Ze'ev Casspi (; 1931-2021) was a former Israeli footballer who played 20 years for

Maccabi Netanya Maccabi Netanya F.C. () is an Israeli professional football club based in Netanya. Established in 1934, the club was a founding member of the Israeli League in 1949. After winning their first championship in 1971, the club's golden period last ...

. He was the younger brother of Yitzhak Casspi, also a footballer for Netanya.

Career

Casspi was born in

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...

and moved to

Netanya Netanya () () or Natanya (), is a city in the "Planet Bekasi" Central District (Israel), Setanyahu of Israel, Israel BAB ih, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between the Poleg stre ...

with his family in 1932. While at school, he and his brother

Yitzhak Yitzhak( ()) is a male first name, and is Hebrew for Isaac. Yitzhak may refer to: People * Yitzhak ha-Sangari, rabbi who converted the Khazars to Judaism *Yitzhak Rabin (1922–1995), Israeli politician and Prime Minister *Yitzhak Shamir (1915– ...

were discovered by Jewish sport pioneer Walter Frankl,Ze'evik Casspi – The Barefoot Runner
Irgun HaHagana and Casspi began training in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

with Hapoel Netanya and in football with

. Casspi represented

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 ...

in the 3rd and

4th Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

Maccabiah Games The Maccabiah Games (, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics") is an international multi-sport event with summer and winter sports competitions featuring Jews and Israelis regardless of religion ...

, winning gold medals in the

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's de ...

and

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

, but was forced to retire due to a car accident in 1953. In 1955, after recovering, Casspi returned to play for Maccabi Netanya. He played there until the end of the 1968–69 season, when he moved to Beitar Netanya. He played one season there before retiring from football in fall 1970. After retirement, Casspi continued to be involved in Maccabi Netanya, serving on its management board and helping to establish the club's handball team.Casspi Ze'ev – City Honorary 2001
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Honors

Liga Alef Liga Alef () is the third tier of the Israeli football league system. It is divided into two regional divisions, north and south. History League football began in Israel in 1949–50, a year after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. Howe ...

(second tier): ** 1963–64

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Casspi, Zeev Living people Jewish Israeli sportspeople Israeli men's footballers Maccabi Netanya F.C. players Beitar Nes Tubruk F.C. players Liga Leumit players Footballers from Netanya Israeli people of Iranian-Jewish descent Maccabiah Games gold medalists for Israel Maccabiah Games silver medalists for Israel Maccabiah Games bronze medalists for Israel Men's association football goalkeepers Year of birth missing (living people) Maccabiah Games medalists in athletics Israeli male javelin throwers Israeli male high jumpers