Salim Tuama

Salim Tuama
سليم طعمه
סלים טועמה

Personal information
Date of birth	(1979-08-09) August 9, 1979
Place of birth	Lod, Israel
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Left Winger
Team information
Current team	Hapoel Bnei Lod
Youth career
1995–1997	Gadna Tel Aviv Yehuda
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998–2003	Hapoel Tel Aviv	148	(27)
2003–2004	Maccabi Petah Tikva	28	(5)
2004	Kayserispor	5	(0)
2005–2006	Maccabi Petah Tikva	31	(4)
2006–2007	Hapoel Tel Aviv	29	(8)
2007–2009	Standard Liège	30	(5)
2009–2010	Larissa	23	(2)
2010–2014	Hapoel Tel Aviv	99	(10)
2014-	Hapoel Bnei Lod	0	(0)
International career‡
1999–2000	Israel U21	10	(1)
2005–2009	Israel	13	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of August 22, 2011 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of July 17, 2009

Salim Tuama (Template:Lang-ar, Template:Lang-he; born August 9, 1979, in Lod, Israel) is an Arab Israeli soccer player. He is a midfielder playing for Hapoel Bnei Lod who has in the past played for Hapoel Tel Aviv, Standard Liège, Maccabi Petah Tikva, Kayserispor, Larissa and the youth club Gadna Tel Aviv Yehuda.

Career

Tuama has lived his entire life in the city of Lod, yet began his career using the facilities of the Gadna club due to the poor conditions of the local fields and football schools in Lod.

Tuama became the hottest prospect in Israeli football in the 1998–99 season when he, along with wonderkids Kfir Udi, Omri Afek, and Pini Balili, all of whom had been harvested by renowned Israeli manager Dror Kashtan, led Hapoel to their first State Cup title since 1983, following by a double on the next season 1999–2000.

He also played a main role in the historic appearance of Hapoel Tel Aviv in the quarterfinals of the 2001–02 UEFA Cup where they were finally taken down by AC Milan.

At the time it was believed that Hapoel was on its way to a golden age, but then Kashtan left the club in 2004 to take a break from football. By then Tuama had moved on to the less prestigious Maccabi Petah Tikva, where they nevertheless won the Toto Cup (an event staged each year by league level for a financial prize). He received his first big break the following season by signing with the Turkish club Kayserispor (today, "Kayseri Erciyesspor"), where he filled in a disappointing season with little playing time. At the same time his old Hapoel teammate Balili had signed with Sivasspor, a B league club he helped climb to the Super League. In the same season he returned to Maccabi Petah Tikva to help them log in perhaps their most impressive finish, second place and a ticket to the UEFA Cup.

After a disappointing 2005–06 season with Maccabi Petah Tikva, in which Tuama had to shoulder the team almost single-handedly at times after a great start in the UEFA Cup qualifiers, he signed back with Hapoel Tel Aviv. On June 28, 2007, Toama had signed a three-year contract with Standard Liège.

Tuama left Belgium after two seasons at Standard Liège, as he was injured for many parts of his second season there, and did not get many chances. He signed for Greek side Larissa and spent one season there, scoring 2 goals. At the end of the 2009–10 season, Tuama Returned to Israel and signed, for the third time in his career, with then double holders Hapoel Tel Aviv. He Scored the winning goal in a 1–0 victory over newly crowned champions Maccabi Haifa at the Israeli State Cup final of 2010–11.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	October 11, 2008	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	3–1	3–1	World Cup 2010 qualifier

Honours

• Israeli Premier League (1):
  • 1999–00

• State Cup (5):
  • 1999, 2000, 2007, 2011, 2012

• Toto Cup (1):
  • 2001–02

• Belgian League (2):
  • 2007–08, 2008–09

• Belgian Supercup (1):
  • 2008

External links

• Profile at One.co.il Template:He icon
• Salim Tuama at National-Football-Teams.com