Maor Melikson is a retired Israeli footballer who played as a midfielder. As a result of injury he announced his retirement in 1 January 2020.
Club career
Israel
Born in Yavne, Melikson started in the youth department of Maccabi Yavne. During the 2001–02 season, he made his senior debut in Liga Alef in a match against Ironi Ramat HaSharon. At the end of that season Maccabi Yavne were relegated to Liga Bet, and Melikson moved to Beitar Jerusalem. At the end of 2005–06 season after not reaching a financial settlement with Beitar, Melikson decided to join Ligat ha'Al champions, Maccabi Haifa on a three-year contract. During the 2007–08 season, Maccabi Haifa sold Melikson to Hapoel Kfar Saba. After just six months which included a relegation to Liga Leumit, he signed in June 2008 a five-year contract with Hapoel Be'er Sheva, and later was appointed as the team captain.
On 31 January 2011, Melikson joined Polish Ekstraklasa side Wisła Kraków on a four-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee from Hapoel Be'er Sheva. He won the Ekstraklasa championship in his debut season. He was also named the Ekstraklasa Revelation of the Season, even though he only played for one half of the season. On 27 July, Melikson scored his first goal in European Cups in the first leg of a UEFA Champions League third qualifying round match against Litex Lovech, giving a vital 2–1 win to Wisła. Melikson scored again twice in the second leg and helped Wisła secure qualification for the play-off round, where they eventually lost to APOEL. He picked up an injury in September's league match against Ruch Chorzów, which ruled him out of play until December. Melikson returned to play the last two UEFA Europa League group stage matches and helped his team to qualify for the round of 32. He was chosen the biggest discovery of Ekstraklasa by other players in Polish Footballers' Association voting, as well as named to the Ekstraklasa Best XI in 2011.
On 15 January 2013, Melikson joined Ligue 1 club Valenciennes on a two-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee from Wisła Kraków. He made his debut on 25 January in a 0–2 loss against Lyon, coming on as a substitute in the second half.
On 10 July 2014, it was announced that Melikson would return to Beer Sheva.
International career
Melikson played in Israel national under-21 football team for several years, and helped the team qualify for the 2007 UEFA Under-21 Championship, but missed out on the final tournament due to injury. He made his debut for the Israeli senior national team in a friendly match against Uruguay on 26 May 2010. On 10 August 2011, in his second appearance for the national side Melikson scored two goals for Israel in the 3–4 loss against Ivory Coast. On 20 September 2011, the Polish Football Association chairman Grzegorz Lato revealed that Melikson in a conversation with him expressed his desire to play for the Poland national football team. Melikson is eligible to play for Poland based on a FIFA ruling allowing players to switch their national teams if the player had not yet played in an official FIFA competitive match with the senior team despite having played at the youth level. The next day, Israel Football Association issued a statement that Melikson is a member of Israel national football team and he is called for the upcoming match against Malta in the last fixture of the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying phase. Melikson, however, refrained from making any comment for the Polish media, but Wisła Kraków manager Robert Maaskant confirmed his intentions to switch to Poland national team. Later Melikson said to Israeli media that he chose to play for Poland, but subsequently on 22 September declared that he has decided not to play for either national side for the time being. In January 2012 Melikson met with the new coach of Israel national team, Eli Guttman, and declared his desire to continue playing for Israel. In his first appearance in 2012, Melikson assisted Ben Sahar's goals in a 2–3 home loss to Ukraine in a friendly match.
Personal life
Melikson was born in Yavne, Israel, to a Jewish family. His mother was born in Legnica, Poland, and made Aliyah to Israel as a child. Melikson holds both Israeli and Polish citizenship.
