2018.
  3. ^ "I24NEWS".
  4. ^ https://hasbaraelsalvador.org/Hasbara/?p=12418&lang=en
  5. ^ "Maor Buzaglo".
  6. ^ Asayag, Ofira; Timor, Lior (19 August 2011). "Maor Buzaglo signed a 2-year contract with Standard Liège" (in Hebrew). ONE. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  7. ^ Salant, Talia (29 June 2013). "Down to the Negev: Maor Buzaglo signed for 3 years at Hapoel Be'er Sheva" (in Hebrew). Sport5. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  8. ^ "Beersheba beats mighty Inter Milan in European soccer". The Times of Israel.
  9. ^ "Inter 0 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2: De Boer oversees dreadful defeat". 15 September 2016.
  10. ^ "Inter Milan vs. Hapoel Be'er Sheva - 15 September 2016 - Soccerway".
  11. ^ "Hapoel Be'er Sheva vs. Inter Milan - 24 November 2016 - Soccerway".
  12. ^ Sinai, Allon (27 December 2017). "Buzaglo Suffers Cruel Twist Of Fate With Season-Ending Injury". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  13. ^ "Buzaglo latest addition to new-look Beitar". The Jerusalem Post. 20 August 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  14. ^ "Beitar beats Atletico in friendly upset". 21 May 2019.
  15. ^ "Beitar Jerusalem vs. Atletico Madrid - 21 May 2019 - Soccerway".
  16. ^ צנציפר, נדב (29 June 2019). "צפו בתמונות הבלעדיות: מאור בוזגלו חתם בהפועל תל אביב". Ynet.
  17. ^ Malice, Florent (26 January 2022). "Maor Buzaglo (ex-Standard) annonce sa retraite à 34 ans - Les derniers transferts". walfoot.be (in French). Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  18. ^ Jacob Buzaglo attacks again Oren Korenfeld, 24 April 2008 (in Hebrew)
  19. ^ "בפעם השנייה ברצף: הפועל ב"ש אלופת המדינה". 29 April 2017.
  20. ^ "ליגת העל 2013/14 - וואלה! ספורט".
  21. ^ "ליגת העל - 2014/15 - וואלה! ספורט". 30 March 2017.
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