Tamir Cohen (Hebrew: תמיר כהן; born 4 March 1984) is an Israeli former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the son of the late Maccabi Tel Aviv and Liverpool player Avi Cohen.

Tamir Cohen
Personal information
Full name Tamir Cohen[1]
Date of birth (1984-03-04) 4 March 1984 (age 40)
Place of birth Tel Aviv, Israel
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2007 Maccabi Tel Aviv 81 (4)
2007–2008 Maccabi Netanya 27 (2)
2008–2011 Bolton Wanderers 49 (6)
2011–2013 Maccabi Haifa 17 (0)
2013–2014 Hapoel Ra'anana 21 (4)
Total 195 (16)
International career
2001–2002 Israel U19 14
2003–2006 Israel U21 12 (3)
2007–2011 Israel 21 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

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Early career

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Cohen was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, and is Jewish.[3]

He started his career in Maccabi Tel Aviv's youth team where in 2001–02 he won the double. His first game in the Israeli Premier League was in November 2002 during Maccabi's 1–0 win over Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv, when he came on as a substitute. He scored his first goal against Maccabi Petah Tikva in a 2–1 in the Toto Cup, where he scored the winning goal.

On 11 January 2007 Cohen moved to Maccabi Netanya.[4]

Bolton Wanderers

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On 1 January 2008, Cohen transferred to English club Bolton Wanderers for a fee of £39,000. He made his Bolton debut in the 1–0 FA Cup defeat to Sheffield United, wearing the squad number 25, previously occupied by Abdoulaye Faye. His first Premiership goal was scored on 2 March 2008 in a match against his father's former club Liverpool at the Reebok stadium, which ended in a 3–1 win for Liverpool. The 25-year-old made 11 appearances in his first season in English football.

In the 2008–09 campaign, Cohen played a peripheral role for Bolton Wanderers this campaign with a longstanding thigh injury keeping him out of action for over five months. The Israeli man eventually returned to the first team fold in the final couple of months of the season, earning his first start against Aston Villa at the Reebok Stadium on 25 April. Cohen stole all the headlines with a vibrant midfield performance and capped off the afternoon with a neatly taken equaliser to earn Bolton a vital point. He celebrated his goal by saluting his friends and family who were sat in the West Stand after he had been handed a 'lucky shekel' to put down his sock. Cohen expressed hope that his injury problems would be behind him and that Wanderers fans would see more of his footballing talents in the 2009–10, saying "It's been very frustrating because it's not easy for a football player to be injured. But that is football and you need to live with that. Now hopefully I won't be out anymore while I'm with Bolton".[5]

Cohen was released by Bolton Wanderers at the end of the 2010–11 season, after three and a half years at the club.[6]

Maccabi Haifa

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On 8 August 2011, Cohen signed a four-year deal with Israeli Maccabi Haifa. He rejected an offer from Greek side Panathinaikos in order to play in Israel where he can be closer to his family. Tamir earned €300,000, the highest salary in Maccabi Haifa.[7]

International career

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Cohen made seven appearances for the Israel under-21 national al team. His first appearance on the U-21 team was on the losing side to Cyprus.

He played for the Israel national team against Croatia on 13 October 2007.[8]

Personal life

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Cohen holds an Italian passport in addition to his Israeli one owing to his Italian ancestry. His citizenship of a European Union country gives him the option of playing for an EU football club without having to be classified as a foreigner.

He is the son of Maccabi Tel Aviv and Liverpool player Avi Cohen. Following his father's ultimately fatal motorcycle accident in December 2010, he flew to Israel to be at his father's bedside.[9] On 24 April 2011, Cohen emotionally celebrated by taking off his shirt to reveal a picture of his father after scoring the winning goal in Bolton's 2–1 victory over Arsenal.[10]

Cohen is also the nephew of the former Israeli association football player Vicky Peretz and the cousin of Peretz's sons, Adi Peretz and Omer Peretz.

Career statistics

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[11][12]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Maccabi Tel Aviv 2002–03 Israeli Premier League 13 0 3 0 9 0 0 0 25 0
2003–04 27 2 2 1 5 0 1 0 35 3
2004–05 22 2 4 0 1 0 9 0 36 2
2005–06 16 0 0 0 8 0 2 0 26 0
2006–07 3 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 8 0
Total 81 4 9 1 28 0 12 0 130 5
Maccabi Netanya 2006–07 Israeli Premier League 14 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 17 1
2007–08 13 1 0 0 2 0 2 0 17 1
Total 27 2 1 0 4 0 2 0 34 2
Bolton Wanderers 2007–08 Premier League 10 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 11 1
2008–09 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1
2009–10 27 3 4 0 1 0 0 0 32 3
2010–11 8 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 11 1
Total 49 6 7 0 2 0 0 0 58 6
Maccabi Haifa 2011–12 Israeli Premier League 14 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 20 0
2012–13 3 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 7 0
Total 17 0 1 0 3 0 6 0 27 0
Hapoel Ra'anana 2013–14 Israeli Premier League 21 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 22 4
Career total 195 16 19 1 37 0 20 0 271 17

Honours

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Maccabi Tel Aviv

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Premier League clubs submit squad lists" (PDF). Premier League. 1 February 2011. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2011.
  2. ^ "Premier League Player Profile". Premier League. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  3. ^ Gee, Donna. "From Sandy Koufax to Yossi Benayoun: Where Are All the Other Jewish Sportsmen?". Bleacher Report.
  4. ^ "Tamir Cohen - biography, stats, rating, footballer's profile | Football Top.com". www.footballtop.com.
  5. ^ "Bolton Wanderers | Cohen Hails 'Lucky' Shekel". Bwfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 December 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  6. ^ "New deal for Blake". The Bolton News. 24 April 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  7. ^ "תמיר כהן חתם ל-4 שנים". ONE. 8 August 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2011. and released on June 2013.
  8. ^ "Tamir Cohen, footballer". eu-football.info.
  9. ^ "Israeli former football international Avi Cohen dies". BBC. 28 December 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
  10. ^ BBC Sport (24 April 2011). "Bolton 2 – 1 Arsenal". BBC. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  11. ^ "תמיר כהן". ONE. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  12. ^ Tamir Cohen at Soccerway. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
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