Midfielder Moshe Asis, one of the outstanding Maccabi Tel Aviv players of the 1960's, was born in October 1943 and started his footballing career in club's the youth teams. He made his maiden appearance for the senior squad aged 17 in a 1-1 draw in the Tel Aviv derby against Hapoel in May of 1961, but only after having played for the Under-19s earlier on in the afternoon. Throughout his career Asis was known as the "motor" of the team, working hard to regain possession of the ball and navigating it through the opposition defence to attacks at the opposite end of the pitch. He was constantly on the move and due to his ability to shoot with both his left and right foot, he achieved an impressive goal-scoring total for a player in a midfield position.
Asis was also good at scoring important goals. One of them was the winning goal in the defeat of Maccabi Haifa in March of 1962 and another in the 2-1 victory over Hapoel Haifa in the second replay of the final of the prestigious State Cup in 1964. In the following year's Cup final it was Asis who scored the first goal on the road to a 2-1 victory over Bnei Yehuda, helping Maccabi raise their second Cup trophy in as many years. That was the best year in Asis' career, with 10 goals in 27 appearances in all competitions. Though there may have been more accomplished players on that Maccabi Tel Aviv side, it was Asis who stood out as the one who uncompromisingly fought for every ball and in so doing gave opportunities to those other players to display their talents.
Asis spent his entire footballing career at Maccabi, twelve seasons in all. Throughout his long term at the club he succeeded in converting his considerable talents into club trophies and by the time he hung up his boots for the last time this highly decorated player had accumulated no less than eight titles between the years 1961 and 1973: three championships ('67/'68, '69/'70, '71/'72), four State Cups ('63/'64, '64/'65, '66/'67, '69/'70) and two Asian Club Cups ('68/'69, '70/'71). In the first winning campaign of the Asian Club Cup, Asis scored three goals, including one in the semi-final. In the 1970/71 season he was included in the Maccabi squad but did not appear in any of the matches in the second successful Asian Club Cup campaign. Playing for the Israeli national side, Asis made 14 appearances and scored the side's one goal in a 3-1 loss to Denmark.
photograph courtesy of the Israel Football Association archives
