Eliran Atar

Eliran Atar
	Atar playing for Maccabi Haifa in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Eliran Atar
Date of birth	17 February 1987 (age 37)
Place of birth	Tel Aviv, Israel
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Bnei Yehuda
Number	16
Youth career
	Bnei Yehuda
Senior career*
Years	Team
2005–2010	Bnei Yehuda
2010–2013	Maccabi Tel Aviv
2013–2015	Stade de Reims
2015–2017	Maccabi Haifa
2017–2020	Maccabi Tel Aviv
2020–2021	Beitar Jerusalem
2021–	Bnei Yehuda
International career‡
2005–2006	Israel U-19
2012–2018	Israel
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 June 2023; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 July 2020

Eliran Atar (Hebrew: אלירן עטר; born 17 February 1987) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays for Bnei Yehuda as a forward.

Early life

Atar was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to a Moroccan Jewish family.^[1]

Club career

Bnei Yehuda

On 7 February 2009, when playing for Bnei Yehuda, Atar scored from an overhead kick that was a candidate for the 2009 Puskás Award, though finishing fourth (i.e., the fourth most beautiful goal of that year).^[2]^[3]^[4] He became the top scorer of the 2008–09 Israeli Premier League season with 14 goals.

Maccabi Tel Aviv

On 7 May 2010, Atar signed a four-years contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv for a transfer fee of $1.2 million.^[5]

On 26 August 2010 he was selected to the Player Of The Match with two amazing goals on the win 4–3 over PSG in the Europa League. Atar completed his first season with Maccabi as the club's top goalscorer with 18 league goals and 22 overall (all competitions) season goals. He attracts interest from VfL Wolfsburg, 1. FC Nürnberg, Parma and Betis.

Reims

On 24 June Atar, signed a four-year deal with Ligue 1 side Stade de Reims.

Maccabi Haifa

On 15 January 2015, he signed a three half-year deal with Israeli Premier League side Maccabi Haifa.

International career

On 28 August 2010 Atar received his first^[6] call up for the Israel national team for UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers against Malta and Georgia but withdrew himself from the squad due to an eye injury received in a league match against Beitar Jerusalem. In October 2012, Atar was called up again to the Israeli squad before a double header 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg but yet again was released from the squad due to a lower back injury without making a national appearance. Atar, however, was able to make his debut in an international friendly defeat against Belarus, on 14 November 2012.^[7] On 12 November 2016, almost exactly four years later, Atar scored his first ever international goal for Israel in a 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualification match against Albania. It was only his fourth cap since 2012 and Israel won, 3–0.^[8]

Career statistics

Club

As of 1 June 2021

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bnei Yehuda	2003–04	Israeli Premier League	6	0	–		–		–		–		6	0
	2004–05	Israeli Premier League	9	0	4	1	0	0	–		–		13	1
	2005–06	Israeli Premier League	6	0	7	0	0	0	–		–		13	0
	2006–07	Israeli Premier League	11	0	6	1	0	0	–		–		17	1
	2007–08	Israeli Premier League	20	4	5	1	0	0	–		–		25	5
	2008–09	Israeli Premier League	27	14	2	0	0	0	–		–		29	14
	2009–10	Israeli Premier League	33	8	5	1	0	0	7^[a]	4	–		45	13
	Total		112	26	29	4	0	0	7	4	–		148	34
Maccabi Tel Aviv	2010–11	Israeli Premier League	33	18	2	1	0	0	2^[a]	2	–		37	21
	2011–12	Israeli Premier League	31	13	1	0	0	0	10^[a]	6	–		42	19
	2012–13	Israeli Premier League	31	22	1	1	3	2	0	0	–		35	25
	Total		95	53	4	2	3	2	12	8	–		114	65
Reims	2013–14	Ligue 1	22	2	1	0	1	0	–		–		24	2
	2014–15	Ligue 1	1	0	0	0	0	0	–		–		1	0
	Total		23	2	1	0	1	0	–		–		25	2
Maccabi Haifa	2014–15	Israeli Premier League	14	6	0	0	0	0	–		–		14	6
	2015–16	Israeli Premier League	27	10	3	2	0	0	–		–		30	12
	2016–17	Israeli Premier League	24	7	1	0	0	0	–		–		25	7
	2017–18	Israeli Premier League	0	0	0	0	2	2	–		–		2	2
	Total		65	23	4	2	2	2	–		–		71	27
Maccabi Tel Aviv	2017–18	Israeli Premier League	25	7	2	0	3	1	6^[a]	0	–		36	8
	2018–19	Israeli Premier League	30	12	3	2	2	1	7^[a]	5	–		42	20
	2019–20	Israeli Premier League	5	1	1	0	2	0	3^[b]	0	1^[c]	0	12	1
	Total		60	20	6	2	7	2	16	5	1	0	90	29
Beitar Jerusalem	2019–20	Israeli Premier League	5	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	–		6	4
	2020–21	Israeli Premier League	29	11	1	0	3	0	1^[a]	0	–		34	11
	Total		34	15	2	0	3	0	1	0	–		40	15
Bnei Yehuda	2021–22	Liga Leumit	29	11	5	0	0	0	–		–		34	11
Career total			418	150	51	10	16	6	36	17	1	0	521	183