Daniel Tenenbaum thought that he might never play for Maccabi Tel Aviv again.
After the team won the league by a 31-point difference last season, the Brazilian-Israeli Tenenbaum got a chance to play in the final five league matches. Then, a few weeks later, Maccabi Tel Aviv sold Predrag Rajkovic, their first goalkeeper, to Stade Reims. Instead of considering Tenenbaum for the first-team spot, they bought a new shot-stopper, Greek Andreas Giannotis. Tenenbaum found himself again as a substitute.
One fateful moment this summer has completely changed his destiny. Maccabi Tel Aviv played versus Kiryat Shmona the Toto Cup, the Israeli league cup. During the match, Giannotis got bizzarely injured, and Tenenbaum was subbed-in. Three months later, he is still the first choice goalkeeper, and now he is also a world record holder.
Daniel Tenenbaum’s path from Rio de Janeiro to the Israeli champions’ squad, wasn't ordinary. He played for Flamengo's youth team, but one visit to Israel in 2013, has changed his path. He arrived as part of the Brazilian delegation to the Maccabiah Games, a multi-sport event for Jewish athletes from all over the world. Although the Brazilians didn't impress in the competition, the Israeli clubs' scouts paid attention to his talent.
When he was 19 years old, Daniel got his first chance to train with a senior team. The former Brazil national team manager, Vanderlei Luxemburgo, has promoted him to Flamengo’s first team, but as a young reserve goalkeeper, he barely played. In the end of 2014, he made his senior league debut. Flamengo played against Grêmio, and in the 56th minute, he was subbed in after goalkeeper César received a red card. Unfortunately, he conceded in the first shot to his goal, after a perfect direct kick by Luan.
As a result, Tenenbaum hasn't played another game for Flamengo. In the summer of 2016, Tenenbaum got an offer from Maccabi Tel Aviv. The impressive performance from the Maccabiah Games in 2013 led Maccabi to sign him on loan with an option to capture him permanently at the end of the season. One of the incentives in signing him was the fact that he is Jewish, and therefore could obtain an Israeli citizenship and register as a local player.
It took time until Tenebaum played for his new team. He became the second option after Rajkovic, and sometimes even the third option after home-grown talent, Haviv Ohayon. For Israeli football fans, Tenenbaum was almost considered a joke - the type of player that will never play in a league match. He scarcely played, usually in the Toto Cup, where it's common to use youth players.
At the end of 2018-19 season, after Maccabi Tel Aviv secured the title, manager Vladimir Ivic decided to let inexperienced players play. Tenenbaum was one of them. He impressed, and in one of these matches Maccabi thrashed Hapoel Beer Sheva, the Israeli champions in the three seasons prior to that. Even after these performances, there was still a doubt about Tenenbaum's ability to be the first goalkeeper.
But he proved everyone wrong. The Brazilian- Israeli finished game after game without conceding, and as the streak became longer, whispers began about his chances to break records. In the previous league match, he broke two records: First, extending his current run to 1082 consecutive minutes without conceding, breaking a 30-year-old Israeli record. Second, he also broke a world record for the longest clean sheets run for a season start, with 11 consecutive matches. Espérance de Tunis set the previous record in 2001.
Besides the tremendous season he has so far, Tenenbaum's story has another unique personal side - His naturalization in Israel was part of a process called Aliyah, which allow Jews from all over the world to immigrate to Israel. However, this right also comes with one main duty: A mandatory military service, due to the fact Tenenbaum became naturalized before the age of 21 years. Due to his professional contract in Maccabi Tel Aviv, he was stationed closer to the team's training facilities, but he still spends a part of his day as an IDF soldier.
With his Israeli citizenship, some wonder whether he can be part of the Israeli national team squad. According to FIFA regulations, as none of his parents or grandparents were born in Israel, Tenenbaum will need to live continuously in Israel for five years before he could represent Israel. After the national team had one of the weakest defensive lines in the Euro 2020 qualifiers, no Israeli will reject an option to call up a goalkeeper that hadn’t conceded for such a long period.
Within this complicated situation, Daniel Tenenbaum is trying to stay modest. "I'm happy. This work belongs to all of us, the whole defensive line," he said after he broke the record. "I thought about the record before the match, but when it started, it meant nothing for me." Now Tenenbaum can start dreaming about other records. The European record holder is former Belgian goalkeeper, Dany Verlinden, who produced a run of 1390 minutes without conceding in 1990. If Tenenbaum will aim higher, the current FIFA world record is 1816 minutes, set by another Brazilian goalkeeper, Mazarópi, while he played for Vasco da Gama. As a former Flamengo boy, there is no doubt Daniel Tenenbaum will want to get one up on the big city rivals.
Thumbnail photo by Maccabi Tel Aviv official website