Full name Baruch Maman Number 10 Position Midfielder Current team Retired Height 1.75 m | Playing position Role Footballer Place of birth Safed, Israel Name Baruch Maman Children Hanan Maman | |
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Date of birth (1955-11-23) November 23, 1955 (age 60) | ||
Baruch Maman (Hebrew: ברוך ממן) is a former Israeli footballer and widely considered one of the greatest players to ever come out of the youth system of Maccabi Haifa.
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Childhood
Born in Safed, Maman's family moved to the poor neighborhood of Stanton in downtown Haifa when he was just three years old. Living conditions were difficult for his five-person family living in a small apartment just 15 metres squared. After his parents died at a young age, Baruch being the oldest child, left home early on in an effort to help provide food for his family.
Youth career
Joining the youth ranks at Maccabi Haifa at the late age of 14, and enjoyed reasonable success on the Under-21 side scoring 12 goals in six matches. Before his draft into the IDF, he was rewarded with his first ever minutes in a first team match against Hapoel Tel Aviv.
First team career
Maman didn't get along with manager Ori Weinberg, and found himself staying at home for almost half a year until he returned to play for the Israeli Air Force football team in an IDF tournament.
At 1982, the English Jack Mansell arrived to Maccabi Haifa and wished to get rid of Maman. Luckily for Maman, Mansell was fully denied by "The barrings of Maccabi Haifa", Yochanan Vollach, which fought for Maman's position at the club. Vollach believed in Maman's ability and considered him several times to be the best player at that time in Israel and he wasn't wrong about him. Maman was to become one of the biggest symbols of Maccabi Haifa all times, helping Maccabi win its first championship ever at 1984 and retrieving it again at 1985.