FORMER Rangers and Liverpool defender Avi Cohen, the first Israeli to play abroad, tells Paul Forsyth why football is a casualty of his country's military needs
AVI COHEN is happy to confirm that the story is true. Soon after joining Liverpool from Maccabi Haifa in 1979, he discovered that his peg in the dressing room was alongside that of Kenny Dalglish. One morning, when the Scottish striker wandered i
n for training, the young Israeli thought that it was about time the two of them struck up a conversation. "You and me, the same," he said, prompting only a blank stare.
After an awkward impasse, Cohen tried again. "You and me, the same," he repeated, this time causing Dalglish to declare that he hadn't the foggiest what this new lad was on about.
At which point, Cohen smiled, and shared with him an explanation. "You and me, the same," he said. "Both learn English. Nobody understand."
These are the kind of memories that come to Cohen's mind when mention is made of Scottish football. When Hapoel Tel Aviv play host to Celtic in Thursday's Europa League match, the man who is now chairman of the Israeli Professional Footballers' Association will think of the friendship he went on to forge with Dalglish, and with another Liverpool team-mate, Graeme Souness, who signed him for Rangers in 1987. He will think of the Skol Cup medal he won after a penalty shoot-out with Aberdeen, and his appearance as a substitute in the Old Firm derby from which Chris Woods, Terry Butcher and Frank McAvennie were all sent packing. "We had only nine players and still came back from 2-0 down," says Cohen. "I have played a lot of other games in my career, but nothing like that. It was unbelievable." Cohen played just seven times for Rangers before returning to Israel. In those days, the national team, for whom he made 52 appearances, had to qualify for the World Cup via the Oceania section, the logistics of which did not combine well with a career in Glasgow. "I wanted very much to stay in Scotland, especially with Rangers, who are a big, big club, but I was 31 at the time, with young children, and family is more important. That's why I went back home."
His religion had nothing to do with it. Although remembered by many as that rarest of men at the time, a non-Protestant to play for Rangers, he recalls barely a whisper about his faith, which seemed to be more of an issue at Anfield. Legend has it that Bob Paisley once received a phone call from a journalist who wanted to know whether Cohen was Orthodox. "Orthodox what?" asked the manager. "Orthodox midfielder? Orthodox defender?"
"Orthodox Jew," said the caller. "If he is, he cannot play on a Saturday."
To which Paisley replied: "I've got half a dozen like that already."
Cohen, now 52, was a pioneer in his day, not only the first Israeli to play professional football abroad, but the first foreigner to play for Liverpool in nearly quarter of a century. He was blessed with strength in the tackle and sound distribution. If he never quite caught up with the pace of English football, a shortcoming that consigned him to long periods in the reserves, there were some glorious interludes. Like the title-winning match against Aston Villa in 1980, when he scored for both teams. Or the European Cup run a year later. Cohen didn't play in the final, but Alan Kennedy, the man he would never supplant at left-back, scored the winner against Real Madrid. "When I played for Liverpool, they were the best, a very, very good team, like a machine. To have been a part of that was a great honour. It opened the gates for other Israelis to go abroad." His two years at Liverpool, sandwiched by lengthier spells at Maccabi, where he is known as something of a father figure, inspired many of his compatriots. Ronnie Rozenthal, Eyal Berkovic and Yossi Benayoun have followed the example set by Cohen, whose son, Tamir, now plays for Bolton Wanderers. Almost inevitably, Cohen Jnr's first Premier League goal was against Liverpool the season before last.
Berkovic was a Celtic player when they last confronted Hapoel Tel Aviv, almost exactly a decade ago, but his two years at the club are not remembered fondly. Appreciated by neither the fans nor Martin O'Neill, the mercurial midfielder signed by John Barnes had problems with his temperament that plague him to this day. Earlier this year, he was sentenced to 100 hours' community service for assaulting the coach of his son's football team. "I don't know what happened with Celtic, but he was very successful in England," says Cohen. "He didn't play at the highest level, for Liverpool, Manchester United or Arsenal, but he played in the Premier League and not many Israeli players have done that."
So popular is Berkovic in his homeland that there have been calls for him to be installed as the national coach. Now 37, he is retired, combining television work with children's football. "He has no experience of coaching, but he has big experience of playing for Israel," says Cohen. "He was a good player who would like very much to coach the national team. The Israeli people would like it too. I don't mind who has the job, as long as he takes Israel to the finals of a big competition."
The speculation has followed another failure on that front, this time by Dror Kashtan, who is under pressure to step aside after last weekend's home defeat by Latvia. Israel have only once made it to the World Cup finals, but more was expected of them in their latest campaign, especially after the draw cast them in a favourable qualifying group. If that story has a familiar ring to it in these parts, so does Cohen's complaint that not enough native talent is being produced. "Football is improving in Israel, but not as quickly as it is in Turkey or Greece," he says. "We have a lot of problems. They are not putting the money into sport. The government spends it all on security. There are not many good coaches, and the facilities are poor. It's not like in England where every club has an academy to produce its own players. It is getting better, but only in small, small steps."
According to Cohen, Hapoel are a decent team, tactically organised, and likely to be boosted by a noisy crowd, but they shouldn't be a match for Celtic. Their success was qualifying for the group stages, as it was for Maccabi in the Champions League. "Two teams still playing in Europe," says Cohen. "It is not every year that happens."
He is just glad that the Celtic game has provoked none of the security concerns voiced by some of Britain's previous visitors to Israel. The Middle East conflict has saddled the country with an image problem that has led to protests by the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea. "It is very frustrating for people who live in Israel because we have a beautiful country. The people are very nice, and it's not like what you see on the news. All the bad things happen a long way from Tel Aviv. Celtic will not see anything like that. Tel Aviv is like London or New York, a city that is open 24 hours, with lots to do and see. I am sure you will like it."
The man who introduced Israel to the world of football will be happy if football introduces the world to Israel.
