Eli Ohana

Ohana was born and raised in Jerusalem, Israel, to an Israeli family of both Sephardi Jewish and Mizrahi Jewish (Moroccan-Jewish) descent, who has immigrated to Israel in 1955, and resided in the Jerusalemite neighbourhood of Kiryat HaYovel.

Prior to Ohana's birth, his family initially resided in a ma'abara within the city of Haifa, Israel, and then moved to the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, Israel.

Ohana has seven brothers and two sisters, one of whom is from his father's previous marriage.

They struggled with financial issues back then.

His younger brother is the former footballer Zion Ohana.

At age 11, Ohana joined the youth academy of Israeli club of Beitar Jerusalem at the encouragement of his brother Yossi Ohana.

His father, a Masorti Jew, was initially opposed but allowed him to join on the condition that he attends synagogue before practice every Saturday (Shabbat).

Although great on the field, Ohana had difficulties at school and his brother Yossi advised him to choose between football and school.

Ohana who has chosen football, was then invited to reside along with his brother Yossi and his newlywed wife.

Eliyahu "Eli" Ohana (אליהו "אלי" אוחנה; born February 1, 1964) is an Israeli former football player and the former chairman of Israeli club Beitar Jerusalem.

He played as a forward or attacking midfielder for Beitar Jerusalem, KV Mechelen, S.C. Braga, and the Israel national football team, who is considered one of Israel's finest footballers, occasionally was dubbed "King Ohana" by fans and local news outlets.

He managed Beitar Jerusalem, Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv, Maccabi Petah Tikva, Hapoel Kfar Saba, the Israel national under-19 football team, the seniors' Israel national football team (interim).

In 1977, Ohana led the youth league team of Beitar Jerusalem to the state youth title.

He stood out for his ability to find the back of the net and was promoted to first team.

Beitar played in the second league (Artzit) at the time.

Although Ohana did not do well in his first matches, he and Uri Malmilian later pushed the club into the first league (Leumit), and helped to bring the club its first league title and two Israel State Cups.

He also played for Team Israel at the 1981 Maccabiah Games, winning a bronze medal.

Ohana played for Team Israel at the 1981 Maccabiah Games, winning a bronze medal.

In 1982, Ohana's girlfriend Sarit Schwarz died in a car accident.

Her death drove Ohana into depression and social seclusion.

He was called up to the Israel national football team in 1983.

After a friendly match in which Israel lost to Argentina 7–2, Diego Maradona said there is one great player in Israel, Eli Ohana.

In 1986, Ohana joined Australian club Sydney City on a short-term loan, in which he played five matches.

At age 23, Ohana signed with KV Mechelen in Belgium.

(The money from the Ohana sale paid for the Bayit VeGan pitches used since then for the team practice.) After one season, Ohana was instrumental in the club winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, becoming the first Israeli soccer player to win a European title.

His goal in the semi-final and his assist on the game-winning goal in the final secured his place in Mechelen's history books.

Italian magazine Guerin' Sportivo awarded Ohana the Bravo Award, which is given to the best player under 23 in European competition.

Ohana also took part in the testimonial match to Oleg Blokhin.

Despite his success in Europe, Ohana returned home to sign again with Beitar, which was then playing in the Liga Artzit (Nationwide League).

After one season, Ohana helped them return to the Liga Leumit (National League) and then guided the club to a league title.

Five years later, Ohana led the club to back-to-back league titles.

Ohana secured himself a place in Israeli football history when the national team was in a crucial FIFA World Cup qualifier against Australia in 1989.

Australia manager Frank Arok apparently had made antisemitic comments before the game.

During the match, Ohana dribbled through two defenders and fooled the keeper, giving Israel a 1–0 lead.

Ohana then ran up to the Australian manager and kissed the Star of David in front him.

In December 1991, he married Israeli model Ronit Ben-Basat, with whom he had a son, Tom.

After an injury in the 7th game of the 1997/98 season, Ohana did not play any more that season.

He played some games in 1998/99 but retired before the end of the season.

In the youth team of Beitar he played under number 9, in Mechelen under 10, in Beitar Jerusalem under 11.

They separated in 2004, without filing for divorce.