Third of Israeli side of Arabic origin

TEN trivial pieces of information about Israeli football: The Israeli Football Association was founded in 1928 and a national team has played since 1934.

A number of Israeli internationals have graced the English game over the years, including Eyal Berkovic (West Ham, Man City et al), Avi Cohen (briefly with Liverpool in the early ‘80s) and Ronnie Rosenthal (Liverpool striker forever associated with a famous miss against Aston Villa). Tal Ben Haim currently plies his trade at Bolton Wanderers.

Football violence is prevalent at league games, with the meeting of Hapoel Tel Aviv, whose support is predominantly left wing, and rivals Maccabi the most combustible encounter. Some players of Arabic origin have suffered racist abuse, occasionally from their own fans. Games featuring the national team are relatively trouble free.