Daniel Alberto Brailovsky Poliak (, sometimes spelled Brailovski, born November 18, 1958) 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 ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Argentina, and is Jewish. Though he was born and raised in Argentina, he only played officially for the Israel national team. He had previously represented

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

at the youth level.

Playing career

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

and striker, Brailovsky was born in

, and after playing amateur football at Jewish clubs, Brailovsky was brought to

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

for a trial at

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (), more commonly referred to as Peñarol, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club currently competes in the Uruguayan Primera División, the highest tier in Uruguayan football. The nam ...

. Under the guidance of coach

Roque Máspoli Roque Gastón Máspoli Arbelvide (12 October 1917 in Montevideo – 22 February 2004 in Montevideo) was a Uruguayan football player and coach. He was the goalkeeper for the Uruguay national team that won the 1950 World Cup. He was also the he ...

, Brailovsky became part of the team that won the 1978 championship and qualified for the 1979

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

. Brailovsky also was member of the Uruguay National Youth team in 1977–78. After being dropped from Peñarol by coach Dino Sani in 1979, Brailovsky returned to Argentina to play for

All Boys Club Atlético All Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Floresta, Buenos Aires. The institution is mostly known for its association football, football team, which currently plays in the Primera B Nacional, the second division of the Arge ...

. At the end of Metropolitano 1980, Brailovsky's first tournament in Argentina, All Boys was relegated to Primera B (Second Division), but Brailovsky left a good impression and was eventually signed by Independiente. With the

Avellaneda Avellaneda (, ) is a port city in the provinces of Argentina, province of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the seat of the Avellaneda Partido, whose population was 342,677 as per the . Avellaneda is located within the Greater B ...

club, Brailovsky made his debut on 7 September 1980 against

Ferro Carril Oeste Club Ferro Carril Oeste, known simply as Ferro Carril Oeste or familiarly, Ferro, is an Argentine sports club from the neighbourhood of Caballito, Buenos Aires. Although many activities are hosted by the club, Ferro is mostly known for its assoc ...

, replacing Norberto Outes. The game ended 1–0 to Ferro. While at Independiente, Brailovsky was called up a few times to play for the Argentina national team, but never did it officially, except for a few matches against regional teams. Previous to the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national footbal ...

he was in coach

César Luis Menotti César Luis Menotti (; 22 October 1938 – 5 May 2024), known as ''El Flaco'' ("Slim"), was an Argentine association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager who won the 1978 FIFA World Cup as the head coach of the ...

's consideration, but never made it to Spain. Brailovsky's last game for Independiente was on 16 May 1982; a 0–4 defeat against

, then champion of the Nacional 1982. Brailovsky was sent off in the 82nd minute by referee

Arturo Ithurralde Arturo Andrés Ithurralde (March 6, 1934 – June 3, 2017) was an Argentina, Argentine football (soccer), football referee. He was known for having refereed one match in the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. He also refereed four matches at 1975 Copa A ...

. In total in Argentina, Brailovsky played 101 games (26 with All Boys and 75 with Independiente), and scored 34 goals (7 with All Boys and 27 with Independiente). In 1982, he signed with Mexican

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...

, and helped ''Las Águilas'' to win three championships. Those championships were the 1983–1984 season (when defeated

Chivas Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara S.A de C.V. (;), nicknamed ''"Chivas"'' () and simply known as Guadalajara or internationally as Chivas de Guadalajara, is a Mexican professional football club based in the Guadalajara metropolitan area, Jalisco. It c ...

), then the 1984–1985 (when defeated

UNAM Pumas Club Universidad Nacional, A.C., simply known as Pumas UNAM, is a professional football club based in Mexico City. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 1954 as Club Deportivo Universidad, and they play ...

in a controversial decisive 3rd match held in

Santiago de Querétaro Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, ...

), his last one with the team was the 1985 summer tournament once known as the " Prode '85 "- a short tournament where they defeat the then team known as los

Jaibos Tampico Madero Club Jaiba Brava, formerly known as Tampico Madero, is a Mexican professional football club based in Tampico and Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas, that plays in Liga de Expansión MX, the second level division of Mexican football. The club was founde ...

. After the earthquake suffered by Mexico in 1985, his wife was afraid something worse might happen, so Brailovsky left the country without notifying Club América officials. As a result he was suspended for breach of contract by America for about a year with

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

's consent. He then immigrated to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and 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 ...

. He was capped 18 times for

from 1986 to 1988, scoring three international goals during his career. He said about living in Israel, "I have played in Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay and Israel, but only Israel feels like home."Griver, Simon (6 July 1998
The Ingathering of the Exiles
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Honours

As a player

Coaching career

Brailovsky began coaching in

in 1996 with Maccabi Kfar Kana in the Second Division and that year, he led them to the title. Daniel moved to

Maccabi Herzliya Maccabi Herzliya F.C. (, ''Moadon Kaduregel Maccabi Herzliya'') is an Israeli football club based in Herzliya. The club is currently in Liga Leumit and plays at the Herzliya Municipal Stadium. History A football section of the Maccabi Herzliya ...

the following year and then to

in 1998. In September 2002, Brailovsky became the head coach of

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

in Mexico. In October 2007, Brailovsky became the head coach of

in Mexico until fired in February 2008. In August 2010, he became the head coach of

Club Necaxa Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Club Necaxa, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Aguascalientes (city), Aguascalientes. It competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican ...

in Mexico.

Broadcasting

After leaving Veracruz, Brailovsky took a job at a local show in Mexico city called "Super Estadio." in the Estadio W company. After the show cancelled, Brailovsky took a job offering from

ESPN Deportes ESPN Deportes (, ) is an American multinational Spanish-language pay television sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the ...

, the Spanish-language version of ESPN. He was then a correspondent for

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande, Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...

and

Fútbol Picante ''Futbol Picante'' (translation: ''Spicy Football'' or ''Spicy Soccer'') is a Mexican sports television show in Spanish which covers mostly Mexican football. The show is mostly hosted by David Faitelson and José Ramón Fernández (journalist), ...

, as well as the radio/TV show ''ESPN Radio Formula''. He also had his own show that aired Sunday nights on ESPN Deportes called "La Ruleta Rusa." After his firing in Necaxa, he was not asked to return to ESPN soon enough and opted to join

Fox Deportes Fox Deportes (formerly Fox Sports en Español) is an American pay television network dedicated to broadcasting sports-related programming in Spanish, aimed at the Hispanic population in the United States. Launched in 1993, Fox Deportes, a divis ...

where he is one their main contributors for their new show La Ultima Palabra.

References

External links

Jews In Sports

ESPN Deportes Profile Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brailovsky, Daniel 1958 births Israeli football managers Israeli men's footballers Jewish Argentine sportspeople Jewish Israeli sportspeople Jewish footballers Living people All Boys footballers Argentine men's footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine people of Russian-Jewish descent Peñarol players C.D. Veracruz managers Club América footballers Club América managers Club Necaxa managers Expatriate football managers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Uruguay Argentine emigrants to Israel Club Atlético Independiente footballers Israel men's international footballers Maccabi Haifa F.C. managers Maccabi Haifa F.C. players Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine Primera División players Liga MX players Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Uruguayan men's footballers Israeli people of Argentine-Jewish descent Sportspeople of Argentine descent Men's association football midfielders 20th-century Argentine sportsmen 20th-century Israeli sportsmen 20th-century Uruguayan sportsmen