Nir Klinger

Club

A product of the Maccabi Haifa youth team, he was a defensive player. He made his league debut for Maccabi on 3 November 1984 against Hakoah Ramat Gan, when he came on as a substitute in the 80th minute. He spent six seasons with Maccabi Haifa before moving to Maccabi Tel Aviv for eight seasons. He won two Israeli championships with Maccabi Haifa and three championships and another two Israel State Cup with Maccabi Tel Aviv. He retired due to injury during the 1997–98 season.

International

Klinger made his debut for Israel on 18 February 1987 in a 1–1 draw with Northern Ireland. He scored his first goal against Wales in a 3–3 draw on 8 February 1989. His last appearance was on 31 March 1997 in a 3–0 win over Luxembourg. In total, Klinger played 83 caps for the Israel national team between 1987 and 1997, and captained the team from August 1992 until March 1997.

In 1998 Klinger was appointed assistant to Avram Grant at Maccabi Tel Aviv. In 2000, he became manager of second division Beitar Be'er Sheva, leading them to third place (their highest ever position). In 2002, he left the club to return to Maccabi as manager. In his first season Maccabi won the title. They finished runners-up the following year, and won the State Cup in 2004–05. On 5 December 2005 he resigned as manager. Klinger led Maccabi Tel Aviv to the UEFA Champions League group stage in the 2004–05 season as a manager, as the team beat HJK Helsinki and PAOK Thessaloniki in the qualifying rounds. Maccabi played against former European champions: Juventus, Ajax Amsterdam and Bayern Munchen. Maccabi managed to get one victory over Ajax Amsterdam 2–1 and held Juventus into a draw, 1–1. In 2006, he was appointed manager of Cypriot club Enosis Neon Paralimni, but resigned in September 2007. Soon afterward, he was appointed manager of AEK Larnaca, but was fired in October 2008 after poor start of the season. He finished with Paralimni and Aek in the 4–5 place in the Cypriot premier league. In the 2008–09 season he was appointed manager of newly promoted AEP Paphos and under his management the team was able to avoid relegation. On 24 May 2009, Klinger signed a three-year contract with AEL Limassol. While managing AEL Limassol, a crucial derby match against Anorthosis Famagusta fell on the Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur. Klinger, who defines himself as a faithful Jew, advised the…

As player

Israeli Premier League: 1984–85, 1988–89, 1991–92, 1994–95, 1995–96 Israel State Cup: 1993–94, 1995–96 Toto Cup: 1992–93 Member of the Israeli Football Hall of Fame (2009) Israeli Footballer of the Year : 1989

As manager

Israeli Premier League: 2002–03 Israel State Cup: 2005, 2018 Toto Cup: 2012–13 Toto Cup (Leumit): 2016