Avi Cohen

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Avi Cohen
אבי כהן
Avi Cohen.jpg
Avi Cohen, 1990
Personal information
Full name Avraham Cohen
אברהם כהן
Date of birth (1956-11-14)14 November 1956[1]
Place of birth Cairo, Egypt
Date of death Error: Need valid death date (first date): year, month, day[2]
Place of death Tel Aviv, Israel
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1966–1974 Maccabi Tel Aviv
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1974–1979 Maccabi Tel Aviv
1979–1981 Liverpool 18 (1[1])
1981–1987 Maccabi Tel Aviv
1987–1988 Rangers 7 (0)
1988–1990 Maccabi Tel Aviv 31 (1)
1990 Maccabi Netanya 3 (0)
Total 56 (2)
International career
1976–1988 Israel 51 (3[3])
Managerial career
1990–1992 Maccabi Netanya
1992–1993 Beitar Tel Aviv
1993–1994 Maccabi Yavne
1994–1995 Ironi Ashdod
1995–1998 Hapoel Kfar Saba
1998–1999 Hapoel Ashkelon
1999–2000 Hapoel Kfar Saba
2001 Maccabi Herzliya
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Avraham "Avi" Cohen (Hebrew: אבי כהן‎; 14 November 1956 – 29 December 2010)[2] was an Israeli footballer who played as a defender. He was best known for his spells playing for two British clubs:Liverpool in England and Rangers in Scotland.[1] After retirement from active football and management, he was the chairman of the Israel Professional Footballers Association for over five years until he was killed in a motorcycle crash.[4][5] after his death Maccabi Tel Aviv has retired the number 5 that he wore.

Career

Cohen began his playing career with Maccabi Tel Aviv, before joining Liverpool for a fee of £200,000 ($450,000) in July 1979, and became the first Israeli to play in England.[1][4] He struggled to establish himself as a regular at Anfield and was released in November 1981, rejoining Maccabi.[1] On 20 September 1980, Cohen stirred up controversy when he decided to play in Liverpool's away fixture versus Southampton, which fell on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. Liverpool drew with Southampton 2–2 in front of 24,085 spectators and Cohen was lambasted by the Israeli media for playing.[6] He returned to the United Kingdom in 1987, when he had a brief spell under former Liverpool teammate Graeme Souness at Rangers,[1] before ending his career with Maccabi Netanya.

He also played for the Israeli national team, making his debut on 19 July 1976 during the 1976 Summer Olympics in a 0–0 draw against Guatemala.[7][8] On 9 October 1984, Cohen scored his first goal against Greece in a 2–2 friendly draw.[9] He was capped 51 times, scoring 3 goals.[3][10] His son, Tamir, is also a professional footballer who plays for Maccabi Haifa in the Israeli Premier League and the Israeli national team.[11]

Personal life

Cohen was married to Dorit and the father of three, including the football player Tamir Cohen.[12] In addition, Cohen was the brother-in-law of former football player Vicky Peretz and the uncle of Peretz sons – Adi and Omer Peretz.[13]

In 2008, he participated in the Israeli reality version of Dancing with the Stars and was the fifth to be eliminated.

Death

On 20 December 2010, Cohen was seriously injured in a motorcycle crash. He was taken to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital, where he was immediately taken into surgery and was reported to be in a critical condition.[14] Johan Elmander paid tribute to Avi Cohen through a goal celebration on 26 December 2010 when he scored against West Bromwich Albion. Elmander held up a Bolton Wanderers shirt that read on the back – Get Well Soon Avi Cohen. This was due to Cohen's son Tamir, who at the time was playing for Bolton.[15]

On 28 December 2010, Ichilov Hospital declared that Cohen was brain dead.[16] His brain death was confirmed by his son Tamir later the same day.[5] Paying tribute to Cohen, Kenny Dalglish said "Avi was a lovely man who will be remembered fondly by everyone at Liverpool who knew him. He quickly integrated himself into the football club when he joined us and spent a lot of time learning English which really made him popular. He was well liked by all the lads and although he didn't spend a long time at the club, he certainly left his mark and no-one will forget how he helped us win the league against Aston Villa. My thoughts and those of everyone connected to the club are with Avi's family." Ally McCoist said "we knew his situation was bad but never for a second did we think it would come to this" before going on to say it was "so sad to hear that he has passed away."[17]

On 28 December 2010, Cohen's heart stopped and he was declared legally dead at 11:00 p.m. IST.

Liverpool marked the death of Cohen with a period of applause before their Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 29 December 2010.[18]

On 24 April 2011, his son Tamir, of Bolton Wanderers, paid a tribute to his late father after scoring the winner against Arsenal and celebrating with a printed T-shirt with his father's face on it.[19]

Honours

Player

Club

Maccabi Tel Aviv
Liverpool
Rangers

Individual

References

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External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
-
 Israel national football team captain
1981–1988		 Succeeded by
Nir Klinger
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  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 He played another 12 games against International Olympic teams and 1 against Amateurs team.
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