Liel Abada

Liel Abada (Hebrew: ליאל עבדה; born (2001-10-03)3 October 2001) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as a forward or winger for Scottish Premiership club Celtic and the Israel national team.

Liel Abada
Abada with Celtic in 2021
Personal information
Full name Liel Abada
Date of birth (2001-10-03) 3 October 2001
Place of birth Petah Tikva, Israel
Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s) Forward, Winger
Club information
Current team
 Celtic
Number 11
Youth career
2006–2014 Hapoel Petah Tikva
2014–2019 Maccabi Petah Tikva
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2021 Maccabi Petah Tikva 67 (20)
2021– Celtic 34 (10)
National team‡
2017 Israel U16 6 (0)
2017–2018 Israel U17 21 (2)
2018 Israel U18 4 (0)
2018–2019 Israel U19 12 (4)
2020– Israel U21 7 (1)
2021– Israel 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 May 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 November 2021

Early and personal life

Abada was born in Petah Tikva, Israel, to a Mizrahi Jewish family.[1] At the age of 13, his first manager in Maccabi Petah Tikva Itamar Yitzhaki took Abada and his father Ronen to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah in Barcelona.[2] His younger brother is also a footballer who plays for Maccabi Petah Tikva.[2] Abada is observant and does not play football on the Jewish high holy day of Yom Kippur.[3]

Club career

Maccabi Petah Tikva

Abada made his professional debut for Maccabi Petah Tikva in the Israeli State Cup on the 22 August 2019, against Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan, which finished as a 4–1 home win.[4]

Celtic

On 14 July 2021, Scottish Premiership club Celtic announced the signing of Abada on a five-year contract, for a reported fee of £3.6M.[5] On 20 July, he scored on his debut in the first leg of Celtic's Champions League second round qualifying match against Danish club FC Midtjylland. In his third Scottish Premiership appearance, he scored his first two league goals for the club against St. Mirren.[6]

International career

Abada made his debut for Israel national team on the 5 June 2021 in a friendly away match against Montenegro, where he substituted Yonas Malede in the 61st minute with the score at 0–0; the game ended with a 3–1 away victory for Israel.[7]

Career statistics
As of 17 April 2022[8]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Maccabi Petah Tikva 2018–19 Israeli Premier League 2010000030
2019–20 298500000348
2020–21 36122140004213
Total 67208140007921
Celtic 2021–22 Scottish Premiership 321031311235015
Career total 99301127112312936

    Honours

    Celtic

    Individual

    References
    1. Reporter, Jewish News. "Celtic sign Israeli international winger Liel Abada". jewishnews.timesofisrael.com.
    2. "סולומון החדש של הלוזונים: הטירוף סביב ליאל עבדה - ספורט 5".
    3. McGarry, Graeme (15 September 2021). "Liel Abada to miss Real Betis test through religious reasons as Ange Postecoglou mulls over Celtic captaincy". The Glasgow Times. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
    4. "מכבי עירוני פתח תקווה 4 : 1 הכח עמידר רמת גן". Israel Football Association. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
    5. "Celtic sign Israel winger Abada". BBC Sport.
    6. "David Turnbull hat-trick helps Celtic hit another six in thrashing of St Mirren". The Guardian. 21 August 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
    7. "Montenegro v Israel game report". ESPN. 5 June 2021.
    8. Liel Abada at Soccerway. Retrieved 04 February 2022.
    9. "Hibernian 1–2 Celtic" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
    10. "Celtic take five prizes at PFA Scotland awards, including manager of the year". BBC Sport. 1 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.