Taleb Tawatha

Taleb Tawatha (or Twatha,^[1] Arabic: طالب طواطحه, Hebrew: טאלב טוואטחה; born (1992-06-21)21 June 1992) is a former Israeli professional footballer who plays as a left-back.

Taleb Tawatha

Tawatha playing for Maccabi Haifa in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth	(1992-06-21) 21 June 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth	Jisr az-Zarqa, Israel
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Left-back
Youth career
2003–2010	Maccabi Haifa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2016	Maccabi Haifa	153	(5)
2016–2019	Eintracht Frankfurt	30	(0)
2019–2020	Ludogorets Razgrad	7	(0)
2020–2022	Maccabi Haifa	18	(0)
2022–2023	Bnei Sakhnin	19	(0)
Total		288	(9)
International career‡
2007–2008	Israel U16	8	(0)
2008–2009	Israel U17	15	(2)
2009	Israel U18	3	(0)
2009–2010	Israel U19	5	(0)
2011–2013	Israel U21	18	(3)
2011–2020	Israel	21	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 June 2021 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 May 2023

Tawatha started his career at Maccabi Haifa, where he won Israeli Premier League title in 2011 and the Israel State Cup in 2016. He became an integral part of the club's defence, making 204 appearances over the course of seven seasons. In July 2016, Tawatha signed for German club Eintracht Frankfurt of the Bundesliga for a transfer fee of €1.5 million, and was part of the team that won the DFB-Pokal in 2018. In August 2019, he was released and two weeks later signed as a free agent with Bulgarian club Ludogorets Razgrad.

A youth international for Israel from under-16 to under-21 level, Tawatha made his senior debut in 2011.

He also holds a Sudanese citizenship.^[2]

Early life

Tawatha was born in Jisr az-Zarqa, Israel, to an Arab-Muslim family of Sudanese and Bedouin descent.^[3]

Career

Maccabi Haifa

Tawatha trained in the youth teams of Maccabi Haifa. In 2009 he made his debut appearance in the senior team. His break-through season was 2010/2011 in which he helped Maccabi Haifa to win the Israeli Premier League championship, scored one goal and assisted five from his position as a left defender. Tawatha won the "Young Discovery Award" and was included in the MVP team of the season. In 2016 he won the Israeli State Cup with Maccabi Haifa.

Eintracht Frankfurt

In July 2016, Tawatha was signed by German club Eintracht Frankfurt for a transfer fee of 1.5 million Euros. On 19 May 2018, he won the DFB-Pokal with Eintracht Frankfurt after they defeated Bayern Munich 3–1 in the final.^[4]

Ludogorets Razgrad

On 11 September 2019, Tawatha joined Bulgarian First League side Ludogorets Razgrad as a free agent.^[5]

Career statistics

Club

As of 1 June 2022^[6]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Maccabi Haifa	2009–10	Israeli Premier League	3	0	0	0	1	0	7[b]	0	11	0
	2010–11		18	1	3	0	0	0	6[b]	0	27	1
	2011–12		28	1	4	0	12	1	3[b]	0	47	2
	2012–13		21	2	2	1	0	0	2[b]	0	25	3
	2013–14		26	0	0	0	11	0	0	0	37	0
	2014–15		30	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	30	1
	2015–16		27	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	27	0
	Total		153	5	9	1	15	1	18	0	204	7
Eintracht Frankfurt	2016–17[7]	Bundesliga	14	0	5	2	0	0	0	0	19	2
	2017–18[7]		13	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	15	0
	2018–19[7]		3	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	6	0
	Total		30	0	7	2	3	0	0	0	40	2
Ludogorets Razgrad	2019–20[8]	Bulgarian First Professional League	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
	2020–21[8]		1	0	0	0	0	0	1[c]	0	2	0
	Total		7	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	9	0
Maccabi Haifa	2020–21	Israeli Premier League	15	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	16	0
	2021–22		3	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	7	0
	Total		18	0	1	0	1	0	4	0	23	0
Bnei Sakhnin	2022–23	Israeli Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Career total			208	5	18	3	19	1	23	0	276	9

1. Includes Israel State Cup, DFB-Pokal, Bulgarian Cup.
2. Appearances in Toto Cup
3. Appearance in Bulgarian Supercup

International

Scores and results list Israel's goal tally first.^[9]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	15 November 2018	Netanya Stadium, Netanya, Israel	Guatemala	2–0	7–0	Friendly

Honours

Maccabi Haifa

• Israeli Premier League: 2010–11, 2020–21, 2021–22
• Israel State Cup: 2015–16
• Toto Cup: 2021–22
• Israel Super Cup: 2021

Eintracht Frankfurt

• DFB-Pokal: 2017–18; runner-up: 2016–17

Ludogorets Razgrad

• Bulgarian First League: 2019–20