Ya'akov "Yankele" Hodorov (; 16 June 1927 – 31 December 2006) was an Israeli

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 ...

in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. He is one Israel's best goalkeepers of all time and the leading goalkeeper of his generation.

Football career

Hodorov started his football career at Maccabi Rishon LeZion at the age of 15. After a few years, he moved to local rival Hapoel Rishon LeZion, where he first got national recognition as the team reached the cup final in 1946. Shortly afterward he moved to Hapoel Tel Aviv, the club where he stayed for most of his career. At Hapoel Tel Aviv he won the Israeli league championship in 1957 and the Israeli state cup in 1960. Later he joined Hapoel Ramat Gan and won another league title in 1964, and afterward played at Shimshon Tel Aviv and ended his career with

Hapoel Holon Hapoel Holon Basketball Club (), is a professional basketball club based in Holon, Israel. The team plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League (the top tier of Israeli basketball), and internationally in the Basketball Champions League. The ...

, where he also had a short spell as coach. He was 5ft 10in (1.78 m) tall and nicknamed "the Bird". Hodorov made his debut for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

in a friendly match against

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 ...

in 1949, and for the next decade played in almost all international matches. He soon became the hero of the team that struggled against European opponents. He reached his peak in the latter half of the 1950s. The most memorable match of his career was in 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

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, in which he suffered a broken nose in a collision with Welsh striker

John Charles William John Charles (27 December 1931 – 21 February 2004) was a Welsh association football, footballer who played as a centre-forward or as a centre-back. Best known for his first stint at Leeds United F.C., Leeds United and Juventus FC, Ju ...

, but continued to play and made dozens of acrobatic saves. Other notable matches were against

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Ramat Gan Stadium Ramat Gan Stadium (, ''Itztadion Ramat Gan'') is a football stadium in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. It served as the national stadium of Israel until 2014. Overview Completed in 1951 and serving as Israel's largest stadium e ...

in 1956 Olympic qualification, where he played with a broken finger, and Israel's sensational win over

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

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in 1960 Olympic qualification. Hodorov received lucrative offers from several European professional clubs, including Arsenal FC, but he turned them down and chose to play his entire career in the then-amateur Israeli league.

Awards and recognition

Relife of the Goalkeeper Yaakov Hodorov in Israel

In 2006, Hodorov was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

for his contribution to sports, one of few sportspeople who received this honour. Several days before he was due to receive the prize he suffered a stroke and was unable to attend the ceremony. This stroke eventually led to his death several months later on New Year's Eve 2006 at the age of 79.

In popular culture

He is the last footballer (before repetition in the fade-out) to be mentioned in

Arik Einstein Arieh Lieb "Arik" Einstein ( ; (3 January 1939 – 26 November 2013) was an Israeli singer, songwriter, actor, comedian and screenwriter. He was a pioneer of Israeli rock music and was named "the voice of Israel." Through both high public and c ...

's song Ve'ele Shemot (these are the names) that repeats several times the text: "And we will finish at Hodorov".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodorov, Yaakov 1927 births 2006 deaths Israeli men's footballers Hapoel Rishon LeZion F.C. players Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. players Hapoel Ramat Gan Givatayim F.C. players Shimshon Tel Aviv F.C. players Israel men's international footballers Israel Prize in sport recipients Footballers from Rishon LeZion Footballers at the 1958 Asian Games 1956 AFC Asian Cup players 1960 AFC Asian Cup players Israeli people of Russian-Jewish descent Men's association football goalkeepers Asian Games competitors for Israel Israeli Football Hall of Fame inductees Israeli Footballer of the Year recipients 20th-century Israeli sportsmen

Football career

Awards and recognition

In popular culture

See also

References