Avraham "Avi" Cohen (; born 12 June 1962) is an Israeli former footballer who played as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. He is often referred as Avi Cohen II or Avi Cohen of Jerusalem to distinguish himself from the player of the same name, born in 1956.

Career

Cohen began his career at

Beitar Jerusalem Beitar Jerusalem Football Club (), commonly known as Beitar Jerusalem () or simply Beitar (), is an Israeli professional football club based in the city of Jerusalem, that plays in the Israeli Premier League, the top tier in Israeli football ...

, initially as a striker, but moved back to the right back position. Because of this, he was noted for his attacking skills, and was one of the first players in Israel to adopt the style of the attacking defender. He left Beitar in 1985 to join Maccabi Sha'arayim, but returned a season later. He would remain there until the summer of 1989, where he was signed by

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

. It was at Maccabi where he would be known as Avi Cohen of Jerusalem, as

Avi Cohen Avraham "Avi" Cohen (; 14 November 1956 – 29 December 2010) was an Israeli footballer who played as a defender, and a manager. He was best known for his spells playing for two British clubs: Liverpool in England and Rangers in Scotland. Aft ...

became his teammate (albeit briefly, as he would leave to join

Maccabi Netanya Maccabi Netanya F.C. () is an Israeli professional football club based in Netanya. Established in 1934, the club was a founding member of the Israeli League in 1949. After winning their first championship in 1971, the club's golden period last ...

the following year). In his first two seasons, he scored three and six times respectively, but in the 1991–92 season, his goalscoring prowess really came to the fore. Maccabi won the title for the first time in twelve years, and Cohen scored twenty goals in all competitions (18 in the league, 2 in the State Cup), winning the Footballer of the Year award later that year. In the 1992–93 season, Maccabi would lose the title to Cohen's previous club, Beitar, but still won silverware, in the form of the

Toto Cup The Israel Toto Cup (, ''Gvia Ha'Toto'') is an association football tournament that features clubs in the two highest divisions in Israel: the Israeli Premier League Ligat ha'Al, Ligat Ha'Al; and the Israeli 2nd division Liga Leumit. Both of the ...

. Cohen won the State Cup in 1994, the only trophy that had eluded him up to that point. He still maintained his better than average goal scoring total for a defender, with eight in all competitions. The following season, he won the title for the second time with Maccabi, but suffered a back injury and had to retire.

International career

Due to his attacking style of play, he was a welcome addition to the

Israel national football team The Israel national football team () represents Israel in men's international Association football, football, and is governed by the Israel Football Association. They have been members of the European Confederation UEFA since 1994. Israel qua ...

, making 32 appearances and scoring three times.

Honours

Club

;Beitar Jerusalem * Liga Leumit First Division (1): 1986–87 * State Cup (2):

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

;Maccabi Tel Aviv * Liga Leumit First Division (2): 1991–92, 1994–95 * State Cup (1):

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

(1): 1993

Individual

* Israeli Player of the Year (1): 1992

References

External links

Maccabi Tel Aviv profile
* 1962 births Living people Israeli men's footballers Beitar Jerusalem F.C. players Maccabi Sha'arayim F.C. players Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players Men's association football fullbacks Israel men's international footballers Footballers from Jerusalem Israeli Footballer of the Year recipients 20th-century Israeli sportsmen {{Israel-footy-defender-stub