Israeli soccer player Tal Naim dedicated his first senior goal on Sunday to his sister, May, who was murdered at the Nova Music Festival during the Hamas-led attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The goal was even more symbolic as the teammate who gave Naim the assist, Eylon Yerushalmi, was May’s good friend.
After the goal, Naim took a white shirt with a photo of his sister and ran to the stands while his teammates embraced him.
Yerushalmi then carefully placed the shirt on the side of the pitch. It read, “In memory of May Naim, and to all Oct. 7 victims.”
The goal came just two days before Israel marked the second anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in the western Negev, in which some 1,200 people were murdered and 251 more were kidnapped into the Gaza Strip.
Tal Naim, 22, plays for Maccabi Herzliya F.C., which currently tops Liga Leumit, the second division of Israel’s professional soccer association.
Two years after his sister May was murdered on October 7, Tal Naim scored his first senior-league goal - just days before the anniversary - and dedicated it to her, lifting a shirt with her photo through tears pic.twitter.com/pSoX6Nam8U
— raz sauber - רז זאובר (@raz_sauber_) October 5, 2025
May Naim is survived by her parents, Anat and Ofer, and siblings Shelly, Tal and Ran.
She was also the granddaughter of Shlomo Scharf, a former Israeli soccer player and coach, and a frequent soccer commentator on national television.
