Nir Davidovich

Nir Davidovich
Personnel
birthday	17th December 1976
place of birth	Haifa ,  Israel
position	goalkeeper
Juniors
Years	station
1985-1994	Maccabi Haifa
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1995–	Maccabi Haifa	384 (0)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1998-2010	Israel	50 (0)
1 Only league games are given. Status: end of season 2013/14

Nir Davidovich (born December 17, 1976 in Haifa ) is an Israeli football goalkeeper . Since 1994 he has been the goalkeeper for the Israeli first division club Maccabi Haifa .

Athletic career

Davidovich grew up in a family of Holocaust survivors. His father, Benjamin, played for Maccabi Haifa in the 1950s . At the age of nine, Davidovich joined Maccabi Haifa Youth. Originally he wanted to play a striker, but on his father's advice he became a goalkeeper. He went through the steps from the U-17 national team to the seniors.

On November 4, 1995 Davidovich was in the game against Beitar Jerusalem , which ended 1-1, for the first time behind the posts of Maccabi Haifa. Still, he stayed on the bench for the rest of the season, not least because Rafi Cohen was the actual goalkeeper.

Rafi Cohen left Haifa at the end of the season. Davidovich did not get the longed-for position, but Boni Ginzburg was preferred by the then coach Giora Spiegel . Something that Davidovich found difficult to digest. In the 1996 season, Ginzburg played a bad season, so Davidovich got a real chance for the first time. Davidovich particularly distinguished himself in the "legendary" game against Hapoel Petach Tikva , in which no less than three Haifa players were sent off. The game ended 0-0. Even so, Haifa had disappointed in the league and coach Spiegel left the club. Now Davidovich was more in goal, including in the final of the Israeli Cup against Hapoel Jerusalem . In stoppage time Davidovich prevented a sure goal and Maccabi Haifa won 2-0.

In the 1998/1999 season Maccabi Haifa played a great European season in the Cup Winners' Cup . Haifa made it to the quarterfinals. Among other things, the then top club Paris Saint-Germain had been thrown out of the competition. Especially in the game in France, Davidovich showed a great performance and the game ended 1-1. In the quarterfinals they faced Lokomotiv Moscow . In the game in Russia, Davidovich made a serious mistake by letting a free kick roll into the goal from 35 yards. Such mistakes were the reason Davidovich is a goalkeeper between genius and insanity.

By the 2000/01 season, Davidovich suffered serious injuries. Among other things, he seriously injured his shoulder and groin. In the 2000/01 season he returned to the goal of Maccabi Haifa and won the championship title with then coach Avraham Grant and today's Liverpool player , Yossi Benayoun . This season Davidovich conceded just 28 goals. This quota is now considered to be the best quota in the history of the Ligat ha'Al . In the game against Spain, Davidovich was seriously injured when he hit the post with head-on force.

Davidovich got his first appearance in the Israeli national team in 1998 in the game against Turkey , which Israel won 4-0.

Web links

• Player data from Nir Davidovich
• Nir Davidovich in the database of National-Football-Teams.com (English)