Henok Goitom (; born 22 September 1984) 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

centre-forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

, currently assistant

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 ...

of AIK. He spent most of his 18-year career with AIK (two spells) and in Spain, where he played 215 matches and scored 42 goals across both major levels – 109 games and 14 goals in

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 ...

. He also competed professionally in Italy and the United States. Born in Sweden, Goitom represented

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

as a senior after having appeared for

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

at youth level. He made his debut for the former in 2015, earning four

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 ...

in four years and scoring once.

Early life

Goitom was born in

Solna Solna ( or , ), also known as Solna Municipality, is a municipality in central Stockholm County, Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area. Solna i ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, and raised in the nearby Husby district. His parents were born in

Club career

Udinese

Goitom moved to Italy in 2004 to join

Udinese Calcio Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional association football, football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football league system, Italian fo ...

, rarely being an option during his short stay. However, in his sole

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

appearance, on 19 February 2005, he only needed seven minutes as a late substitute to score the 90th minute 1–1 equaliser against

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

. Subsequently, Goitom served a two-year loan in the Spanish

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

with

Ciudad de Murcia Club de Fútbol Ciudad de Murcia, usually abbreviated to Ciudad de Murcia, was a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the namesake autonomous community. They played at the 16,000-seater ''Estadio de La Condomina''. Ciudad Murcia was reloc ...

. He netted 15 league goals in his second season.

Murcia

Goitom was released by Udinese in 2007, and signed a four-year deal with neighbouring

Real Murcia CF Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in , playing home matches at Estadio Nueva Condo ...

for a reported €3 million; the president of

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 ...

, Alfonso García, however, announced the club would take matters to court: as he appeared before the media during the presentation of

Aitor López Rekarte Aitor López Rekarte (born 18 August 1975) is a Spanish retired footballer. He played as a defender on the right side, and sporadically on the other flank. His professional career was closely connected to Real Sociedad, where he spent 13 of 1 ...

, showed journalists papers which proved an agreement had already been reached between Almería and Udinese. He only scored twice during the entire campaign, which saw the side relegated from

as last. In July 2008, Goitom was loaned for one season to fellow top-tier

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

, which had an option to buy at the campaign's closure. Established as first choice, he netted twice in a 3–2 away win over

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Founded on 23 December 1889, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play in , holding home ...

on 8 March 2009, but was also

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

during the match (as teammate

Álvaro Rubio Álvaro Rubio Robles (born 18 April 1979) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, currently a manager. He spent most of his career with Valladolid, appearing in 310 games in all competitions. He also re ...

). He finished as team top scorer, at ten.

Almería

In late July 2009, Goitom was released by Murcia and joined Almería in the same league, replacing

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

-bound

Álvaro Negredo Álvaro Negredo Sánchez (; born 20 August 1985) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Nicknamed ''La fiera de Vallecas'' (The beast of Vallecas), he amassed totals of 361 matches and 128 goals over 12 La Liga s ...

. His

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 ...

output consisted of one goal, in a 1–1 home draw against

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1922, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...

. Also, even though he was the only pure striker in the squad, he was never an undisputed starter, but the

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

ns retained their top-division status in the end. Goitom scored one of Almería's most important goals on 19 January 2011, a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

in a 3–2 victory at

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 ...

(4–2 on aggregate), with them reaching the semi-finals of the

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 ...

for the first time ever; he added one more in the competition, 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, ...

. However, he again only netted once 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 ...

, in a 2–2 home draw with

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, and the club returned to the second tier after four years. In mid-August 2012, Goitom terminated his contract.

AIK

On 16 August 2012, Goitom signed with his hometown club

AIK Fotboll AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), and internationally known as AIK Stockholm, is a Swedish professional football club from Stoc ...

in the

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

. In November 2015, it was announced he would be released when his contract ended on 31 December.

Getafe

On 22 March 2016, after being unemployed for almost three months, Goitom agreed to a short-term deal at

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. They compete in La Liga, the top tier of the Football in Spain, Spanish football. The team has pla ...

. He made his debut about a week later, coming on as a second half-substitute in a 2–0 away loss against

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

. Goitom only totalled 124 minutes of action during his spell, and his team suffered top-flight relegation.

San Jose Earthquakes

On 10 August 2016, Goitom joined

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

on a free transfer. He made his

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

debut nine days later, coming from the bench in a 1–2 defeat to

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

at the

Avaya Stadium PayPal Park (formerly Earthquakes Stadium and Avaya Stadium) is a soccer-specific stadium in San Jose, California. It is the home stadium of the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer (MLS) and Bay FC of the National Women's Soccer Leagu ...

. At the end of the season, where he only started in two of his appearances, it was announced that Goitom would not be retained.

Return to AIK

On 3 March 2017, Goitom signed a two-year deal with former side AIK, thus returning to his birth country and its main division. In February of the following year, he became

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

. Goitom announced his retirement after the

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, aged 37. On 19 August 2022, he was appointed

interim manager Interim management is the temporary provision of management resources and skills. Interim management can be seen as the short-term assignment of a proven heavyweight interim executive manager to manage a period of transition, crisis or change wi ...

of his last club.

International career

Sweden

Goitom was a regular starter for the Swedish under-21 team during 2006, and played for the nation during qualification for the

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and 2007 UEFA European Championships. He was never called up to the full side, although he was considered for a place in the squad for a Euro 2016 qualifier against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Eritrea

In September 2015, aged 30, Goitom made an official request to

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 ...

for permission to play for

. He made his debut on 10 October, in a 2–0 home loss to

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

qualifiers. He scored in the return leg, in a final 5–1 aggregate defeat.

Career statistics

Club

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year :''Scores and results list Eritrea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Goitom goal.''

Honours

AIK *

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goitom, Henok 1984 births Living people Swedish people of Eritrean descent Sportspeople from Solna Municipality 21st-century Swedish sportsmen Eritrean men's footballers Swedish men's footballers Footballers from Stockholm County Men's association football forwards Allsvenskan players Essinge IK players Vasalunds IF players AIK Fotboll players Serie A players Udinese Calcio players La Liga players Segunda División players Ciudad de Murcia footballers Real Murcia CF players Real Valladolid players UD Almería players Getafe CF footballers Major League Soccer players San Jose Earthquakes players Sweden men's youth international footballers Sweden men's under-21 international footballers Eritrea men's international footballers Eritrean expatriate men's footballers Swedish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Eritrean expatriate sportspeople in Spain Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Eritrean football managers Swedish football managers Allsvenskan managers AIK Fotboll managers