The Beitar Jerusalem Football Club has announced that attacking midfielder Yossi Benayoun will be retiring as a player at the end of the season and become the team's professional manager, responsible for hiring the coach and players for the future.
Breaking into Israel's Premier League at age 16 with Hapoel Be'er Sheva', Benayoun played for Maccabi Haifa before embarking on a 12-year European career which took him to Spain and England before he returned to Israel. He played in international competitions with most of his clubs and with the Israel national team, where he had a record 104 appearances and was the second highest scorer of all time with 24 goals.