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
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.