Nir Davidovich (; also spelled Davidovitch; born 17 December 1976) is an Israeli 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

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 ...

. His honours are 7 championships, 2 Israeli cups, 3 Toto Cups, 1 MVP of the season. At club level, Davidovich spent his whole career in

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 suffered from 3 serious injuries, but managed to recover and lead the team to its 8th championship, winning the MVP title in 2004. He is considered a "symbol" of the club along with the veteran captain Yaniv Katan. Many talk about him as the successor of legendary goalkeeper

Avi Ran Avi Ran (; August 25, 1963 – July 11, 1987) was a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper at the Israeli football club Maccabi Haifa F.C., Maccabi Haifa. Widely considered one of the greatest football players in Israel, he had a promisi ...

, a Maccabi Haifa prodigy who died in a diving accident. At international level, he was the number one goalkeeper in the Israel national team for a time.

Early life

Davidovich was born in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

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 ...

, to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family. His father is footballer Benjamin Davidovich.

Football career

* Played in each age-class youth national team of Israel. * 1995: Promoted to senior team of Maccabi Haifa. * 1996: Gave outstanding performance when Maccabi Haifa kept a 0–0 against Hapoel Petah Tikva after 3 (!) "greens" were sent off. * 1997: Overcame veteran goalkeeper Bonni Ginzburg to become MHFC senior goalkeeper. * 1998: First international appearance at Israel 4–0 victory over

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. * 1998: Wins the Israeli cup after 2–0 victory over Hapoel Jerusalem. * 1998: Excels in 1–1 draw against French top football club

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

. * 1999: Injured seriously in the crotch and missed the entire season. * 2000–2001: Won the championship with Maccabi Haifa, conceding only 28 goals (the lowest in that season). * 2001: Injured in his

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

in the match versus

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 ...

, where he kept the Israeli goal clean until he was replaced in half-time. * 2002: Missed most of the season because of his knee injury. * 2003: Recovered from knee injury and played the final matches in the league. * 2003: Excelled in MHFC 0:0 draw against

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. After his performance he received grades of 10 in the Israeli press (just seven players received grade of 10 in the history of the Israeli press) and was dubbed " The Octopus" by the Spanish press. * 2003–2004: Won the championship with Maccabi Haifa and chosen by player, press and coaches as the

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

of the season. * 2004: saves 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. ...

as Israel beat

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

2–1 in a

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

qualifier. * 2009: On 19 April Davidovich made his 300th league appearance in Maccabi Haifa. * 2009: First time 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 ...

with Maccabi Haifa. * 2010: Davidovich and Maccabi Haifa conceded only 16 goals in 35 league games, breaking the national record of lowest average goals per games. * 2013: Nir Davidovich retired from football as a player. Throughout his career he played in

Maccabi Haifa F.C. Maccabi Haifa Football Club () is an Israeli professional football club based in the city of Haifa, Israel, a section of Maccabi Haifa sports club. The club plays in the Israeli Premier League. Maccabi Haifa home games are played at Sammy Ofe ...

, 18 years of the Club Concierge.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;

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 ...

(7): * 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09,

2010–11 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 ...

Israel State Cup The Israel State Cup (, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involves clubs of all standards ...

(2): *

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Toto Cup Top Division (3): * 2002-03, 2005–06, 2007–08

Individual

;

* Footballer of the Year in Israel (1): 2004

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidovich, Nir 1976 births Living people Jewish Israeli sportspeople Men's association football goalkeepers Israeli men's footballers Israel men's international footballers Maccabi Haifa F.C. players Liga Leumit players Israeli Premier League players Footballers from Haifa Israeli people of German-Jewish descent Israeli Footballer of the Year recipients