Marco Balbul

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Marco Balbul
מרקו בלבול

| image =

| fullname =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1967|07|13|df=y}}

| birth_place = Tirat Carmel, Israel

| height = 1.79 m

| position = Defender

| currentclub =

| youthyears1 = {{0|0000}}–1986

| youthclubs1 = Maccabi Haifa

| years1 = 1986–1998

| clubs1 = Maccabi Haifa

| caps1 = 213

| goals1 = 2

| years2 = 1998–2000

| clubs2 = Maccabi Tel Aviv

| caps2 = 43

| goals2 = 0

| years3 = 2000–2002

| clubs3 = Maccabi Haifa

| caps3 = 3

| goals3 = 0

| totalcaps = 259

| totalgoals = 2

| nationalyears1 = 1990–1995

| nationalteam1 = Israel

| nationalcaps1 = 9

| nationalgoals1 = 0

| manageryears1 = 2002–2003

| managerclubs1 = Maccabi Haifa (assistant)

| manageryears2 = 2006

| managerclubs2 = Maccabi Netanya (assistant)

| manageryears3 = 2007–2008

| managerclubs3 = Hapoel Be'er Sheva

| manageryears4 = 2008–2009

| managerclubs4 = Maccabi Tel Aviv (assistant)

| manageryears5 = 2009–2010

| managerclubs5 = Bnei Sakhnin

| manageryears6 = 2011

| managerclubs6 = Maccabi Petah Tikva

| manageryears7 = 2012

| managerclubs7 = Partizan (assistant)

| manageryears8 = 2013–2014

| managerclubs8 = Bnei Sakhnin

| manageryears9 = 2014

| managerclubs9 = BEC Tero Sasana (assistant)

| manageryears10 = 2014–2015

| managerclubs10 = Maccabi Haifa

| manageryears11 = 2016–2018

| managerclubs11 = Israel U21

| manageryears12 = 2018–2020

| managerclubs12 = Maccabi Haifa

| manageryears13 = 2022

| managerclubs13 = NorthEast United

| manageryears14 = 2023–2024

| managerclubs14 = Zambia (assistant)

| manageryears15 = 2024–

| managerclubs15 = Maccabi Netanya

}}

Marco Balbul ({{langx|he|מרקו בלבול}}; born 13 July 1967) is an Israeli football manager and former player who is the coach of Maccabi Netanya.

Early life

Balbul was born in Tirat Carmel, Israel as the youngest child of Egyptian Jews immigrant parents who immigrated from Egypt to Israel in the 50s. Aged 9, he was accepted to the youth system of Maccabi Haifa.

Playing career

Babul made his first team debut for Maccabi Haifa in 1986. Spending most of his career at the club, he won several honours including the Israeli Premier League and the Israel State Cup.

He made his Israel national team debut against Greece in 1990. He has 5 appearance in the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying.{{NFT player|20684}}

Managerial career

On 28 December 2014, Balbul was appointed the new manager of Maccabi Haifa, replacing Aleksandar Stanojević who resigned from the job.

On 11 August 2022, Balbul was announced as the head coach of Indian Super League club NorthEast United.{{cite web |url=https://khelnow.com/football/isl-2022-23-northeast-united-appoint-head-coach-marco-balbul |title=NorthEast United appoint Israel's Marco Balbul as head coach |access-date=12 August 2022 |publisher=Khel Now}} But on 8 December 2022 he was sacked after the club failed to register a single win in the league. He is currently third assistant coach for the Zambia National team.