Matt Baum to Bnei Sakhin (Israel)

Discussion in 'Yanks Abroad' started by Dave Marino-Nachison, Jun 4, 2008.

  1. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Jun 9, 1999
    He played at U. of Kentucky:

    The 2003 Cypress Lake High School graduate just didn’t realize he would achieve his dream by playing in Israel.

    Baum, 23, spent three weeks in April trying out for Bnei Sakhnin, a rare, Arab-owned team in LIGAT, an Israeli league.

    ...

    Baum said he would make an annual base salary of about $60,000 that will rise if he and his team reach certain incentives. He also will receive a free car and a free apartment.

    “I played really well,” Baum said of his early April tryout. He also tried out in Norway last year, but nothing came of it. “They’re taking a chance on me and giving me professional experience.”

    Baum intends to become an Israeli citizen. After he does, he will be eligible to play for the Israeli National team — although Baum first hopes to try out for the U.S. National team.​

    Full story:

    http://news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080603/SPORTS/80603064/1075

    He is a 1984 from Florida:

    http://www.ukathletics.com/index.php?s=&change_well_id=2&url_article_id=13305
     
  2. MHaifa1913

    MHaifa1913 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Metro
    United States
    Dec 21, 1998
    New York, NY, USA
    Club:
    Maccabi Haifa FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Huh!?! Never heard of him and there is nothing about him in the Israeli press. Leo Krupnik might be leaving Sakhnin for the Ukrainian league. Krupnik had a good year but is asking for $180K per annum and Sakhnin is unwilling to up his salary that much. I bet he would get a third of that in MLS.
     
  3. MHaifa1913

    MHaifa1913 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Metro
    United States
    Dec 21, 1998
    New York, NY, USA
    Club:
    Maccabi Haifa FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Okay, I found that he was on trial with Maccabi Haifa on Yom haZikaron (Israeli Memorial Day). Here is the full article.

    This is where I found him though:
    The Jewish-American defender, Matt Baum, arrived for a trial

    [​IMG]
    I don't know what he looks like, but he could be in this picture of the players standing silently still during the siren for remembering Israel's fallen.
     
  4. MHaifa1913

    MHaifa1913 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Metro
    United States
    Dec 21, 1998
    New York, NY, USA
    Club:
    Maccabi Haifa FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The US should have a super strong Maccabiah side for next summer. If you can get Feilhaber and Borenstein, you could probably win it all.
     
  5. m vann

    m vann Moderator
    Staff Member

    Colorado Rapids, Celtic FC, & Louisville City
    Sep 10, 2002
    Denver, CO
    Club:
    Celtic FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Saw Matt play many times during his stay in Lexington. Strong defender who can play all across the backline. Several games (or during the course of a match) I believe, slid into the midfield, due to his good passing. At times he showed to be a little too aggressive but knew when to scale it down. Baum did well moving forward on set pieces. From what I saw, Matt was raw but you could see the predigree was there. He just needs a chance and he can be a successful professional.
     
  6. mike4066

    mike4066 Member+

    Jun 30, 2007
    Chula Vista, CA
    Club:
    Fulham FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Lets hope he plays LB or CB and gets some good minutes.
     
  7. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Jun 9, 1999
    From UK:

    [​IMG]
     
  8. BigRed1123

    BigRed1123 New Member

    May 1, 2008
    Chicago
    Very athletic player, know him personally, was initially recruited to play football (yes, as in American football) at Kentucky. Wish him all the best with his playing career.
     
  9. MHaifa1913

    MHaifa1913 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Metro
    United States
    Dec 21, 1998
    New York, NY, USA
    Club:
    Maccabi Haifa FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Still haven't found any proof that Sakhnin has indeed signed Baum. I did like how that article mentions that he will be eligible to play for Israel. If that ever happens, I will eat my hat. Laurent Manuel is trialing with Hapoel Tel Aviv. He has Jewish roots, so he is expected to not count against their foreign player limit. Leo Krupnik is expected to sign with Maccabi Haifa, he is also rumored to be getting a look from the Israeli national team manager.
     
  10. adamwilson

    adamwilson New Member

    Jan 3, 2008
    Tel Aviv Israel
    [​IMG]

    He's back! Laurent Manuel is back with Hapoel Tel Aviv, he was with them earlier this year but does anyone know how long he will be there? I found online he was drafted by the new york red bulls of MLS this year i guess he wanted to go overseas. Could this mean he could play for Israel if he were to sign?
     
  11. Zak1FCK

    Zak1FCK Member+

    Aug 23, 2005
    Milwaukee
    Club:
    FC Kaiserslautern
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Are there any other yanks abroad who play for the Israeli National Team?
     
  12. As long as he gets Israeli citizenship. Right now only one American born player has played for the national team: Left back, Ronny Gafney of Maccabi Haifa. Tom Almadon played for the U21 team and I think that Michael Greenberg might have played for some of the youth teams, but he is still in the youth system with Petah Tikva.

    Most of the Americans who get to Israel are pretty crappy though. Jordan Gruber comes to mind. The only one that managed to stay in the top league has been Krupnik. We always have college players on trials here, but none of them are any good.
     
  13. MHaifa1913

    MHaifa1913 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Metro
    United States
    Dec 21, 1998
    New York, NY, USA
    Club:
    Maccabi Haifa FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Does anybody know what happened to this kid after he was released by Bnei Sakhnin? He didn't even make the US squad for the Maccabiah this year.
     

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