Avi Cohen

Cohen was born in Cairo, Egypt, and was Jewish. He moved to Israel as a youngster, and 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. He struggled to establish himself as a regular at Anfield and was released in November 1981, rejoining Maccabi. 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. He did not play enough matches to receive a winner's medal for either the first division League Championship or the European Cup. He returned to the United Kingdom in 1987, when he had a brief spell under former Liverpool teammate Graeme Souness at Rangers, before ending his career with Maccabi Netanya. He also played for the Israel national team, making his debut on 19 July 1976 during the 1976 Summer Olympics in a 0–0 draw against Guatemala. On 9 October 1984, Cohen scored his first goal against Greece in a 2–2 friendly draw. He was capped 51 times, scoring 3 goals. His son, Tamir, is also a professional footballer who plays for Maccabi Haifa in the Israeli Premier League and the Israel national team.

Cohen was married to Dorit Cohen and the father of three, including the football player Tamir Cohen. In addition, Cohen was the brother-in-law of former football player Vicky Peretz and the uncle of Peretz sons – Adi and Omer Peretz. In 2008, he participated in the Israeli reality version of Dancing with the Stars and was the fifth to be eliminated.

Player

Maccabi Tel Aviv

Liga Leumit First Division: 1976–77, 1978–79 State Cup: 1976–77, 1986–87 Israel Super Cup: 1988 Liverpool

Charity Shield: 1979, 1980 Champions league 80/81 Premier League 79/80 carabao cup 1981 Rangers

League Cup: 1987–88

Individual

Israel Player of the Year: 1978–79 Member of the Israeli Football Hall of Fame