Shai Biruk

Shai Biruk (Hebrew: שי בירוק‎; born June 15, 1984) is an Ethiopian-born Israeli footballer. He moved to Israel at the age of six with his family. While playing for the Israeli youth academy, Beitar Nes Tubruk his footballing talent was noticed by scouts from the Dutch football club Ajax.

Shai Biruk
Personal information
Date of birth (1984-06-15) June 15, 1984
Place of birth Ethiopia
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1999–2003 Beitar Nes Tubruk
2003 Ajax Amsterdam
2003–2004 Maccabi Haifa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2006 Maccabi Haifa 45 (7)
2006–2007 Maccabi Netanya 20 (0)
2008 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 7 (0)
2008 Hapoel Bnei Lod 2 (0)
2011 Hapoel Ashkelon 11 (1)
2011–2012 Hapoel Kfar Saba 13 (1)
National team‡
2000–2001 Israel U16 6 (0)
2001–2003 Israel U19 8 (3)
2004–2005 Israel U21 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 July 2006
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 July 2006

Career

Biruk accepted an offer to join the youth system in Amsterdam only to come back to Israel six months later citing homesickness. During his time at Ajax, he met a fellow Jewish Israeli footballer named Daniël de Ridder and was the first to report on Ajax having a Jewish Israeli on their books to the Israel Football Association.

He was the subject of a short tug of war between Tottenham Hotspur, Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Haifa FC. He decided to commit to Haifa and joined their youth team before making a call up to the full side about two seasons later. After three years in the full side, his contract was not renewed so he left on a free transfer. On August 21, 2006 he agreed to a one-year deal with Maccabi Netanya.

In the start of 2008 he moved to Hapoel Be'er Sheva. In July 2008 Biruk moved to Hapoel Bnei Lod where he last played football professionally, though he has never announced retirement.

As of June 2, 2010 Biruk is on trial with FC Thun.[1] After a trial that lasted 4 months he is due to sign a contract with the club in January 2011, but in the end he signed for Hapoel Ashkelon.

Honours

References
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.