Mordechai Spiegler
Shpigler in 1970
Personal information
Full name Mordechai Spiegler
Date of birth (1944-08-19) 19 August 1944 (age 79)
Place of birth Asbest, Russian SFSR, USSR
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1957–1961 Maccabi Netanya
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1961–1972 Maccabi Netanya 301 (196)
1972–1973 RC Paris 39 (11)
1973–1974 Paris Saint-Germain 13 (10)
1974–1975 Maccabi Netanya 26 (5)
1975 New York Cosmos 17 (6)
1975–1978 Maccabi Netanya 61 (11)
1978–1979 Hapoel Haifa 20 (1)
1981–1982 Beitar Tel Aviv (player-manager) 15 (2[2])
Total 492 (252)
International career
1963–1977 Israel 83 (32)
Managerial career
1979 Maccabi Haifa
1979–1980 Hapoel Haifa
1980–1982 Beitar Tel Aviv
1982–1984 Maccabi Netanya
1984 Hapoel Tel Aviv
1985 Maccabi Jaffa
1990–1992 Maccabi Netanya
1994–1996 Tzafririm Holon[3]
2013 Maccabi Netanya (general manager)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mordechai "Motaleh" Spiegler (Hebrew: מרדכי "מוטל'ה" שפיגלר; born 19 August 1944) is a retired Israeli footballer, and manager. A prolific forward, Shpigler is placed second in Israel's all time goalscoring list, with 32 goals in 83 caps.[4]

Early life

Mordechai Shpigler was born in Asbest, Soviet Russia, and is Jewish.[1][5][6][7] He immigrated to Netanya, Israel, when he was a boy.[8]

Playing career

Club career

As a striker, he played for Maccabi Netanya along with Paris Saint Germain in France and alongside Pelé for New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League in the 1970s.[9]

He was chosen as the Israeli Player of the Year a record four times, in 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, and in 1970–71.[10]

International career

Israeli teammates (Spiegler in the middle) holding the 1964 AFC Asian Cup after beating South Korea in the final round

Shpigler made his international debut for Israel on 2 January 1964 against Hong Kong. He appeared in the Israeli win in the 1964 AFC Asian Cup, and scored 2 goals at the tournament, which made him a joint tournament top scorer.[11]

His major achievement was helping Israel qualify for the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. He scored Israel's lone goal in World Cup history in a 1–1 draw against Sweden.[12]

His 32 goals for the national team (according to IFA count, FIFA counts only 24 of them)[5] was the Israeli record up until 2021 when he was surpassed by Eran Zahavi. Shpigler scored 24 goals in 62 'official' internationals for the Israel national side, he also played in 21 other 'unofficial' matches (mostly Olympic Games qualifiers) scoring eight more goals.

Spiegler captained the Israel Olympic team at Mexico City 1968 that reached the quarter-finals, losing to Bulgaria by a draw, 1–1.[13]

Post-playing career

Spiegler was nominated as the best Israeli player of the prior 50 years by the Israel Football Association in the UEFA Jubilee Awards in November 2003.[14] Shpigler is a member of the Education and Publicity Committee of the IFA.[15]

In 2007, he won a lifetime contributions special award for the Israeli national team in the 1970 FIFA World Cup, determined by Yedioth Ahronoth and the Israeli football player association.[16]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League
Division Apps Goals
Maccabi Netanya 1960–61 Liga Leumit 14 5
1961–62 17 5
1962–63 Liga Alef 28 23
1963–64 22 24
1964–65 Liga Leumit 27 16
1965–66 30 17
1966–68 54 38
1968–69 25 26
1969–70 30 12
1970–71 30 13
1971–72 24 17
Total 301 196
Paris FC 1972–73 Division 1 39 11
Paris Saint-Germain 1973–74 Division 2 13 10
Maccabi Netanya 1974–75 Liga Leumit 26 5
New York Cosmos 1975 NASL 17 6
Maccabi Netanya 1975–76 Liga Leumit 32 5
1976–77 26 5
1977–78 3 1
Total 61 11
Hapoel Haifa 1978–79 Liga Leumit 20 1
Beitar Tel Aviv 1981–82 Liga Leumit 15 2
Career total 492 242

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Israel 1963 1 0
1964 8 4
1965 5 0
1966 8 4
1967 1 0
1968 14 15
1969 10 3
1970 8 3
1971 5 1
1972 6 1
1973 6 1
1974 0 0
1975 0 0
1976 3 0
1977 8 0
Total 83 32

International goals

Scores and results list Israel's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Spiegler goal.[17]
List of international goals scored by Mordechai Spiegler
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 2 January 1964 Government Stadium, Wan Chai, Hong Kong  Hong Kong 3–0 Win Friendly
2 26 May 1964 Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel 1–0 Win 1964 AFC Asian Cup
3 29 May 1964 Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel  India 2–0 Win
4 28 November 1964  Yugoslavia 2–0 Win Friendly
5 6 April 1966  Finland 7–1 Win
6
7 15 June 1966 Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel  Uruguay 1–2 Loss
8 12 October 1966 Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel  Yugoslavia 1–3 Loss
9 14 February 1968   Switzerland 2–1 Win
10
11 17 March 1968  Ceylon 7–0 Win 1968 Summer Olympics qualification
12
13
14 12 May 1968 Amjadieh Stadium, Tehran, Iran  Hong Kong 6–1 Win 1968 AFC Asian Cup
15
16 10 September 1968 Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel  Northern Ireland 2–3 Loss Friendly
17 15 September 1968 Yankee Stadium New York City, United States  United States 3–3 Draw
18
19 25 September 1968 Temple Stadium, Philadelphia, United States 4–0 Win
20
21
22
23 15 October 1968 Estadio Nou Camp, León, Guanajuato, Mexico  El Salvador 3–1 Win 1968 Summer Olympics
24 28 September 1969 Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel  New Zealand 2–0 Win 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification
25 1 October 1969 4–0 Win
26 14 December 1969 Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, Australia  Australia 1–1 Draw
27 22 March 1970 Addis Ababa Stadium, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia  Ethiopia 5–1 Win Friendly
28
29 7 June 1970 Estadio Luis Dosal, Toluca, Mexico  Sweden 1–1 Draw 1970 FIFA World Cup
30 11 November 1971 Lang Park, Brisbane, Australia  Australia 2–2 Draw Friendly
31 28 March 1972 Bogyoke Aung San Stadium, Yangon, Burma  India 1–0 Win 1972 Summer Olympics qualification
32 21 May 1973 Seoul, South Korea  Thailand 6–0 Win 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification

Managerial statistics

Team Nat. From To Record
M W D L Win %
Maccabi Haifa Israel 1979 1979 3 0 0 3 000.00
Hapoel Haifa Israel 1979 1980 30 8 11 11 026.67
Beitar Tel Aviv Israel 1980 1982 65 28 21 16 043.08
Maccabi Netanya Israel 1982 1984 80 44 17 19 055.00
Hapoel Tel Aviv Israel 1984 1984 8 1 3 4 012.50
Maccabi Jaffa Israel 1985 1985 12 5 5 2 041.67
Maccabi Netanya Israel 1990 1992 86 27 26 33 031.40
Tzafririm Holon Israel 1994 1996 55 19 9 27 034.55
Total 339 132 92 115 038.94

Honours

Player

Maccabi Netanya

Israel

Individual

Manager

Beitar Tel Aviv

Maccabi Netanya

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Mordechai Shpigler". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Mordechai Spiegler at National-Football-Teams.com
  3. ^ "וואלה! מכבי חיפה - צפרירים חולון מכבי חיפה". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  4. ^ "Mordechai Spiegler". RSSSF.
  5. ^ a b Day by Day in Jewish Sports History - Bob Wechsler
  6. ^ Great Jews in Sports - Robert Slater
  7. ^ "These Jewish stars changed football and the World Cup - The Jewish Chronicle". Archived from the original on 5 July 2018.
  8. ^ "Shpigler 60 Sporting Heroes for 60 Years: No.2 Mordechai Shpigler" - Jerusalem Post
  9. ^ "Mordechaï Shpigler : « J'espère une finale France-Brésil le 15 juillet » - Actualité Juive". Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  10. ^ "Israel – Player of the Year" Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
  11. ^ ""Op-Ed: When Iran and Israel faced off" | JerusalemOnline". Archived from the original on 7 September 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  12. ^ Does Your Rabbi Know You're Here?: The Story of English Football's Forgotten ... - Anthony Clavane
  13. ^ "Israel’s little-known contribution to soccer history - penalty shootouts" - Haaretz
  14. ^ Golden Players take centre stage UEFA
  15. ^ Committees Archived 18 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine Israel Football Association (in Hebrew)
  16. ^ Lifetime Contribution Prize Archived 25 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine Israeli Football Player Association (IFPA)
  17. ^ "שפיגלר מרדכי – רשימת המשחקים" [Mordechai Spiegler – List of games] (in Hebrew). Israel Football Association.
  18. ^ "The Israel Football Association". Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2013.

External links

Awards
Israel squads
Mordechai Shpigler managerial positions
Categories