Avraham "Avi" Cohen was an Israeli footballer who played as a defender. He was best known for his spell playing for Liverpool in England.[1] After retirement from active football and management, he was the chairman of the Israel Professional Footballers Association for over five years until he was killed in a motorcycle crash.[4][5]Career
Cohen began his playing career with Maccabi Tel Aviv, before joining Liverpool for a fee of £200,000 ($450,000) in July 1979, and became the first Israeli to play in England.[1][4] He struggled to establish himself as a regular at Anfield and was released in November 1981, rejoining Maccabi.[1] On 20 September 1980, Cohen stirred up controversy when he decided to play in Liverpool's away fixture versus Southampton, which fell on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. Liverpool drew with Southampton 2–2 in front of 24,085 spectators and Cohen was lambasted by the Israeli media for playing.[6] He returned to the United Kingdom in 1987, when he had a brief spell under former Liverpool teammate Graeme Souness at Rangers,[1] before ending his career with Maccabi Netanya.He also played for the Israeli national team, making his debut on 19 July 1976 during the 1976 Summer Olympics in a 0–0 draw against Guatemala.[7][8] On 9 October 1984, Cohen scored his first goal against Greece in a 2–2 friendly draw.[9] He was capped 51 times, scoring 3 goals.[3][10] His son, Tamir, is currently an international professional footballer who plays for Bolton Wanderers in the English Premier League and the Israeli national team.[11]
Personal life
Cohen was married to Dorit and the father of three, including the football player Tamir Cohen.[12] In addition, Cohen was the brother-in-law of former football player Vicky Peretz and the uncle of Peretz sons – Adi and Omer Peretz.[13]In 2008, he participated in the Israeli reality version of Dancing with the Stars and was the fifth to be eliminated.
Death
On 20 December 2010, Cohen was seriously injured in a motorcycle crash. He was taken to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital, where he was immediately taken into surgery and was reported to be in a critical condition.[14] Johan Elmander paid tribute to Avi Cohen through a goal celebration on 26 December 2010 when he scored against West Bromwich Albion. Elmander held up a Bolton Wanderers shirt that read on the back – Get Well Soon Avi Cohen. This was due to Cohen's son Tamir currently playing for Bolton.[15]On 28 December 2010, Ichilov Hospital declared that Cohen was brain dead.[16] His brain death was confirmed by his son Tamir later the same day.[5] Paying tribute to Cohen, Kenny Dalglish said "Avi was a lovely man who will be remembered fondly by everyone at Liverpool who knew him. He quickly integrated himself into the football club when he joined us and spent a lot of time learning English which really made him popular. He was well liked by all the lads and although he didn't spend a long time at the club, he certainly left his mark and no-one will forget how he helped us win the league against Aston Villa. My thoughts and those of everyone connected to the club are with Avi's family." Ally McCoist said "we knew his situation was bad but never for a second did we think it would come to this" before going on to say it was "so sad to hear that he has passed away."[17]
On 29 December 2010, eight hours after the confirmation of suffering brain death, Cohen's heart stopped and he was declared legally dead at 06:00 am IST.[18][2]
Liverpool marked the death of Cohen with a period of applause before their Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 29 December 2010.[19]
Honours
Club
- Maccabi Tel Aviv
- Liga Leumit First Division (2): 1976–77, 1978–79
- State Cup (2): 1976–77, 1986–87
- Liverpool
- Football League First Division (1): 1979–80
- Charity Shield (2): 1978–79, 1979–80
- European Cup (1): 1980–81
- Rangers
- League Cup (1): 1986–87
Individual
- Israel Player of the Year (1): 1978–79[20]
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