Abraham "Abba" Gindin ( he, אברהם "אבא" גינדין; born 24 December 1945 in

Helsinki, Finland Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city' ...

) is a former

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player.

Early life

Gindin was born and raised in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and grew up playing

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

and football for

Makkabi Helsinki Makkabi Helsinki is a Finnish Jewish sports club in Helsinki, Finland. It is the oldest Jewish sports club in the world that has an uninterrupted history. It was founded in 1906 with the name “Stjärnan”' (Swedish for ‘the star’). The curr ...

. At the age of 18, he left Finland for his sister's wedding, who was then living on kibbutz

Ein HaShofet Ein HaShofet ( he, עֵין הַשּׁוֹפֵט, ''lit.'' Spring of the Judge) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Menashe Heights region around 25 km southeast of the city of Haifa, close to Yokneam, it falls under the jurisdic ...

Professional career

Gindin spent eleven seasons with

Hapoel Haifa Hapoel Haifa Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל חיפה, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Haifa'') is an Israeli football club located in the city of Haifa. The club won one championship (1998–99) and 4 Israeli cups ( ...

. He made six appearances for the

Israel national football team The Israel national football team ( he, נבחרת ישראל בכדורגל, ) represents Israel in international football, and is governed by the Israel Football Association (IFA). Israel's national team is the direct successor of the M ...

References

1946 births Living people Finnish Jews Israeli Jews Israeli footballers Association football forwards Hapoel Haifa F.C. players Liga Leumit players Israel international footballers Footballers from Helsinki Finnish emigrants to Israel Israeli Footballer of the Year recipients {{Israel-footy-bio-stub