Nahum Stelmach ( he, נחום סטלמך; – ) was an Israeli footballer and manager.
Biography
Stelmach was born in
Petah Tikva
Petah Tikva ( he, פֶּתַח תִּקְוָה, , ), also known as ''Em HaMoshavot'' (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of ...
,
British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to:
* Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan.
* Mandatory P ...
(now
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 ...
), to a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family. He was chosen third by ''
Yediot Aharonot
''Yedioth Ahronoth'' ( he, יְדִיעוֹת אַחֲרוֹנוֹת, ; lit. ''Latest News'') is a national daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv, Israel. Founded in 1939 in British Mandatory Palestine, ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' is the largest paid n ...
s greatest Israeli footballers. He made a name for himself as the leader of
Hapoel Petah Tikva
Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C. ( he, הפועל פתח תקווה) is an Israeli football club based in the city of Petah Tikva, currently playing in the Liga Leumit.
Its most successful period was throughout the 1950s and 1960s, in which the club won ...
.
At the height of his career in Hapoel Petah Tikva, Stelmach received offers to sign for
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
and
Fenerbahçe but declined due to his loyalty to the team. He led his team to five national championships, four of them consecutive.
His most recognizable attribute was the quality of his headers, with which he scored most of his international goals. As a result, he was commonly nicknamed "the golden head" in Israel.
He scored what was arguably his most famous goal for the
Israeli national football team in an Olympic qualifier against
The USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
, with
Lev Yashin
Lev Ivanovich Yashin (russian: Лев Иванович Яшин; 22 October 1929 – 20 March 1990), nicknamed the "Black Spider" or the "Black Panther", was a Soviet professional footballer regarded by many as the greatest goalkeeper in the hi ...
as goalkeeper at the
Ramat Gan Stadium
Ramat Gan Stadium ( he, אצטדיון רמת גן, ''Itztadion Ramat Gan'') is a football stadium in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. It served as the national stadium of Israel until 2014.
Overview
Completed in 1951 and serving ...
on 1956. Despite the fact that Israel lost the game 2:1 (his goal was a temporary equalizer), and that the game was not televised, that goal is widely considered a defining moment in the history of Israel's national team's early years.
Coach
He was the trainer of
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 ( ...
in the 1970s, while training the international stars
Yochanan Vollach
Yochanan Vollach ( he, יוחנן וולך, also Jochanan Wallach or Yohanan Wallach, born May 14, 1945) is an Israeli former footballer. He was a member of the Israeli national team that competed at the 1970 FIFA World Cup. He is a member of th ...
and
Itzhak Englander.
Honors
*
National league
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
(1st tier) (6):
**
1954–55,
1958–59,
1959–60,
1960–61,
1961–62,
1962–63
*
Israel State Cup
The Israel State Cup ( he, גביע המדינה, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA).
The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involve ...
(1):
**1956–57
References
1936 births
1999 deaths
20th-century Israeli Jews
Jewish footballers
Israeli footballers
Israel international footballers
1956 AFC Asian Cup players
1960 AFC Asian Cup players
1964 AFC Asian Cup players
Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C. players
Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv F.C. players
Hapoel Herzliya F.C. players
Footballers from Petah Tikva
Hapoel Haifa F.C. managers
Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. managers
Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C. managers
Hapoel Jerusalem F.C. managers
Beitar Jerusalem F.C. managers
Maccabi Petah Tikva F.C. managers
Beitar Tel Aviv Bat Yam F.C. managers
Hapoel Hadera F.C. managers
Maccabi Ramat Amidar F.C. managers
Footballers at the 1958 Asian Games
Association football forwards
Asian Games competitors for Israel
Israeli football managers
Association football player-managers
Israel national football team managers
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