Roberto Damián Colautti ( he, רוברטו דמיאן קולאוטי; born 24 May 1982) is an Argentine-Israeli former 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 ...

who played as a forward. He began his career in Argentina with Boca Juniors, and joined the Israeli club

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

in 2004. He became an

Israeli citizen Israeli citizenship law details the conditions by which a person holds citizenship of Israel. The two primary pieces of legislation governing these requirements are the 1950 Law of Return and 1952 Citizenship Law. Every Jew in the world has ...

in 2007, on account of marrying an Israeli in 2005. He was promptly selected for the Israel national team, for which he won 21

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

over the next four years, scoring six goals. Colautti played for the German team Borussia Mönchengladbach from 2007 to 2010, and then returned to Israel with

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

. He moved to Cyprus in 2013 to join

Anorthosis Famagusta Anorthosis Famagusta ( el, Ανόρθωση Αμμοχώστου, translit=Anorthosi Ammochostou), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Anorthosis Famagusta multi-sport club fo ...

; after a single season he joined

AEK Larnaca AEK Larnaca FC ( el, AEK; for short Αθλητική Έvωση Κίτιον Λάρνακας , translit=''Athletiki Enosi Kition Larnakas'', "Athletic Union Kition of Larnaca") is a Cypriot professional football club based in Larnaca. The club ...

. He left Larnaca in 2015.

Early and personal life

Colautti was born in Córdoba,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, to a Christian family of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent. He acquired an

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 ...

citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

in 2007, two years after marrying his Israeli girlfriend Alvit Strauss (sister of Israeli goalkeepers

Sagi Strauss Sagi Strauss ( he, שגיא שטראוס; born 29 June 1976) is a retired Israeli association footballer. Strauss has been transferred or loaned to a new team before almost every season of his professional career. Early and personal life Strau ...

and Ram Strauss) and on account of their marriage. They have four daughters.

Club career

Maccabi Haifa

Colautti joined Israeli team

from Boca Juniors in 2004. In his first season with Maccabi he was the top scorer in the

2004–05 Israeli Premier League The 2004–05 Israeli Premier League season saw Maccabi Haifa win their second consecutive title and ninth overall. It took place from the first match on 21 August 2004 to the final match on 28 May 2005. Two teams from Liga Leumit were promoted a ...

with 19 goals from 30 appearances in Haifa's championship season. In the 2005–06 Israeli Premier League, Colautti was the league's second top scorer with 13 strikes from 28 matches in Haifa's successful title defence. He was also involved in their victory in the 2005–06

Toto Cup The Israel Toto Cup ( he, גביע הטוטו, ''Gvia Ha'Toto'') is an association football tournament that features clubs in the two highest divisions in Israel: the Israeli Premier League (Ligat Ha'Al), and the second division Liga Leumit. F ...

. In the

2006–07 Israeli Premier League The 2006–07 Israeli Premier League season began on 26 August 2006. It was scheduled to begin a week before, but was then postponed due to the 2006 Lebanon War.

, Colautti scored seven times in 32 matches, where Haifa finished the league in fifth place. In the first round of the 2006–07 UEFA Cup, Roberto Colautti scored Maccabi Haifa's third goal against

Litex Lovech Litex ( bg, Литекс) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Lovech, which currently competes in the Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Sports Club. The club's home ground is the Gradski Stadion ...

, giving the Israeli side a 4–2 aggregate victory. Then, in the group stage, Colautti secured a 3–1 victory over the French side

AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or simply Auxerre (), is a French football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division ...

at home, scoring Maccabi Haifa's third goal in the 58th minute, with Colautti rounding the Auxerre

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 ...

Fabien Cool Fabien Cool (born 29 August 1972, in L'Isle-Adam) is a French former professional football goalkeeper. Except for a loan spell at Gueugnon in the 1993–94 season, Cool played for Auxerre his whole career, helping them to win the national cha ...

, before slotting the ball home from a tight angle. Arguably Colautti's and Maccabi Haifa's most important goal, however, was his equalizer against

AS Livorno Calcio Unione Sportiva Livorno 1915 (formerly A.S. Livorno Calcio, commonly known as Livorno), is a semi-professional Italian football club based in Livorno, Tuscany. They compete in Serie D, the top tier of semi-professional Italian football after ...

in Livorno, Italy. In the second half, deep into injury time, in the 93rd minute, he dispatched

Gustavo Boccoli Gustavo Boccoli ( he, גוסטבו בוקולי; born 16 February 1978) is a retired Brazilian-Israeli footballer. He was a versatile midfielder who played most of his career for Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Haifa. Early and personal lif ...

's cross with a close-range header to deny Livorno a win, ending the match with a result of 1–1. The goal in the second leg of the Round of 32 encounter with

PFC CSKA Moscow Professional Football Club CSKA (russian: link=yes, Профессиональный футбольный клуб – ЦСКА, derived from the historical name 'Центральный спортивный клуб армии', English: ...

, in the 14th minute, proved to be the winning goal, with Maccabi Haifa having drawn the first leg in

Vladikavkaz Vladikavkaz (russian: Владикавка́з, , os, Дзæуджыхъæу, translit=Dzæwdžyqæw, ;), formerly known as Ordzhonikidze () and Dzaudzhikau (), is the capital city of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Russia. It is located i ...

, Russia, 0–0. Colautti's goal sent Maccabi Haifa through against CSKA, the team that had won the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

only two years previously. Colautti played 90 league matches for Maccabi Haifa, scoring 39 goals. He won two championship titles with The Greens and was a key part of their successful UEFA Cup campaign.

Borussia Mönchengladbach

He joined second-division German side Borussia Mönchengladbach on 1 August 2007 for an undisclosed fee, and dealt with injuries for most of this season. He did however manage to score 3 goals in his 10 appearances. Mönchengladbach finished first in the

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

to gain promotion to the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

for the 2008–09 season. Colautti's second season at Borussia Park was again interrupted by injuries, and Colautti only played 24 Bundesliga matches out of a possible 34; of which ten were starts. He did score a crucial goal for Mönchengladbach on 10 May 2009 against Schalke in the 90th minute to score a valuable 1–0 win in his side's fourth last league match of the season. This was the Israeli forward's only goal of the season; although he did score two goals in an 8–1 victory over

VfB Fichte Bielefeld VfB Fichte Bielefeld is a German association football club based in Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was formed out of the merger of ''VfB Bielefeld 03'' and ''SpVgg Fichte Bielefeld 06/07'' on 1 July 1999. History Of these predec ...

in a

DFB Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...

tie. This late strike proved to be instrumental in securing Borussia's survival in the Bundesliga, as they finished one point clear of being forced to play-off for their position in the league, and just two points ahead of

Karlsruher SC Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. Domestically, the club was crowned German champion in 1909, and won the DF ...

, who finished bottom.

Maccabi Tel Aviv

On 29 March 2010, he signed a contract with

and returned to Israel in July that year. On 1 August 2010, Colautti scored his first goal at Maccabi

win against

Maccabi Netanya Maccabi Netanya F.C. ( he, מועדון כדורגל מכבי נתניה, ''Football Club Maccabi Netanya'') is an Israeli football club based in Netanya. Established in 1934, the club was a founding member of the Israeli League in 1949. Af ...

. His first season in yellow was a tough one after the club underperformed and Colautti himself struggled to score. He lost his place with the first 11 and remained a substitute for the rest of the season. After all, Colautti managed to score nine league goals for Maccabi and an overall of 13 goals in 40 appearances during the season.

AEK Larnaca

Colautti joined

on 28 June 2014, signing a one-year deal, with the possibility to extend the contract. His league debut came on 24 August 2014 in a 5–2 victory against Apollon Limassol, where he scored his first goals, a brace.

International career

On 2 September 2006, Colautti made his debut for the Israel national football team, having received clearance from FIFA only two days before the match. His debut saw Israel defeat

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

1–0 in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

, Estonia. Colautti scored the only goal of the match in the 9th minute. He has scored a brace against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

and further goals against

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

, Macedonia and another goal against Estonia. All of his goals have come in Israel's

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

qualifiers; in his first seven matches, he had six international goals to his name. Colautti was granted full

Israeli citizenship Israeli citizenship law details the conditions by which a person holds citizenship of Israel. The two primary pieces of legislation governing these requirements are the 1950 Law of Return and 1952 Citizenship Law. Every Jew in the world has ...

along with

Toto Tamuz Toto Adaruns Tamuz Temile ( he, טוטו אדיוראנס תמוז טמילה; born 1 April 1988) is a Nigerian-born Israeli professional footballer who plays as a forward. Born in Nigeria, he grew up in Israel from infancy after his father ...

(originally from Nigeria), after their respective applications were approved by the Minister of Internal Affairs

Roni Bar-On Roni Bar-On ( he, רוני בר-און, born 2 June 1948) is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as a member of the Knesset for Likud and Kadima between 2003 and 2011, and is also a former Minister of Finance. Biography Bar-On was bor ...

in 2007.Boker (2007)
Bar-On approves citizenship for soccer players Tamuz and Colautti
Haaretz, 26 June. Accessed 9 July 2007.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Israel's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Colautti goal''.

Honours

Club

Boca Juniors * Argentine Primera División: 2003 Apertura Maccabi Haifa *

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 ...

: 2004–05, 2005–06 *

: 2005–06 Borussia Mönchengladbach *

: 2007–08 Maccabi Tel Aviv *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Individual

Top goal scorer: 2004–05

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Colautti, Roberto Damian Living people 1982 births Footballers from Córdoba, Argentina Association football forwards Israeli footballers Argentine footballers Israel international footballers Boca Juniors footballers FC Lugano players Club Atlético Banfield footballers Maccabi Haifa F.C. players Borussia Mönchengladbach players Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players Anorthosis Famagusta F.C. players AEK Larnaca FC players Cypriot First Division players Argentine emigrants to Israel Israeli people of Italian descent Naturalized citizens of Israel Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine Primera División players Israeli Premier League players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Israeli expatriate footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Germany Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Germany Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Argentine Christians Israeli Christians