Ben Azubel (Hebrew: בן אז'ובל; born 19 September 1993) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as a forward for Hapoel Petah Tikva.

Ben Azubel
Personal information
Full name Ben Azubel
Date of birth (1993-09-19) 19 September 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth Ganei Tikva, Israel
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
Hapoel Petah Tikva
Youth career
Maccabi Petah Tikva
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Haifa
Hapoel Kfar Saba
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2013 Hapoel Kfar Saba 34 (4)
2013–2014 Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan 35 (14)
2014–2015 Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon 30 (8)
2015–2016 Hapoel Petah Tikva 36 (15)
2016 Partizani Tirana 7 (1)
2016–2017 Hapoel Ashkelon 2 (0)
2017–2019 Hapoel Acre 32 (8)
2018–2019Hapoel Haifa (loan) 28 (5)
2019–2020 Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv 10 (0)
2020–2021 Maccabi Netanya 17 (0)
2021–2022 Hapoel Ra'anana 31 (16)
2022 Perth Glory 6 (0)
2023 BG Pathum United 9 (0)
2023 Hapoel Jerusalem 0 (0)
2023–2024 Hapoel Umm al-Fahm 6 (1)
2024 Trat 10 (2)
2024– Hapoel Petah Tikva 0 (0)
International career
2011–2012 Israel U19 9 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 29 March 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 31 May 2012

Club career

edit

Early years

edit

Azubel started his football career with the Israeli youth teams of Maccabi Petah Tikva, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Maccabi Haifa, and Hapoel Kfar Saba.[1]

Hapoel Kfar Saba

edit

In September 2011, Azubel was promoted to the senior team of Hapoel Kfar Saba and played two years at the club.[2]

Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan

edit

During the 2013–14 Liga Leumit season, Azubel scored 14 goals for Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan.[3]

Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon

edit

Azubel joined Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon ahead of the 2014–15 Liga Leumit season.[4] During the season, he scored eight goals,[5] one of them being scored against his former club Hapoel Kfar Saba which he celebrated by pretending to fire guns, later saying that the fans insulted and his family.[6] In May 2015, Azubel attracted interest from Israel Premier League giants Beitar Jerusalem.[3]

Hapoel Petah Tikva

edit

In July 2015, Azubel joined Hapoel Petah Tikva after their relegation to the Liga Leumit, signing a one-year contract with an option for an extra year.[5] He was a notable player of the club, scoring 15 times in 36 games during the 2015–16 Liga Leumit season.[1][7]

Partizani Tirana

edit

After trialling with Beitar Jerusalem, including making an appearance in the 2016–17 Toto Cup Al, Azubel went overseas and became the first Israeli player to join an Albanian club when he signed with Partizani Tirana.[7] He played seven league games for the club in which he scored one goal,[2] and scored 4 goals in 4 cup games.[8]

Hapoel Ashkelon

edit

After scoring 37 goals in 3 Liga Leumit seasons,[9] and following a stint overseas in Albania, Azubel returned to Israel and signed with Israel Premier League club Hapoel Ashkelon in December 2016.[8]

Hapoel Acre

edit

Following an unsuccessful season with Hapoel Ashkelon, in summer 2017, Azubel signed with Hapoel Acre on a three-year contract.[9] He finished the 2017–18 Israeli Premier League season with eight goals, but could not prevent the club's relegation.[2]

Loan to Hapoel Haifa

edit

In August 2018, Azubel was courted by Maccabi Petah Tikva, but in the end joined Hapoel Haifa on a loan contract containing a buying option at the end of the season worth 600,000 shekel.[10][11] At the end of the season, Hapoel Haifa decided not to buy Azubel, but he continued training with them which angered his parent club Hapoel Acre due to them not giving him permission to do so.[12]

Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv

edit

In August 2019, Azubel joined Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv on a two-year deal.[13]

Maccabi Netanya

edit

In October 2020, after impressing at training, Azubel joined Maccabi Netanya on a one-year contract with an extra three-year option.[14] During the 2020–21 Israeli Premier League, he made 17 appearances, scoring only one goal.[15]

Hapoel Ra'anana

edit

In July 2021, Azubel joined Liga Leumit club Hapoel Ra'anana, together with defender Liad Elmaliach.[15] During the 2021–22 Liga Leumit season, he scored 16 goals in 31 appearances and finished third top goalscorer of the competition.[1] Despite this, the club finished the regular season in 15th place and were later relegated to Liga Alef.[16] Following the season, Hapoel Ra'anana signed Azubel on a contract extension.[17]

Perth Glory

edit

Despite being contracted at Hapoel Ra'anana, in July 2022, Azubel went overseas a second time and signed a two-year contract with Australian A-League Men club Perth Glory.[1][18]

BG Pathum United

edit

Azubel left Perth Glory after making just 6 appearances for the club and signed for Thai club BG Pathum United.[19][20]

International career

edit

In November 2011, Azubel debuted for the Israel national under-19 team, playing all three games of their 2012 UEFA European Championship first qualifying phase against Czech Republic, Serbia, and Lithuania and scoring in the victory against Czech Republic.[21][22][23] In February 2012, he played and scored in a 1–1 friendly match draw with Italy at Acre Municipal Stadium.[24] A few months later, he played in a pair of friendly match losses to Romania[25] before playing in all three matches of Israel's 2012 UEFA European Championship second qualifying phase against Ukraine,[26] Portugal,[27] and Ireland.[28]

Personal life

edit

Azubel was born in the Israeli town Ganei Tikva.[1]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e Morgan, Gareth (4 July 2022). "Glory snap up commanding Israeli striker". Perth Glory.
  2. ^ a b c Itzhaki, Itzik (29 August 2018). "הפועל חיפה: בן אז'ובל חתם לעונה עם אופציה לשנתיים נוספות" [Hapoel Haifa: Ben Azubel signed for the season with an option for two more years] (in Hebrew). Walla!.
  3. ^ a b Sa'ar, Ofir (2 May 2015). "בית"ר ירושלים במשא ומתן מתקדם עם בן אז'ובל" [Beitar Jerusalem is in advanced negotiations with Ben Azubel] (in Hebrew). Walla!.
  4. ^ Amoyal, Ziv (4 September 2014). "16 קבוצות יצאו לדרך: מי תעלה לליגת העל?" [16 Clubs have started the journey: Who will be promoted to the Premier League?] (in Hebrew). Sport 5.
  5. ^ a b Goldschmidt, Ze'ev (6 July 2015). "בן אז'ובל חתם בהפועל פתח תקווה" [Ben Azubel signed with Hapoel Petah Tikva]. ynet (in Hebrew).
  6. ^ "בן אז'ובל: הקהל של כפ"ס פגע בי וגרם לי לנזקים" [Ben Azubel: Kfar Saba's fans hurt me and caused me damage]. One (in Hebrew). 10 November 2014.
  7. ^ a b "רשמי: בן אז'ובל חתם בפרטיזני טירנה האלבנית" [Official: Ben Azubel has signed with Albanian Partizani Tirana]. One (in Hebrew). 27 August 2016.
  8. ^ a b "בן אז'ובל חתם בהפועל אשקלון: "שמח לשוב לבמה המרכזית של הכדורגל"" [Ben Azubel signed with Hapoel Ashkelon: "Happy to return to the central stage of football"] (in Hebrew). Walla!. 27 December 2016.
  9. ^ a b Goldstein, Yigal (10 March 2018). "בן אז'ובל: "אני יודע מה אני שווה"" [Ben Azubel: "I know what I'm worth"]. Sport 5 (in Hebrew).
  10. ^ Itzhaki, Itzik (26 August 2018). "המלפפון החם של הקיץ: סוכמה השאלתו של בן אז'ובל להפועל חיפה" [The hot potato of the summer: Ben Azubel's loan to Hapoel Haifa has been finalised] (in Hebrew). Walla!.
  11. ^ Glickman, Eitan (28 August 2018). "הפועל חיפה: בן אז'ובל הצטרף בהשאלה" [Hapoel Haifa: Azubel will join on loan]. ynet (in Hebrew).
  12. ^ Ben Dor, Doron (3 July 2019). "בן אז'ובל הפסיק את אימוניו בהפועל חיפה" [Ben Azubel stopped his training with Hapoel Haifa]. One (in Hebrew).
  13. ^ Artzi, Shai (29 August 2019). "בן אז'ובל חתם לשנתיים בבני יהודה" [Ben Azubel signed for twi years with Bnei Yehuda]. Israel Hayom (in Hebrew).
  14. ^ Rachmani, Maor (1 October 2020). "בן אז'ובל חתם במכבי נתניה לעונה הקרובה" [Ben Azubel signed with Maccabi Netanya for the upcoming season]. One (in Hebrew).
  15. ^ a b "רעננה מתחזקת: אז'ובל ואלמליח חתמו בקבוצה" [Ra'anana strengthening: Azubel and Elmaliach signed with the club]. One (in Hebrew). 25 July 2021.
  16. ^ Lifkin, Gidi (7 May 2022). "אשר אלון יחזור להיות מעורב יותר בהפועל רעננה" [Asher Alon will return to be more involved with Hapoel Ra'anana]. One (in Hebrew). הפועל רעננה רשמה אתמול (שישי) ירידה נוספת, הפעם לליגה א', אחרי שספגה 2:1 דרמטי מהפועל ראשל"צ במחזור הסיום של הליגה הלאומית. [Hapoel Ra'anana was relegated yesterday (Friday), this time to Liga Alef, after conceding a dramatic 2:1 from Hapoel Rishon LeTzion in the final round of the Liga Leumit]
  17. ^ Ginsberg, Yonatan (14 June 2022). "הפועל רעננה מימשה האופציה על בן אז'ובל" [Hapoel Ra'anana excersiced their option for Ben Azubel]. One (in Hebrew).
  18. ^ "עובר לאוסטרליה: בן אז'ובל חתם לשנתיים בפרת' גלורי" [Moving to Australia: Ben Azubel signed for two years with Perth Glory] (in Hebrew). Walla!. 4 July 2022.
  19. ^ Chadwick, Justin (24 December 2022). "Israeli striker makes swift Glory exit". The Sunday Times.
  20. ^ "บีจี ปทุม คว้าตัว เบน อซูเบิล ดาวยิงอิสราเอล ร่วมทัพลุยศึกไทยลีก เลกสอง" [BG Pathum grabs Israeli striker Ben Azubel to join the army to fight the Thai League second leg]. Matichon (in Thai). 25 December 2022.
  21. ^ Yosif Or, Yaniv (8 November 2011). "1:2 לנבחרת הנוער על צ'כיה, בחמישי מול סרביה" [2:1 for the youth team over Czech Republic, on Thursday they play Serbia]. One (in Hebrew).
  22. ^ Serna, Avi (10 November 2011). "נבחרת הנוער הפסידה 1:0 לסרביה בהרצליה" [The youth team lost 1:0 to Serbia in Herzliya]. One (in Hebrew).
  23. ^ "לא נגמר: הנוער של ישראל עדיין יכול לעלות שלב" [Not Over: Israel's youth can still progress]. One (in Hebrew). 13 November 2011.
  24. ^ "נבחרת הנוער סיימה ב-1:1 מול איטליה, אז'ובל כבש" [The youth team finished 1:1 against Italy, Azubel scored]. One (in Hebrew). 29 February 2012.
  25. ^ "נבחרת הנוער הפסידה 2:1 לרומניה במשחק ידידות" [The youth team lost 2:1 to Romania in a friendly match] (in Hebrew). Walla!. 30 April 2012.
  26. ^ "נבחרת הנוער הפסידה 2:0 לאוקראינה" [The youth team lost 2:0 to Ukraine]. Makor Rishon (in Hebrew). 26 May 2012.
  27. ^ Goldschmidt, Ze'ev (28 May 2012). "השפלה: נבחרת הנוער הובסה 7:1 ע"י פורטוגל" [Humiliation: The youth team was defeated 7:1 by Portugal]. ynet (in Hebrew).
  28. ^ "נבחרת הנוער סיימה בתיקו מול אירלנד" [The youth team finished with a draw against Ireland]. Maariv (in Hebrew). 1 June 2012.