Nir Bitton

Nir Bitton
Bitton playing for Celtic in 2017
Personal information
Date of birth (1991-10-30) 30 October 1991
Place of birth Ashdod, Israel
Height 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Playing position Defensive Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Celtic
Number 6
Youth career
1997–2009 FC Ashdod
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2013 FC Ashdod 123 (14)
2013– Celtic 116 (8)
National team‡
2008 Israel U17 5 (0)
2009 Israel U18 2 (0)
2009 Israel U19 15 (0)
2010–2013 Israel U21 21 (2)
2010– Israel 19 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:03, 4 February 2018 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 November 2016

Nir Bitton (Hebrew: ניר ביטון‎; born 30 October 1991) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as either a defensive midfielder or central defender for Scottish Premiership club Celtic and the Israel national football team. Prior to his professional football career, he completed mandatory military service in the Israel Defense Forces.[1]

Early life

Bitton was born in Ashdod, Israel, to a Sephardic Jewish family. He served as a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces.

Club career

Bitton broke into the first team of his home-town club FC Ashdod at the age of 17, and went on to make over 100 appearances.[2]

Celtic

On 30 August 2013, Biton signed a four-year deal with Scottish Premiership club Celtic, for a fee of around £700,000 and a 20% sell-on clause from Israeli Premier League club FC Ashdod.[3]

2013–14 season

He made his debut for the club on 18 September, in a Champions League group stage match against AC Milan, coming into the game as a late substitute at the 89th minute.[4][5] Three weeks later he made another Champions League appearance for Celtic, coming as a 77th-minute substitute against Ajax on 22 October, but was sent off eleven minutes later for a late tackle on Thulani Serero.[4][6] The resulting suspension and a few niggling injuries hindered Biton's efforts to establish himself in the team,[7] but he still managed to make a total of 20 appearances for Celtic by the end of his first season there.[8] Celtic won their third successive league title, and Biton's 15 league appearances saw him pick up his first major honour.[7][9]

2014–15 season

In the 2014-15 season, Biton scored in Celtic's first league match of the season from the penalty spot after a controversial red card for St Johnstone defender Dave Mackay.[10] Celtic winger Derk Boerrigter was later given a 3-match ban for simulation.[11] Later in the season, Biton scored a stunning 30-yard goal against Dundee. in a 5–0 win.[12] He scored another long distance strike on 12 August 2015, netting from 25 yards into the top corner in a 2–2 draw with Kilmarnock.[13]

2015–16 season

To begin the 2015–16 season, on 19 August 2015 Bitton scored against Swedish side Malmö FF in a 3–2 win at Celtic Park in the first leg of the Champions League playoffs.[14] On 2 November, 2015, Bitton was reported to have signed a new contract which would kep Bitton in Celtic until the summer of 2020.[15]

International career

In 2009, Biton was selected to represent Israel at the 2009 Maccabiah Games, and the team won a bronze medal.[16] He made his senior debut for Israel in a friendly match against Uruguay on 26 May 2010. Biton played a major role in qualifying games for the 2016 UEFA Euro Tournament.[17] He scored his first goal for the national team against Andorra in a 4-0 victory On 3 September 2015.[18]

International goals

Scores and results list Israel's goal tally first.[17]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.3 September 2015Sammy Ofer Stadium, Haifa, Israel Andorra2–04–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
2.10 October 2015Teddy Stadium, Jerusalem, Israel Cyprus1–11–2UEFA Euro 2016 qualification

Career statistics

Club

As of 3 February 2018[19]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club[20] Season League Scottish Cup League Cup Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Celtic 2013–14 Scottish Premiership 150101030200
2014–15 312502050432
2015–16 3053020113468
2016–17 261302081392
2017–18 140102060230
Career Total 11681309033417112

Honours

Club

Celtic[21]

References

  1. ↑ "Manchester City try to free talented Israeli midfielder from national service". Daily Mail. 12 January 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  2. ↑ "Nir Bitton". Celtic FC. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  3. ↑ "Celtic sign Israeli star, Nir Biton". Celtic FC. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Games Involving Biton, Nir in season 2013/2014". FitbaStats. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  5. ↑ "0-2 Vs AC Milan in UEFA Champions League (18/09/2013)". FitbaStats. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  6. ↑ McGowan, Stephen (22 October 2013). "Celtic 2 Ajax 1: Lennon's 10 men seal victory after goals from Forrest and Kayal". Mail Online. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  7. 1 2 Cully, Ronnie (13 February 2014). "Biton out for Celtic shot at glory". Evening Times. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  8. ↑ "Biton, Nir". FitbaStats. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  9. ↑ "N. Biton". Soccerway. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  10. ↑ Burns, Cheri (13 August 2015). "St Johnstone 0 - 3 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  11. ↑ "Derk Boerrigter accepts two-match ban for 'simulation'". BBC Sport. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  12. ↑ "See Bitton hit wonder goal as Celtic edge closer to title with 5-0 win". STV Sport. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  13. ↑ Campbell, Andy (12 August 2015). "Kilmarnock 2 - 2 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  14. ↑ "Celtic on top but Berget gives Malmö hope". UEFA. 19 August 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  15. ↑ "Bitton signs contract until 2020 with Scottish champions". bbc.com. 2 November 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  16. ↑ "סגלי נבחרות ישראל לטורניר הכדורגל של המכביה". Israel Football Association. 9 July 2009. Retrieved 12 July 2009.
  17. 1 2 "Nir Biton". National Football Teams. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  18. ↑ "Israel back on track after Andorra stroll". UEFA. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  19. ↑ Nir Bitton at Soccerbase
  20. ↑ "Israel - N. Bitton - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com.
  21. ↑ Nir Biton at Soccerway
  • Nir Biton at Soccerway
  • ביטון ניר (in Hebrew). Israel Football Association. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
  • "Nir Biton". Football Database. Retrieved 2012-07-18.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.