David "Dudu" Aouate (or Awat, , ''pronounced Dūdū Ahwaht''; born 17 October 1977) is an Israeli retired 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
goalkeeper
In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...
.
After playing for several clubs in his country, most notably
Maccabi Haifa, he moved to Spain in 2003, going on to represent
Racing de Santander
Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...
,
Deportivo La Coruña
''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to:
* Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club
* Déportivo, a French rock band
* Deportivo (Mexicable)
Mexicable is an aerial lift line in Ecatepec de ...
and
Mallorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.
The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...
for a total of 303
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...
matches.
Aouate won 78
caps
Caps are flat headgear.
Caps or CAPS may also refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters
* Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...
for
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 ...
, during 14 years.
[Israel goalkeeper Aouate announces retirement]
UEFA, 8 August 2014
Club career
Israel
David Aouate was born in
Nazareth Illit
Nof HaGalil is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel with a population of .
Nof HaGalil was founded in 1957 as Nazareth Illit (; ), it was planned as a Jewish town overlooking the city of Nazareth and the Jezreel V ...
,
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 ...
(now
Nof HaGalil
Nof HaGalil is a city in the Northern District of Israel with a population of .
Nof HaGalil was founded in 1957 as Nazareth Illit (; ), it was planned as a Jewish town overlooking the city of Nazareth and the Jezreel Valley.[Sephardic Jewish
Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...]
descent. He began his career at
Maccabi Haifa F.C. where he had also played youth football, as an understudy to
Nir Davidovich. Wanting first-team action, he was loaned to
Hapoel Nazareth Illit F.C. but never got a real chance until he transferred to
Hapoel Haifa FC, having been assured that he would be the club's first-choice, but he again found himself struggling to establish himself as such.
Early in the
1998–99 season, however, the team's regular,
Avi Peretz, was injured, and Aouate took his place. Hapoel eventually won the championship that year and he was praised for his performances; by the time Peretz recovered, Aouate was irreplaceable.
[
Aouate's performances for Hapoel saw him get called up to the Israel national team in 1999. In the 2001–02 campaign he returned to Maccabi Haifa as a cover for Davidovich, who was seriously injured, and the team went on to win the ]Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
as he established himself as the undisputed starter.
In 2002–03, Aouate was the starter as Maccabi played in the UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
, the first time an Israeli side made it to the group stage of the competition. Haifa finished in third place in their group following a historic victory over powerhouse Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
, finishing runners-up in the league to Maccabi Tel Aviv; his solid performances earned him a transfer to European football, with Spanish club Racing de Santander
Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...
signing him on 17 July 2003.
Spain
Aouate's move to Spain was made easier by the fact that he obtained a French passport, thus not counting as a foreigner. After forcing his way into the starting line-up in 2004–05 due to Ricardo's loan return to Manchester United – going on to play 74 games out of 76 in his final two years – he signed a four-year contract with fellow La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...
side Deportivo de La Coruña
Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...
in August 2006, in a swap deal involving three players plus €
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...
1.5 million. He quickly paid back the confidence of his new club with an excellent season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
, appearing in all 38 matches; '' Don Balón'', a Spanish football magazine, placed him eighth on their list of La Liga's Footballer of the Year in 2007.
In 2007–08's January winter transfer window
In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...
, after losing first-choice status to Gustavo Munúa, both goalkeepers were involved in a post-training punching session that resulted in both being suspended for the match against Villarreal CF
Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...
, as well as subsequent league games. In February, due to B-team keeper Fabri Fabri is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Anna Fabri (f. 1496), Swedish publisher and printer
* Annibale Pio Fabri (1697–1760), Italian singer and composer
* Cornelia Fabri (1869-1915), Italian mathematician
* Emanuel Fab ...
's inexperience, both players were reinstated in the squad, with the Israeli regaining starting duties.
In late December, as he had been training separately with Munúa, not being part of ''Depor'' manager Miguel Ángel Lotina's plans, Aouate signed with RCD Mallorca
Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...
for approximately €1 million until June 2011, as the Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...
club was struggling in the league
''The League'' is an American television sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football l ...
and dealing with an injury to first-choice Miguel Ángel Moyá. He made his debut on 8 January 2009, in a 3–1 win over UD Almería
Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001 ...
for the campaign's Copa del Rey
The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...
; four days later, with Moyà still injured, he appeared in a 0–3 league loss at Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
.
In June 2009, Moyà left for Valencia CF
Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...
and Aouate became the automatic first-choice. In February 2013, he tied Mallorca's record for most appearances for a goalkeeper, and announced his retirement on 8 August 2014 at the age of 36.[ After his retirement he became the club's major shareholder, after buying Biel Cerdà and Lorenzo Serra Ferrer's shares, and was named ]general manager
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
on 11 August.
Yom Kippur controversy
In an interview with Spain's ''Diario AS
''Diario AS'' () (sometime stylized as ''AS'' or ''As''; ) is a Spanish daily sports newspaper that concentrates particularly on association football.
Profile
''Diario AS'' is part of PRISA which also owns ''El País'' and ''Cinco Días''. The ...
'', Aouate was asked about the significance of Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur ( ; , ) is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, corresponding to a date in late September or early October.
For traditional Jewish people, it is primarily centered on atonement and ...
and some general questions about the prohibitions of the holiday. He added that he understood that playing football in this holiday was not allowed, but stated that if forced to play against Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...
, in a September 2006 match, he would; his comments swirled a huge controversy in Israel with even a member of the Shas
Shas () is a Haredi Judaism, Haredi religious List of political parties in Israel, political party in Israel. Founded in 1984 by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a former Israeli Sephardic Jews, Sephardi chief rabbi, who remained its spiritual leader until ...
party calling for the player to be removed from the national team.
In September 2010, Aouate decided not to play against CA Osasuna
Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...
because the game was supposed to start 18 minutes before the end of the Jewish fast day, and Mallorca accepted his rationale.
Antisemitism
In December 2009, during a match between Osasuna and Mallorca, Aouate was subjected to antisemitic chants coming from the Navarre
Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...
se supporters – additionally, they waved Palestinian flags and called him "a murderer". The Royal Spanish Football Federation
The Royal Spanish Football Federation (; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. Founded on 29 September 1913, it is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas de Madrid, Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid.
RFEF organizes the natio ...
set up an inquiry into the incident, this being already the second time the player faced such abuse (the previous occurrence also being against Osasuna in 2006, while he was with Deportivo).
International career
Aouate's strong domestic form earned him his first 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 ...
call-ups, and his debut occurred on 10 October 1999 in a 0–3 away loss against Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
for the UEFA Euro 2000
The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe.
The finals tournament was ...
qualifiers. Since then, he became an integral member of the national team set-up.[
On 24 March 2007, Aouate kept a ]clean sheet
In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...
in the 0–0 home draw to England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
in the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, saving several shots from the opposition.
Career statistics
Club
International
Honours
Hapoel Haifa
*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 ...
: 1998–99
*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 ...
: 2000–01
Maccabi Haifa
*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 ...
: 2001–02
*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 ...
: 2001–02
See also
* List of select Jewish association football players
References
External links
Real Mallorca bio
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aouate, Dudu
1977 births
Living people
Israeli Sephardi Jews
Israeli men's footballers
Footballers from Nof HaGalil
Men's association football goalkeepers
Israeli Premier League players
Liga Leumit players
Maccabi Haifa F.C. players
Hapoel Nof HaGalil F.C. players
Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players
Hapoel Haifa F.C. players
La Liga players
Segunda División players
Racing de Santander players
Deportivo de La Coruña players
RCD Mallorca players
Israeli people of French-Jewish descent
Israel men's under-21 international footballers
Israel men's international footballers
Israeli expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Spain
Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Survivor (Israeli TV series) contestants