Yisha'ayahu Schwager (, ; born in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, 10 February 1946, death in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, 31 August 2000) was an Israeli

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 lea ...

1970 World Cup

Schwager was a member of the Israel squad that participated in the World Cup finals in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. During a group play match against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, Schwager was given the task of marking

Luigi Riva Luigi "Gigi" Riva (; 7 November 1944 – 22 January 2024) was an Italian professional footballer who played as a striker. Considered to be one of the best players of his generation, as well as one of the greatest strikers of all time, Riva enj ...

, which he did so well that he received praise from the media back home. In 2000, Schwager died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. Schwager also played at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

External links

Profile and biography of Yisha'ayahu Schwager on Maccabi Haifa's official website

Footnotes

1946 births 2000 deaths Israeli men's footballers Israel men's international footballers Maccabi Haifa F.C. players 1970 FIFA World Cup players Footballers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Israel Footballers from Haifa Polish emigrants to Israel Men's association football defenders 20th-century Israeli sportsmen {{Israel-footy-defender-stub