Imaye Taga
Imaye Taga (Hebrew: אמייה טגה, born 1 February 1985) is a retired Ethiopian-born Israeli footballer who now serves as a member of the Netanya city council.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 1 February 1985 | ||
| Place of birth | Ethiopia | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2000–2004 | Maccabi Netanya | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2004–2010 | Maccabi Netanya | 112 | (9) |
| 2010–2012 | Hapoel Ashkelon | 45 | (1) |
| 2012–2015 | Hapoel Acre | 64 | (2) |
| 2015–2017 | Maccabi Netanya | 32 | (2) |
| National team | |||
| 2001 | Israel U-17 | 7 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | Israel U-21 | 10 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 July 2015 | |||
Career
Taga was born in the Beta Israel community in Ethiopia and his family emigrated to Israel in 1991 during the Operation Solomon.
Imaye attended the ORT boarding school in Netanya where he was discovered by scouts of the local side - Maccabi Netanya.[1]
Taga grew up through the ranks at Netanya, he played throughout the youth system and made his debut for the senior side at the 2003–04 season. He played for six years in the first team.
On July 28, 2010, he left Netanya and signed a two years contract with Hapoel Ashkelon. After two years spent in Ashkelon, Taga signed with Hapoel Acre on April 11, 2012.[2]
On July 5, 2015, after five years of playing outside of Netanya, Taga returned to play for his home club of Maccabi Netanya.[3] After 2 seasons with Netanya, Taga retired from football as he ventured into local politics.[4] Taga is regarded as local legend in Netanya as he played 186 games in all club competitions in a total of 8 years playing for Maccabi Netanya.
International career
On 28 February 2006, Taga made his debut for the Israel U-21s in a friendly game against Ukraine. On 11 October 2006, Taga scored the historic goal for Israel in the playoff game against France, which secured Israel's shock qualification to UEFA U-21 Championship 2007 with a 2–1 aggregate win.[5]
On 3 August 2010, Taga got called up for the senior national team for the first time in his career. He was about to win his first cap for the national team, but an injury prevented that from happening and Taga never played a single game for the national team.[6]
Personal life
On 11 August 2006 Amiya's younger brother, Avi, was found dead by his oldest brother and the Israeli Police in Qiryat Eqron. Avi Taga had been missing from home since Wednesday, 9 August. Club officials went to visit the player at his family residence to console him during the traditional Jewish mourning period.[7]
At the year 2007 he changed his name from Amir Taga to his present name, a name that was given to him as a child and was renamed during the years. "Imaye" in the Amharic language means "a child".
Honours
- Toto Cup (Leumit):
- Winner (1): 2004–05
- Liga Leumit:
- Winner (1): 2016–17
- Runner-up (1): 2004–05
- Israeli Premier League:
- Runner-up (2): 2006–07, 2007–08
Club career statistics
- (correct as of 11.8.15)[8]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Toto Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | ||
| Maccabi Netanya | 2003–04 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 1 |
| 2004–05 | 28 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 3 | 2 | |
| 2005–06 | 27 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2006–07 | 28 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 3 | 2 | |
| 2007–08 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2008–09 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2009–10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | |
| Hapoel Ashkelon | 2010–11 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 0 |
| 2011–12 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 2 | |
| Hapoel Acre | 2012–13 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 0 |
| 2013–14 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2014–15 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 0 | |
| Maccabi Netanya | 2015–16 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 1 | 0 |
| 2016–17 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 0 | |
| Career | 258 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 318 | 14 | 7 | |
Notes
- The tragic glory of Amir Tega. Ha'aretz. (Retrieved on 28 Oct., 2006).
- http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4215131,00.html
- http://sports.walla.co.il/item/2869712
- https://news.walla.co.il/item/3194668
- http://football.org.il/NationalTeam/Pages/NationalTeamGameDetails.aspx?GAME_ID=1521&DISPLAY_HOME_TABLE
- http://sports.walla.co.il/item/1717652
- (in Hebrew) Amir Taga's little brother found dead. Sport5.co.il Archived 30 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- http://www.one.co.il/Player/12-13/1,1,26,31469/%D7%90%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%94_%D7%98%D7%92%D7%94
External links
- Imaye Taga – Israel Football Association league player details