Baruch Dego

Baruch Dego was born in 1982 in Addis Ababa

Dego was born on 28 March 1982 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to an Ethiopian-Jewish family. In the early 1990s he immigrated to Israel with his parents and younger brothers. His younger brother Messay Dego is also a former footballer and a coach.

He came up through the youth team of Maccabi Ironi Ashdod and then played for its senior side. In 2000 he moved to Maccabi Tel Aviv, where he won the State Cup and the league title in 2002/2003. He was named Footballer of the Year in Israel in 2003.

In 2004/2005 he was the only Maccabi Tel Aviv player to score in the Champions League, with 4 goals. In 2005/2006 he joined Hapoel Tel Aviv and won the State Cup with the club. He also played with Hapoel in the UEFA Cup.

In 2008/2009 he joined Maccabi Netanya, was soon released by coach Lothar Matthäus and returned to Ashdod. In 2010 he went on loan to Nea Salamis Famagusta in Cyprus and then moved to Apollon Limassol. He later played for Hapoel Ramat HaSharon from 2011 and Hapoel Rishon LeZion from 2013.

From 2013/2014 he played for Hapoel Ashkelon and was promoted with it to the Premier League in 2015/2016. In 2017 he joined Maccabi Ironi Ashdod and also became youth coach at Hapoel Ashkelon. In 2018/2019 he was assistant to coach Shai Maor, and he later served on the Ironi Ashdod board and as professional manager of Beitar Gan Yavne.