Levi, Roni

Ronen Levi

As a defensive midfielder, Levi was a player of great tactical awareness. He roamed the center of the pitch with purpose, and was considered a consumate team player.

Levi did so well as the Maccabi Haifa youth team coach, that he was appointed as their head coach before the 2003-04 season. He won the title in his first year as coach. Levi remains the Maccabi Haifa coach in the 2004-05 season. The team retains the strongest squad in the league and are considered favorites for the title.

Birth and Death Dates:
b. Nov. 14, 1966

Career Highlights:
Levi was one of the last great products of the Maccabi Netanya youth system. He was the star of their youth team in the early 1980s and at that time played in a creative capacity as playmaker. He made his senior side debut in the 1985-86 season, just in time to play with legends like Oded Machnes and David Lavi. By the time Roni established himself as a regular, however, Netanya had fallen from grace.

B'nei Yehuda took Roni on loan during the 1989-90 season. He formed an attacking midfield partnership with Moshe Sinai and they led the small Tel Aviv club to their first and only championship. Levi then returned to Netanya for another season, but was looking for a bigger club all the while.

In 1992, Levi moved to Maccabi Haifa where he would perform defensive duties behind the likes of Eyal Berkovic and Reuven Atar. Haifa won the 1992-93 State Cup by beating Maccabi Tel Aviv on penalties. In 1993-94, the midfielder was a starter for one of the greatest teams in Israeli history. Maccabi won the title without losing a single game throughout the entire season, the only team to ever accomplish this feat. The team also went far in the European Cup Winners Cup competition.

The defensive midfielder was not ignored by the Israeli national team. National coach Shlomo Sharf selected Levi for his debut at the age of 27. He played in the legendary 3-2 victory over France in Paris and was a regular international for several years.

In 1994-95, Haifa again won the State Cup and finished second in the league. Levi was in remarkable form throughout the campaign and scored five league goals. Two years later, Roni was on good form during the 1996-97season when a severe knee injury ended his career.

Levi served two terms as Maccabi Haifa's assistant coach and one as youth coach for the club. He led the Green youngsters to a youth league championship while doing a commendable job in development. When head coach, Itzhak Shum left for Greece, Levi became senior coach.

Origin:
Netanya, Israel

Career Dates:
Player: 1985-1997

Coach: 2003-

Position:
Defensive midfielder

Physical description:
6"1

Career Statistics:
15 caps

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