About Yossi Benayoun
Yossi Shai Benayoun (Hebrew: יוסי שי בניון; born 5 May 1980) is an Israeli former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his career in Israel and England and captained the Israel national team. Born in Dimona, he is sometimes nicknamed "The Diamond from Dimona" in Israel. As of 2023, he has been the sporting director of the Israel national team. Benayoun played for Hapoel Be'er Sheva and Maccabi Haifa before moving to Racing Santander in Spain. Three years later he moved to the Premier League with West Ham United, and later Liverpool. In 2010, he signed for Chelsea, where he was used rarely, being loaned to Arsenal and back to West Ham, but nonetheless won the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. After that, he was released by the club and spent a season in the Football League Championship with Queens Park Rangers before returning to Maccabi Haifa. A full international for twenty years from 1998 to 2018, Benayoun is Israel's most capped player of all time with 101 appearances, and their joint-third top scorer with 23 international goals. Benayoun holds the position of sporting director for Beitar Jerusalem, the club that he last played for. In the 2000–01 season under the guidance of Avram Grant, Benayoun led Haifa to a first championship after seven years and was chosen as the Most Valuable Player of the season, after amassing 13 goals in 37 matches. Benayoun scored five times in 34 league matches in his first season at West Ham and three goals in 29 appearances his second season. However, their relegation rival had won their match, meaning that his team would be relegated nonetheless.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.