Lior Refaelov (or Rafaelov, he, ליאור רפאלוב; born 26 April 1986) 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 ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

or as a winger for Belgian First Division A club Anderlecht. He began his career at

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 ...

, where he won the

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 ...

three times. In 2011, he transferred to Club Brugge for €2.5 million. With the Belgian side, he won two first division titles in 2016 and 2018 and scored the winning goal in the

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

final in 2015. Refaelov made his senior international debut in 2007, and has since earned 40

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 ...

and scored 6 goals for the Israel national team.

Early and personal life

Refaelov was born in

Or Akiva Or Akiva ( he, אוֹר עֲקִיבָא) (''light of Akiva''–in memory of Rabbi Akiva who was tortured and killed at this locale) is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel, on the country's coastal plain. It is located just inland from ...

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 Mountain Jewish (Kavkazim) parents who

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

from

Derbent Derbent (russian: Дербе́нт; lez, Кьвевар, Цал; az, Дәрбәнд, italic=no, Dərbənd; av, Дербенд; fa, دربند), formerly romanized as Derbend, is a city in Dagestan, Russia, located on the Caspian Sea. It i ...

, Dagestan to Israel prior to his birth. He married his Israeli girlfriend Gal ( Aviv) in 2012.

Club career

In 1998, Refaelov began to play in

youth teams. In the 2002–03 season he moved up from the under-16 team to the youth team of the club, and scored in his first match against Neve Yossef. During the 2003–04 season he scored 7 goals in the youth team, lead it to the youth championship and won the best player award.

Maccabi Haifa

Refaelov scored his first goal in the senior during the 2005–06 season on a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

against

Hapoel Nazareth Illit Hapoel Nof HaGalil Football Club (, ar, هبوعيل نوف هچليل) is an Israeli football club based in the city of Nof HaGalil, Formally known by the name "Nazareth Illit" until 2019 (The club accordingly was named as Hapoel Nazareth Il ...

, a game which Haifa won 6–0. In the 2008–09 season, he finished with 9 goals as Maccabi Haifa won the Israeli league championship for the 11th time. At the conclusion of the 2010–11 season, he was voted 'Player of the Year' in the Israeli football.

Club Brugge

On 20 June 2011, Refaelov signed with

Belgian Pro League 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 tea ...

side Club Brugge for a fee of

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

4 million euro and 15% from the next sale. In his first season with the Brugge he scored 7 goals and made 9 assists in all club competition as the club finished as runners-up in the Belgian league. In the next season, Refalov had a great form as he scored 12 goals and made 10 assists. In the 2013–14 season he scored 5 goals and made 14 assists and was one of the most valuable players of the club as they finished third in the league. On 6 November 2014, he scored a hat-trick as Brugge won 4–0 away to

FC Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...

to go top of their

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

group. On 22 March 2015, he scored with an added-time volley the winning goal in the

final, as Brugge defeated Anderlecht for their first trophy in eight years. A year later he repeated the feat, scoring in the 2016 Belgian Cup Final, however this time around Club Brugge lost the final 1–2 to

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

. That same season, he helped Club Brugge win their first league title in 11 years, making 15 league appearances as the club edged out Gent in the final days of the campaign.

Royal Antwerp

On 30 August 2018, Refaelov joined fellow Belgian First Division A side

Royal Antwerp Royal Antwerp Football Club, often referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp, is a Belgian football club based in the city of Antwerp. Founded around 1880 as ''Antwerp Cricket Club'' by English students residing in Antwerp, 15 years before ...

on an initial season-long loan. He scored his first goal for the club in a 5–1 league victory over Zulte Waregem on 16 September. On 9 December, Refaelov netted twice in a 3–0 victory over

Cercle Brugge K.S.V. Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Divisi ...

, moving within four points of league leaders Genk through 18 matches. In May 2019, Refaelov made his move to Antwerp permanent, signing a contract with the club until 2021. On 1 August 2020, Refaelov scored the only goal in a 1–0 win over his former team Club Brugge in the 2020 Belgian Cup Final. On 29 October 2020, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 win over

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League. In January 2021, he was awarded with the

Belgian Golden Shoe In association football, the Belgian Golden Shoe ( nl, Gouden Schoen, french: Soulier d'Or) is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of the Belgian First Division A for the past year. The trophy is spon ...

for 2020. He became the third Antwerp player to win the Golden Boot and the first since

Wilfried Van Moer Wilfried van Moer (1 March 1945 – 24 August 2021) was a Belgian footballer who won the Belgian Golden Shoe three times, first in 1966 while at Antwerp then in 1969 and in 1970 while at Standard Liège. Prior to 1966 Van Moer played with Bev ...

in 1966. Refaelov collected 271 points from the 196 ballots, ahead of Beerschot midfielder

Raphael Holzhauser Raphael Holzhauser (born 16 February 1993) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for TSV 1860 Munich, on loan from Belgian First Division A club OH Leuven, and the Austria national team. Club career Hol ...

(187) and the prolific Genk striker

Paul Onuachu Ebere Paul Onuachu (born 28 May 1994) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for EFL Championship club Southampton and the Nigeria national team. Onuachu has won League titles in Denmark and Belgium, and while in the ...

(86).

Anderlecht

On 26 April 2021, it was announced that Refaelov would move to Belgian First Division A side Anderlecht on 1 July, signing a two-year contract. On 5 December 2021, Refaelov scored a brace in a 3–2 home win against Zulte Waregem.

International career

Refaelov represented Israel in the

2003 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2003 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the second edition of UEFA's UEFA European Under-17 Championship. Portugal hosted the championship, during 7–17 May. The format of the competition changed, and only 8 teams entered the competition ...

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 ...

, scoring his international youth side's only goal in the tournament in a 1–2 loss to England U-17 on 7 May 2003. As part of the Israel U-21, he won the

Valeri Lobanovsky Memorial Tournament Valeri Lobanovsky Memorial Tournament ( uk, Турнір Пам'яті Валерія Лобановського) is an international football tournament established in honour and memory of Valeri Lobanovsky since his death on 13 May 2002, hence th ...

2006. He made his debut for the Israeli senior national side in an friendly against

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

on 22 August 2007, replacing

Idan Tal Idan Tal ( he, עידן טל; born 13 September 1975, in Beersheba) is a former Israeli professional footballer. Tal was born in Beersheba, Israel, and is Jewish. He lives in Haifa, is married to Doreen, and has two children, Miron and Amit. Cl ...

for the last nine minutes of a 1–2 away defeat. His next appearance came in another friendly match on 27 May 2010, against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

at the

Estadio Centenario Estadio Centenario is a stadium in the Parque Batlle of Montevideo, Uruguay, used primarily for football. The stadium was built between 1929 and 1930 to host the inaugural 1930 FIFA World Cup, as well as to commemorate the centenary of Ur ...

in Montevideo; he scored the equaliser in a 1–4 away defeat. On 15 March 2022, Refaelov announced his retirement from the Israel national team.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Club

Maccabi Haifa *

: 2005–06, 2008–09,

2010–11 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. ...

* Israel Toto Cup (Ligat Ha'Al): 2005–06 Club Brugge *

: 2015–16, 2017–18 *

: 2014–15 Belgian Cup, 2014–15 *

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( nl, Belgische Supercup, ; french: Supercoupe de Belgique; german: Belgischer Fußball-Super Cup), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian First Division A champio ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Royal Antwerp *Belgian Cup: 2019–20

Individual

* Footballer of the Year in Israel: 2010–11 *

Player of the Month: March 2014 *

: 2020

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Refaelov, Lior 1986 births Living people Israeli Mizrahi Jews Israeli footballers Maccabi Haifa F.C. players Club Brugge KV players Royal Antwerp F.C. players R.S.C. Anderlecht players Israeli Premier League players Belgian First Division A players Israeli people of Mountain Jewish descent Israeli expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Belgium Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Belgium People from Or Akiva Israel youth international footballers Israel under-21 international footballers Association football midfielders Association football wingers Israel international footballers Jewish footballers Israeli Footballer of the Year recipients

Early and personal life

Club career

Maccabi Haifa

Club Brugge

Royal Antwerp

Anderlecht

International career

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

Individual

See also

References

External links