Toto Tamuz

Toto Tamuz

Tamuz playing for Hapoel Tel Aviv in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Toto Adaruns Tamuz Temile
Date of birth	(1988-04-01) 1 April 1988 (age 28)
Place of birth	Warri, Nigeria
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current team	Hapoel Tel Aviv
Youth career
2002–2005	Hapoel Petah Tikva
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2006	Hapoel Petah Tikva	28	(11)
2006–2010	Beitar Jerusalem	95	(33)
2010–2013	Hapoel Tel Aviv	88	(44)
2013	Ural Sverdlovsk	7	(0)
2014–2016	Petrolul Ploiești	50	(14)
2016	Hunan Billows	10	(2)
2017–	Hapoel Tel Aviv	2	(0)
Total		276	(103)
National team‡
2006	Israel U18	2	(0)
2006–2007	Israel U19	9	(4)
2006–2009	Israel U21	11	(3)
2006–2007	Israel	10	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22 October 2016. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 10 October 2014

Toto Adaruns Tamuz Temile (Hebrew: טוטו אדיוראנס תמוז טמילה‎‎; born 1 April 1988), commonly known as Toto Tamuz, is an Israeli footballer who last played as a striker for Hapoel Tel Aviv.

Born in Nigeria, he grew up in Israel from infancy; and from 2006 to 2007, he made ten appearances for the Israeli national team, scoring twice.

Born in Warri, Nigeria, his parents came to Israel in 1990, where his father, footballer Clement Temile, played professionally for Beitar Netanya. When the team ran into financial dire straits and was forced to stop paying salaries, his parents reverted to working various odd jobs. His parents left Israel in 1991 to try to find gainful employment in Nigeria or elsewhere, leaving Toto temporarily with a teammate of his father. When it became obvious that his parents were not coming back for him, Toto was adopted (unofficially) by Orit Tamuz who cared for him and raised him, which is where his Hebrew surname derives from. Although it is unclear if he formally converted to Judaism, it was stated in a 2007 Ynetnews article that Tamuz was raised Jewish, attending the synagogue on holidays and performing kiddush each Friday.

Though most of his formulative years were spent in Israel, Tamuz still did not carry full Israeli citizenship. His legal status in the country was indeterminable for many years until then Deputy Interior Minister Ruhama Avraham granted him an Israeli A1 visa granting temporary residence for a term of three years. After petitioning to FIFA, and given that he has no other citizenship, Tamuz received special permission to play on Israeli national teams even though he still did not possess an Israeli passport, but only an Israeli laissez-passer. After his temporary visa expired, Tamuz was unable to play for the Israeli national team until he received full Israeli citizenship, a process which could take three years. The Israel Interior Office had refused attempts to fast-track his application. However, his eligibility was confirmed when his case was taken to the Supreme Court and after Tamuz began the formal naturalisation process he was named in the Israel squad for games against England and Estonia in March 2007. Three months later, Tamuz was granted full citizenship along with Roberto Colautti, originally from Argentina, after their respective applications were approved by the Minister of Internal Affairs Roni Bar-On.