Ofir Meir Marciano (or Martziano, he, אופיר מרציאנו; born 7 October 1989) is an Israeli professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

club

Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל באר שבע, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli football club from the city of Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The c ...

and the Israel national team. He started his career with Israeli side MS Ashdod and has since played for Belgian club

Mouscron Mouscron (; Dutch and vls, Moeskroen, ; Picard and Walloon: ''Moucron'') is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, along the border with the French city of Tourcoing, which is part of the Lille metropoli ...

and Scottish club Hibernian.

Early and personal life

Marciano was born and raised in

Ashdod Ashdod ( he, ''ʾašdōḏ''; ar, أسدود or إسدود ''ʾisdūd'' or '' ʾasdūd'' ; Philistine: 𐤀𐤔𐤃𐤃 *''ʾašdūd'') is the sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District, it lies on the Mediterran ...

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 family of

Sephardic Jewish Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...

descent. He married Israeli model Shelly Regev in 2016. They have two sons.

Club career

Ashdod

Marciano signed for

in 2008, and made over 130

appearances for the Israeli club.

Mouscron

On 7 July 2015, Marciano signed a season-long loan deal with top division

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

club

Hibernian

In August 2016, he signed for Scottish club Hibernian on loan for the 2016–17 season, although regulations held up his eligibility to play for the club. Marciano said that he was sold on the move by fellow Israeli footballer

Nir Bitton Nir Bitton (or Biton, he, ניר ביטון; born 30 October 1991) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or as a defensive midfielder for Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Tel Aviv and Israel national team which he ...

, who plays for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

. Following a three-week delay, it was announced on 26 August 2016 that Marciano had obtained his work permit. He made his debut for the club on the following day, in a 4–0 win against

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greeno ...

. Marciano made 21 league appearances as Hibernian won the 2016–17 Scottish Championship, eventually helping his club earn their promotion to the top division of the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

. In June 2017, he signed a four-year deal with Hibernian. Marciano was replaced in the team by Ross Laidlaw in September, missing one game due to observing

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day's ...

. Marciano regained his place, but in June 2018 he underwent surgery on a finger injury. This caused him to miss matches early in the 2018–19 season, which led to Hibs signing Hungarian goalkeeper Adam Bogdan. Marciano resumed training in October 2018 and subsequently regained the starting position with Hibs. Chris Maxwell replaced Marciano as first choice early in the 2019–20 season, but the Israeli regained his place during December 2019. Marciano continued as first choice during the 2020–21 season, but advised the club in March 2021 that he would not sign a new contract – eventually finishing that 2020–21 Scottish Premiership season with Hibernian in the 3rd place, as well as making over 120 appearances for the Scottish club.

Feyenoord

Marciano signed a two-year contract with for Dutch top division

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

club

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

in June 2021. On 19 August 2021, Marciano made his debut playing for Feyenoord during the first leg of a qualifying

play-off round The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

match of the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their ...

, that ended in a 5–0 home win against Swedish side

Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spe ...

for his team. As well as playing in the second leg against Swedish side Elfsborg, that ended in a 3–1 win for Elfsborg. On 25 November 2021, he played for Feyenoord during a

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

match against Czech side

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in th ...

, that ended in a 2–2 away draw. In March and April 2022, Marciano played regularly due to an injury to first choice goalkeeper

Justin Bijlow Justin Bijlow (born 22 January 1998) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as goalkeeper for Eredivisie club Feyenoord and the Netherlands national team. International career Bijlow was called up to the senior Netherlands squad in Novemb ...

. Marciano helped the team reach the

2022 UEFA Europa Conference League Final The 2022 UEFA Europa Conference League Final was the final match of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League, the first season of Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. It was played on 25 May 2022 at the Arena Kombëtar ...

, defeating

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

3–2 on aggregate in the semi-final. Bijlow recovered from injury in time for the final.

Hapoel Be'er Sheva

On 15 June 2023 signed for 3 years in the

club

International career

Marciano made his international debut on 10 October 2014, as

won 2–1 against

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

, during a

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from September 2014 to November 2015 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams joining the automatically qualified host team France in the UEFA Euro 2 ...

away match. Marciano was recalled to the Israel squad in November 2016, but had to withdraw after suffering a knee injury in training. Marciano was recalled to the national squad in March 2019, and played as Israel's on-and-off first choice goalkeeper since the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers. He then established his permanent first position for Israel all throughout the

2020–21 UEFA Nations League The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League was the second season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The competition was held from Septembe ...

and the

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) The European section of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification acted as qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Qatar, for national teams that are members of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). A total of 13 slots ...

. On 29 March 2020, Marciano was given the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

armband of the senior Israel national team (after first captain

Bibras Natcho Bibars Natcho (Adyghe language, Adyghe: Пыйпэрыс Натхъо, he, ביברס נאתכו, ; born 18 February 1988) is an Israeli professional Association football, footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Serbian club FK Partiza ...

was substituted out right after the first half), in a home friendly match 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 ...

that ended in a 2–2 draw.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Hibernian *

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland Scotland (, ...

: 2016–17 Feyenoord *

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

runner-up: 2021–22

Notes

References

External links

* *
Career stats (VI.nl)
- Voetbal International * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marciano, Ofir 1989 births Living people Israeli men's footballers Jewish footballers Israeli Jews Israeli Sephardi Jews Footballers from Ashdod F.C. Ashdod players Royal Excel Mouscron players Hibernian F.C. players Feyenoord players Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. players Israeli Premier League players Belgian Pro League players Scottish Professional Football League players Eredivisie players Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Israeli expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Israeli expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Men's association football goalkeepers Israel men's international footballers

Early and personal life

Club career

Ashdod

Mouscron

Hibernian

Feyenoord

Hapoel Be'er Sheva

International career

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Notes

See also

References

External links