Nir Davidovich
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Nir Davidovich (born December 17, 1976) is an Israeli goalkeeper who plays for Maccabi Haifa football club and the Israeli national team.
Davidovich is highly skillful goalkeeper, flexiable and intelligent. He is considered as the best goalkeeper today in Israel and plays as the senior goalkeeper in the Israeli national team. Davidovich suffered from 3 hard injuries but managed to recover and lead Maccabi Haifa to its 8th championship, winning the MVP title. Davidovich played all of his career in Maccabi Haifa and considered a "symbol" of the club along with the veteran captain Arik Benado. Many talk about him as the successor of legendary goalkeeper Avi Ran (a Maccabi Haifa prodigy who died in fatal accident).
Personal data
- Birth Date: December 17, 1976.
- Played in: Maccabi Haifa.
- First Appearance:
- Domestic - November 4, 1995 versus Beitar Jerusalem.
- International - February 18, 1998 versus Turkey.
- Number of appearances (as for August, 2004) at:
- Israel national team - 31 (1 as captain).
- European competetions - 20.
- Domestic league - 179.
- Domestic cup - 17.
- Height: 185 cm.
- Weight: 85 kg.
- Status: married to Avital, with one child.
- Honours: 2 championships, 1 Israeli cup, 1 MVP of the season.
- Nickname: "The Octopus"
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 Boni Ginzburg to become MHFC senior goalkeeper.
- 1998: First international appearance at Israel 4-0 victory over Turkey.
- 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.
- 1999: Injured seriously in the crounch and missed the entire season.
- 2000\2001: Won the championship with Maccabi Haifa, conceiving only 28 goals (the lowest in that season).
- 2001: Injured in his knee in the match versus Spain, where he kept the Israeli goal clean until he was replaced in half-time. [1] (http://www.wldcup.com/reports/2001Jun/20010606_8831_israel_spain.html),[2] (http://www.soccernet.com/worldcup/2000/20010606/reports/israel_spain_full.html)
- 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. After his perfromance he received grades of 9-10 in the Israeli press and was dubbed "The Octopus".
- 2003\2004: Won the championship with Maccabi Haifa and chosen by player, press and coaches as the MVP of the season.
- 2004: saves a penalty kick as Israel beat Cyprus 2-1 in a 2006 World Cup qualifier.
External links
- Nir Davidovich page at Maccabi Haifa official website (http://mhaifa.nana.co.il/Reports/showplayer.asp?PlayerID=23).