Jonathan Assous

Jonathan Victor Gerard Assous[1] (born September 2, 1983) is a French-Israeli[2][3] football player who is currently contracted to Beitar Ramat Gan in Israel. In France, Assous was widely known for his temper and rough play.[4]

Jonathan Assous
Personal information
Full name Jonathan Victor Gerard Assous
Date of birth (1983-09-02) September 2, 1983
Place of birth Sarcelles, France
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Beitar Ramat Gan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2003 AS Nancy 7 (0)
2003–2004 Nîmes 21 (0)
2004–2006 Angers SCO 22 (0)
2006–2007 AS Cannes 6 (0)
2007 Créteil 15 (1)
2007–2008 Stade Reims 17 (1)
2008–2009 Maccabi Tel Aviv 34 (1)
2009 Hapoel Petah Tikva 43 (2)
2010 Hapoel Ramat Gan 10 (0)
2010–2013 Hapoel Petah Tikva 90 (2)
2013 Hapoel Ashkelon 13 (1)
2013–2014 Maccabi Ahi Nazareth 6 (0)
2015– Beitar Ramat Gan 0 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 June 2015

Playing career

Assous began his professional career in the Ligue 2 with club AS Nancy. Sparingly making a league appearance, he moved down to the Championnat National to play with Nîmes. Fine performances in the Championnat earned him a contract with Angers SCO. There he grabbed headlines for his rough play which got him ejected on numerous occasions.[4] During his stint with Créteil, he trialed with Nice and impressed then-manager Frédéric Antonetti. Unfortunately, contractual problems with Créteil ended his chance of making it to Ligue 1 for the first time in his career. Instead, Assous joined Stade Reims where he was able to carve out a spot in the starting 11.

After the successful acclimation of French midfielder Rudy Haddad to life in Israel, Maccabi decided to look for more Jewish footballers who would not count against the foreign player cap.[5] Frenchman Kevin Pariente and Americans Benny Feilhaber and Jonathan Bornstein were originally scouted for the club. After Maccabi could not come to terms with their respective clubs, they turned to Assous who was having a good season in France.[3] Some fans were vocally opposed to signing Assous because of his previously unsuccessful trial with Hapoel Kfar Saba and lack of "star quality".[6]

Immediately after being bought, Assous went to the Jewish Agency offices in Paris to fill out all necessary forms for receiving Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return.[7]

In 2008, he was joined in Israel by his brother, Gary who signed with Maccabi Netanya.[8]

From 2009 to 2011, he was playing for Hapoel Petah Tikva.

In January 2011, he joined Hapoel Ramat Gan but the club had been relegated to Liga Leumit, so he did not want to continue in this team.

In August 2011, he joined for a second Time Hapoel Petah Tikva, club where he is liked by all ultras, for his temper, and his aggressive style of play. In May 2012, Hapoel Petah Tikva was relegated to Liga Leumit, but Assous decided to continue with the club, and to sign a 3 years contract, in August 2012.

In October 2014, he joined Liga Gimel club, Shimshon Tel Aviv.[9]

See also

Footnotes
  1. "Assous Jonathan Victor Gerard". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2009-11-26.
  2. Israeli teams tell Diaspora Jews: Make aliyah, for soccer's sake! - Haaretz - Israel News | Haaretz.com
  3. Spunder, Or (January 24, 2008). הקשר ג'ונתן אסוס מועמד למכבי ת"א (in Hebrew). One.co.il. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
  4. Maruani, David. "Mac. Tel Aviv's new French signing: 'I'm not a mad dog'". Ha'aretz. Retrieved February 16, 2008.
  5. Bar-Dayan, Shirley (January 28, 2008). מכבי ת"א רכשה את אסוס, גם דגאנו מסושו מועמד להצטרף (in Hebrew). Sport 5. Archived from the original on February 12, 2008. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
  6. Kessler, Barak (January 28, 2008). אבי נמני מציג: כדור הרגעה לאוהדים (in Hebrew). One.co.il. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
  7. Botz, Lee (January 28, 2008). מכבי ת"א רכשה את אסוס, בני פילהאבר לא יגיע. Ynet (in Hebrew). Yedioth Ahronoth. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
  8. Michelle, Hen (April 30, 2008). אחיו של ג'ונתן אסוס חתם במכבי נתניה [Brother of Jonathan Assous Signs With Maccabi Netanya] (in Hebrew). One.co.il. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  9. Amazing: Jonathan Assous signed for Shimshon Tel Aviv Michael Weissermann, doublepass.sport5.co.il, 7 October 2014 (in Hebrew)
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