Alexander "Alex" Abraham Zahavi (born 21 January 1991) is a former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a winger or

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. Zahavi was born in the United States, the son of a Portuguese mother and Israeli father. He has represented

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

at youth levels but considered switching federations so he can represent the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He is the great nephew of football agent

Pini Zahavi Pinhas "Pini" Zahavi (; born 1955Jackson, Jamie"Profile: Pini Zahavi, football's first and only super-agent" The Observer, 26 November 2005. Retrieved 2007-07-12) is an Israeli football agent. Zahavi was involved in the change of ownership of Po ...

. Zahavi is a winger who plays on the left side of midfield, even though he is right-footed.

Club career

On 16 July 2010, Zahavi joined

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa () is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football, Basketball, Weightl ...

on trial trying to impress Elisha Levy. On 26 July he was presented as a Maccabi Haifa player after he signed a contract with the club. Zahavi joined

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

club

Hapoel Acre Hapoel Acre Football Club (, ''Moadon Kaduregel Hapoel Akko'') is an Israeli professional football club based in Acre. Incorporated in 1946 the club competes in Liga Leumit. History Founded in 1946, the club dwelt in the lower leagues until the ...

in February 2011 on loan for the remainder of the 2010–11 season. On 7 July, Maccabi Haifa announced that they extended Zahavi's contract through the 2015 season, and are loaning him to

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

team

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

for the 2011–12 season. Zahavi joined Portuguese top-flight side

S.C. Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense (), commonly known as Olhanense, is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its Association football, football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Algarve Football Association Portuguese Di ...

for the 2012–13 season.

International career

Zahavi represented

at various youth levels but was never called into the senior team. Because he played in an official

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

U17 qualifying tournament for Portugal, he was cap tied to their national team under

FIFA eligibility rules In association football, the FIFA eligibility rules are the eligibility criteria established by FIFA (International Association Football Federation), the sport's governing body, to facilitate the selection of representative teams for internationa ...

. However, since he is also eligible to play for Israel or the United States, he was allowed to file for a one-time only switch with FIFA. Zahavi was called up to the United States U-20's team in November 2010 for the Torneo de las Americas. On 20 February 2011, Zahavi was called in for his first Israel U-21 camp. Three days later Zahavi played in a friendly with the under-21 side against

FC Arsenal Kyiv Football Club Arsenal Kyiv () is a Ukrainian Association football, football club based in Kyiv. In 2019, the club's professional team was dissolved, but its junior teams continue to compete in city competitions. The club claims to be a successo ...

. In March 2011, Zahavi was brought in for another training camp. On 17 March 2011 Zahavi was named to the under-21 side for a tournament in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. Zahavi made his debut for the side in a friendly against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

on 23 March 2011. Zahavi scored his first goal for the under-21 side in a friendly against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

on 26 March 2011 in

. Zahavi floated the ball over the Romanian goalkeeper from 35 metres out after exchanging passes with Nes Zamir.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zahavi, Alex 1991 births Living people Sporting CP footballers Vitória F.C. players Primeira Liga players American men's soccer players Israeli men's footballers Soccer players from Los Angeles Maccabi Haifa F.C. players Hapoel Acre F.C. players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portuguese men's footballers United States men's under-20 international soccer players Israel men's under-21 international footballers American people of Israeli descent American people of Portuguese descent Portuguese people of Israeli descent Israeli people of Portuguese descent Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen 21st-century Israeli sportsmen