Vilner, Liron

Vilner is a fine product of the Maccabi Netanya youth system and a true goal scorer with excellent control in small spaces. For some reason, he has often been benched in favor of other forwards. Many Israeli soccer experts believe Liron's true talent will shine through in the end.

Birth and Death Dates:
b. Feb. 7, 1979

Career Highlights:
The driving force behind Ort Netanya's excellent high school side, Vilner helped lead his team to the World School Championship in 1998. Prior to that, Vilner played with Maccabi Netanya's first team at the age of 15. He was signed by top club, Maccabi Haifa in August, 1998. The Greens repressed the precocious talent and soon lent him out to Maccabi Herzelyia. Despite these setbacks, Vilner established himself as a mainstay of the Israeli Olympic and Under-21 teams.

When Netanya returned to the top league for the 1999-2000 season, they immediately re-signed Vilner. He scored nine goals that year and started on 21 occasions. The following year, Vilner had the finest season of his career. Coach Uri Malmilian would not let the younger striker start many games, but Vilner still managed 14 goals and four assists. The press selected him as "Player of the Week" twice.

In the 2001-02 season, Liron registered only seven goals. During 2002-03, Vilner found the competition in his hometown team too great and was forced to look for a new club. Eli Ohana brought him to B'nei Yehuda, but he played very little and scored only one goal.

The striker returned home to Netanya for the 2003-04 campaign and was the teams leading scorer with a haul of six goals. Unfortunately the "diamonds" were relegated and look to Vilner as the catalyst for a promotion campaign in 2004-05.

Origin:
Netanya, Israel

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