Taleb Tawatha

Taleb Tawatha
	Tawatha playing for Maccabi Haifa in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth	21 June 1992 (age 33)
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
2009–2016	Maccabi Haifa
2016–2019	Eintracht Frankfurt
2019–2020	Ludogorets Razgrad
2020–2022	Maccabi Haifa
2022–2023	Bnei Sakhnin
Total
International career‡
2007–2008	Israel U16
2008–2009	Israel U17
2009	Israel U18
2009–2010	Israel U19
2011–2013	Israel U21
2011–2020	Israel
	* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 7 June 2021 (UTC); ‡ National team caps and goals as of 15 May 2023

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.

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
Club	Season	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]	Bulgarian First Professional League	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	Israeli Premier League	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