Liverpool FC player Yossi Benayoun former Liverpool FC player profile - Yossi Benayoun Yosef Shai "Yossi" Benayoun, better known as Liverpool FC and Israel midfielder Yossi Benayoun, was born on 05 May 1980 in Dimona, Israel. Known as "The Kid" and "The Diamond", in his native Israel, Yossi Benayoun began his footballing career at Hapoel Be'er Sheva as a 9 year old. In 1995 as a 15 year old Yossi Benayoun was spotted by Ajax Amsterdam and moved to Holland with his family to play for the youth side, at the age of 16 years old he was offered a four year professional contract by the Dutch side but declined it due to his family being unsettled in the country. On his return to Israel Yossi Benayoun rejoined Hapoel Be'er Sheva and played for their senior team during the 97/98 season, he then moved to Maccabi Haifa where he remained until 2002 in which time they won two Israel first division championships. It was during his time at Maccabi Haifa that Yossi Benayoun made his senior international debut for Israel on 18 November 1998 in a friendly against Portugal. Yossi Benayoun moved to Spanish club Racing Santander in 2002 where he became a firm favourite with the fans appearing a total of 101 times and scoring 21 goals in 3 seasons. The La Liga club then cashed in on Yossi Benayoun by selling him to his agents for €3.5 million and, after turning down a move to CSKA Moscow, the Israel international made it clear that he wanted to either remain in Spain or move to the Premiership. In July 2005 Yossi Benayoun was unveiled by newly promoted West Ham United as their latest £2.5 million acquisition. On the opening day of the 05/06 season Yossi Benayoun made his West Ham debut against Blackburn Rovers, a month later he scored his first goal for the London club in a 4-0 win over Aston Villa. At the end of his first season in English football Yossi Benayoun found himself playing in the 2006 FA Cup final, however, after drawing 3-3 West Ham eventually lost to Liverpool FC on penalties. After 63 appearances and 8 goals for West Ham in two seasons Yossi Benayoun moved to Liverpool FC at the end of the 06/07 season, despite having verbally agreed a new five year deal with the London club. The four year deal which took Yossi Benayoun to Liverpool FC was reported to have cost the Merseyside club £5 million. He made his competitive debut against Toulouse FC in a UEFA Champions League third round first leg qualifying match and scored his first goal a few months later on 25 September 2007 in a Carling Cup tie against Reading. The next milestone in the career of Yossi Benayoun came just prior to the Euro 2008 Championships in Austria and Switzerland when he was handed the captaincy of the Israel national team. On 03 July 2010 after making 90 appearances for Liverpool FC in which he scored 18 goals Yossi Benayoun signed for Premier League Champions Chelsea for a reported fee of £5.5 million. Chelsea gave Yossi Benayoun the number 10 shirt which had been worn by Joe Cole who ironically signed for Liverpool FC during the same month as Yossi Benayoun went to Chelsea.
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