Alexander "Alex" Abraham Zahavi (born January 21, 1991) is a retired Israeli

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. Zahavi was born in the United States, the son of a Portuguese mother and Israeli father. He has represented

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

at youth levels but considered switching federations so he can represent the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He is the great nephew of football agent Pini Zahavi. Zahavi is a winger who plays on the left side of midfield, even though he is right-footed.

Club career

Professional career

On July 16, 2010, Zahavi joined Maccabi Haifa on trial trying to impress

Elisha Levy Elisha Levy ( he, אלישע לוי; born on 18 November 1957) is a retired Israeli association footballer and currently the manager of Hapoel Haifa F.C., Hapoel Haifa. Career Player Levy was born in Jerusalem, Israel, to a Jewish family. In the ...

. On July 26 he was presented as a Maccabi Haifa player after he signed a contract with the club. Zahavi joined Israeli Premier League club

Hapoel Acre Hapoel Acre Football Club ( he, מועדון כדורגל הפועל עכו, ''Moadon Kaduregel Hapoel Akko'') is an Israeli football club based in Acre, Israel. The club currently plays in Liga Leumit. History Founded in 1946, the club dwelt i ...

in February 2011 on loan for the remainder of the 2010–11 season. On July 7, Maccabi Haifa announced that they extended Zahavi's contract through the 2015 season, and are loaning him to Portuguese top flight team

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória (b ...

for the 2011–12 season. Zahavi joined Portuguese top-flight side

S.C. Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense () is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth tier of Portuguese football. It holds home matches at the ...

for the 2012-2013 season.

International career

Zahavi represented

at various youth levels but was never called into the senior team. Because he played in an official

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

U17 qualifying tournament for Portugal, he was cap tied to their national team under

FIFA eligibility rules As the governing body of association football, FIFA is responsible for maintaining and implementing the rules that determine whether an association football player is eligible to represent a particular country in officially recognised internation ...

. However, since he is also eligible to play for Israel or the United States, he was allowed to file for a one-time only switch with FIFA. Zahavi was called up to the United States U-20's team in November 2010 for the Torneo de las Americas. On 20 February 2011, Zahavi was called in for his first Israel U-21 camp. Three days later Zahavi played in a friendly with the under-21 side against

FC Arsenal Kyiv Football Club Arsenal Kyiv () is a Ukrainian football club based in Kyiv. In 2019, the club's professional team was dissolved, but its junior teams continue to compete in city competitions. The club claims to be a successor of Kyiv Arsenal fact ...

. In March 2011, Zahavi was brought in for another training camp. On 17 March 2011 Zahavi was named to the under-21 side for a tournament in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Zahavi made his debut for the side in a friendly against Georgia on 23 March 2011. Zahavi scored his first goal for the under-21 side in a friendly against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

on 26 March 2011 in

. Zahavi floated the ball over the Romanian goalkeeper from 35 metres out after exchanging passes with Nes Zamir.

Statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zahavi, Alex 1991 births Living people Sporting CP footballers Vitória F.C. players Primeira Liga players American soccer players Israeli footballers Soccer players from California Maccabi Haifa F.C. players Hapoel Acre F.C. players Portugal youth international footballers Portuguese footballers United States men's under-20 international soccer players Israel under-21 international footballers American people of Israeli descent American people of Portuguese descent Portuguese people of Israeli descent Israeli people of Portuguese descent Association football wingers Association football forwards