Javier Antonio Cohene Mereles (; born 3 May 1987) is a 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 predominantly as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, and represented the Palestine national team. Born and raised in Paraguay, some of his ancestors came from

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

Club career

After several short spells with General Díaz, and Brazilian clubs

Gaúcho A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, the southern part of Bolivia, and the south of Chilean Patag ...

and

Passo Fundo Passo Fundo is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the north of the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is named after its river. It's the tenth largest city in the state with an estimated population of 204,722 inhabitants ...

, Cohene moved to Europe to play in Portugal for second division 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 ...

, where he would remain for two seasons before moving back to South America to play for River Plate and

Sportivo Luqueño Club Sportivo Luqueño is a Paraguayan football club, based in the city of Luque on the outskirts of the capital Asunción. It currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División, the country's top tier of football, where it has won thrice, in 19 ...

. In the summer of 2010, Cohene returned to Portugal to play for F.C. Paços de Ferreira. His first two, of his three seasons with ''Os Castores'' proved to be successful as he featured regularly in Paços' defense alongside

Ricardo Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname. People Given name * Ricardo de Araújo Pereira (born ...

in the 2010–11 season, and Ozéia in the 2011–12 season. His first two seasons saw him make 60 appearances, and contributing six goals in the process. His first season with Paços de Ferreira would see Cohene help his side reach the

2011 Taça da Liga Final Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number) * One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith *''Eleven'' ...

, where his side were defeated by Benfica. The arrival of

Paulo Fonseca Paulo Alexandre Rodrigues Fonseca (born 5 March 1973) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player who played as a central defender. He is currently manager of Ligue 1 club ...

at the Mata Real for the 2012–13 season saw Cohene feature less than previous seasons. He was primarily used as a back up to

and Tiago Valente, and would only feature regularly in domestic cup competitions. Despite Paços de Ferreira's historic third place league finish which granted qualification to the

2013–14 UEFA Champions League The 2013–14 UEFA Champions League was the 59th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 22nd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was ...

play-off round, Cohene left Paços in the summer of 2013. Following his departure from ''Os Pacenses'', Cohene signed for

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 ...

. He debuted for ''Os Sadinos'' on the 18 August against

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

. Cohene would score his first goal since arriving at Vitória on the 31 August, against

Vitória de Guimarães 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 ...

in a 4–1 away win. In Summer 2014, he moved for first time outside his comfort zone, which has been Latin America and the Iberian peninsula, and moved to South-eastern Europe, where he signed a contract with

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League (), also known as Mozzart SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Serbia and the highest level of the Serbian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a sys ...

side

FK Borac Čačak Fudbalski klub Borac 1926 (), commonly known as Borac Čačak, is a professional football club based in Čačak, Serbia. The home ground is Čačak Stadium, which has seating capacity of 8,000. As of 2024–25 season, the club competes in secon ...

. On following summer, he and Borac decided to terminate contract by mutual agreement, and Cohene left Serbia but did stayed in Europe, only hat this time he was back to Portugal, and, on 1 August 2015, Cohene joined

Atlético CP Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

International career

Cohene committed to the Palestinian national team where he was eligible to play because of his Palestinian grandmother. Known as Javier Mereles when playing for Palestine, he received his first call-up by

Jamal Mahmoud Jamal Mahmoud (; born 1 May 1973) is a Jordanian football manager of Palestinian origin, who was a midfielder for Al-Wehdat and Shabab Al-Ordon. He was the head coach of the Palestine national football team from 2011 to 2014. Coaching career Ja ...

for the

Peace Cup The Peace Cup was an invitational pre-season friendly football tournament for club teams which was held every two years by the Sunmoon Peace Football Foundation. History and format Since 2003, the Peace Cup is being held every two years, the Su ...

taking place in September 2014. He scored his first goal on his debut against

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

on 6 September 2014.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Palestine's goal tally first.''

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohene, Javier 1987 births Living people People from Paraguarí Footballers from Paraguarí Department Paraguayan men's footballers Palestinian men's footballers Palestine men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Club General Díaz (Luque) footballers Liga Portugal 2 players S.C. Olhanense players Argentine Primera División players Club Atlético River Plate footballers Paraguayan Primera División players Sportivo Luqueño players Primeira Liga players F.C. Paços de Ferreira players Vitória F.C. players FK Borac Čačak players Serbian SuperLiga players Palestinian expatriate men's footballers Paraguayan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Palestinian expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Palestinian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Palestinian expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Palestinian expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Paraguayan people of Palestinian descent International sportspeople born abroad 21st-century Paraguayan sportsmen