History in Short
Tal Banin was born in Kiryat Haim, March 1971 and arrived at Maccabi in August 2000. The defensive midfielder returned to Israel following a spell at European outfits Cannes from France and Italian side Brescia as he became the first Sabra to play in Serie A. The Hapoel Haifa product played for the Carmel Reds for a decade over three time periods and was also a National Team stalwart during the 1990’s. While serving as the Blue & White captain, Banin scored 12 goals in 78 appearances.

Banin can thank Shlomo Sharf for bringing him to Kiryat Shalom as the midfielder played under the veteran coach while with the National Team on four occasions. In his first year with the Yellow & Blue, Banin scored 10 goals and lifted the State Cup trophy together with captain Avi Nimni following a 3:0 win over Maccabi Petach Tikva. The following season, the midfielder found the back of the goal four times and again hoisted the trophy with Nimni after defeating Maccabi Haifa on penalties. In his first two season openers, Banin scored a goal in 1:0 wins against Bnei Yehuda and Maccabi Petach Tikva respectively.

In Banin’s third and final campaign with Maccabi, he captured his second league title and his first as a member of the Yellow & Blue. Overall, the midfielder scored 16 goals in 109 appearances as his tenure ended when owner Loni Hershkovitz and coach Nir Klinger decided that Banin along with Nimni would depart the team immediately in a move that shook the foundations of the club.

Awards and honors
Championships: 2002/03
State Cups: 2000/01, 2001/02
Appearances: 109
Goals: 16

Top Moment
One of Banin’s great skills as a footballer was his ability to unleash one of the hardest and most accurate shots. In the 2001/02 State Cup semifinals he scored one of those special goals. Down 1:0 to Hapoel Petach Tikva via Enes Demirović, Grzegorz Wędzyński drew the Yellow & Blue even and in the 27th minute Banin performed his magic launching a scorer from 30 meters to cleanly beat keeper Ohad Cohen. From that moment on, Maccabi made easy work of their opponent winning 5:1 advancing to the final. Watch the Goal