Shaul Matanya

Shaul Matania (; 8 March 1937 – 20 July 2017) was an Israeli footballer who played in defender positions. He played for Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Israel national team. Matania won the title Israeli Footballer of the Year for the 1961–62 season. A cool fact is that he never entered a game on the senior team as a replacement. In 1959 he played in the six qualifying games of the Asia Cup in India, among these a 3–0 victory over Iran and 3–1 victory over India. Israel ended first in the qualifying round, yet Matania missed out on the 1960 finals in South Korea, where Israel ended second.

The last game in which Matania played for the national team was in 1961 when the Yugoslavia national football team beat Israel 2–0 in Ramat Gan.

Matania died on 20 July 2017 at the age of 80.

Honours Player Maccabi Tel Aviv Israeli championship: 1953–54, 1955–56, 1957–58 Israel State Cup: 1953–54, 1954–55, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1963–64, 1964–65 Super cup: 1955–56

Israel AFC Asian Cup: 1964; Runner-up, 1956

Individual Israeli Footballer of the Year: 1961-62