Long before Yossi Benayoun and Ronny Rosenthal graced the Anfield pitch wearing the iconic Liverpool kit there was someone who paved the way for them and the rest of the Israeli footballers along the way. One of the reasons why Avi Cohen entered the pantheon of Israeli football was due to his accomplishments outside the country’s borders. In a day that was a lot less global than the world that we currently live in and before the “Bosman rule” where foreign players would enter the arena of European football, Avi Cohen was the first Israeli to play in the English League, the highest level of world both now and then.
It’s not as if Cohen went to play for some of the more modest teams such as Coventry or Norwich. He made history with the Liverpool of legendary Bob Paisley, one of club’s considered to be the greatest in the world. A club that won 11 league championships in 15 years along with 4 European Cups between 1977-1984. Millions of fans followed Liverpool with many from Israel. Perhaps the excitement surrounding the club can be compared to that around Pep Guardiola and Leo Messi’s Barcelona from the past decade. This was a team that either you loved or simply you just couldn’t stand them due to their unprecedented success. Avi Cohen moving from Maccabi Tel Aviv to Liverpool would be similar if Eran Zahavi had played for Barcelona under Guardiola and shared the pitch with Messi.
Cohen arrived at Anfield in 1979. Avi was a dominant player with Maccabi especially in his position of central defender despite the lack of technique to help build the attack. In 1976/77 the Yellow & Blue won the Double and added a championship in 1978/79 just before heading to Britain.
During that season, Cohen took a break from the stadiums in the Holy Land for the audition of his life. The short trial at Liverpool was to see him up close before paying 200,000 British Pounds for his transfer. Of course the romance with the Mighty Reds was followed closely in Israel and the short video below shows just what type of talent that Cohen really was back in those days.
A few months later, once the local league’s season came to an end, Cohen’s transfer to England approached. The star was hosted on the “Zehu Zeh” television program hosted by Yoram Shimron, Avi spoke about his feelings with Liverpool in sight (1:28 mark):
In the summer of 1979, Avi officially became a Liverpool player. He started the season and was sent right into the deep waters of the English League in what was almost a surprise. On September 15, 1970 when one of the greats Ray Kennedy couldn’t appear, Cohen was called upon in his place. The Israeli played as a left midfielder and faced Leeds United in a match that ended 1:1 as he made his debut for the club.
As the season continued, the Liverpool stars returned to the squad to pick up another championship but near the end of the campaign the new recruit from the Holy Land perhaps had his most memorable performance. Anfield Stadium hosted the Reds and Aston Villa in what was to be the coronation match and Cohen was named to the starting lineup as a left defender. However, the contest didn’t begin as the Israeli would have wanted. With the score 1:0 for the host’s, Cohen scored an own goal to help Aston Villa draw even.
But Cohen was mentally tough and didn’t the bad luck get to him and his confidence allowed him to make amends in the second half. Kenny Dalglish began the play with a cross to the left side of the box, Kennedy left the ball for Cohen who sent it into the far corner with his left foot. The Reds were the lead and finished off a 4:1 win that gave Bob Paisley’s squad the championship. You couldn’t find a better opportunity to score your only goal with Liverpool.
The following season, 1980/81 Avi was a mainstay in coach Paisley’s rotation and appeared in 14 league matches in his last campaign before returning to Maccabi. The Reds lost the championship to Aston Villa but they did capture the European Cup, the 3rd of five the club has won to date.
During the European campaign, the Israeli had the privilege to wear the Liverpool kit three more times but didn’t take part in the 1:0 final victory against Real Madrid. However, he’s the only Israeli to have ever been able to lift the distinguished trophy in triumph.
