Itay Shechter

Itay Shechter
איתי שכטר
Personal information
Full name Itay Menachem Shechter
Date of birth February 22, 1987 (1987-02-22) (age 25)
Place of birth Ramat Yishai, Israel
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club 1. FC Kaiserslautern
Number 9
Youth career
1998–2001 Hapoel Haifa
2001–2005 Hapoel Nazareth Illit/Emek Izra'el
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2005–2006 Hapoel Nazareth Illit 27 (3)
2006–2009 Maccabi Netanya 83 (21)
2009–2011 Hapoel Tel Aviv 45 (27)
2011– 1. FC Kaiserslautern 17 (3)
National team‡
2005 Israel U18 6 (9)
2005–2006 Israel U19 16 (6)
2006–2008 Israel U21 16 (5)
2009– Israel 11 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22 Ocotber 2011.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 September 2011

Itay Menachem Shechter (Hebrew: איתי מנחם שכטר‎; born 22 February 1987) is an Israeli footballer currently playing for 1. FC Kaiserslautern.

Contents

Career

Shechter started his career in Hapoel Haifa youth team where in 1999-00 he won the Israeli Youth Cup being 13 years old.

One year later, Shechter moved to the youth club F.C. Emek Izra'el and helped the club promote in four seasons from the fourth league to the first league in youth football. Three years after moving to Emek Izra'el, the youth club was joined to the youth club of Hapoel Nazareth Illit, witch played in the Israeli Premier League at the same season, and the new club was re-named Hapoel Nazareth Illit/Emek Izra'el. Shechter was eventually promoted to the first team of Hapoel Nazareth Illit in the Israeli Premier League.

His first game in the Israeli Premier League was on 29 August 2005 during Nazareth Illit's 1-2 defeat to F.C. Ashdod, when he came on as a substitute. He scored his first goal in Nazareth Illit first team against Maccabi Netanya in a 3-1 lose in the Israeli Premier League, scoring the only goal for his club in this game.

Shechter has made 10 appearances for the Israel national under-21 football team, was capped several times at youth level. His first appearance in the U-21 team was on the losing side to Cyprus, losing 2-1 in a friendly game, Shechter scored the only goal for the Israeli team in this game.

In 2006 Shechter moved to Maccabi Netanya because he wanted to move to a bigger club than Nazareth Illit, who had just been relegated to Liga Leumit.

After 3 years with Maccabi Netanya on 23 July 2009 he moved for $500,000 to Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. where he played until 2011.

He scored in his debut with Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. in UEFA Europa League 3-1 win against IFK Goteborg on the third qualifying round.

On August 18, 2010, Shechter made headlines during a UEFA Champions League playoff match against Red Bull Salzburg in Austria, when he celebrated a goal by pulling a crocheted Hapoel Tel Aviv yarmulke from his sock and placing it on his head, while covering his face in prayer at mid-field.[1] The display earned him a yellow card and garnered attention in Israel, where the gesture was widely interpreted as a triumphant gesture against the Nazi history of Austria’s past. This interpretation was questioned when it was discovered that the head covering was provided to him by a cancer patient and Hapoel Tel Aviv fan.

On July 7, 2011, Shecter's transfer to 1. FC Kaiserslautern from the Bundesliga was completed.

International career

He scored his first national goal on October 9, 2010, in the 2-1 loss against Croatia, his second goal was against Greece on October 12, 2010, and his third goal against Côte d'Ivoire in a friendly match on August 10, 2011.

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 October 9, 2010 Ramat Gan Stadium  Croatia 1-2 Lose UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
2 October 12, 2010 Karaiskakis Stadium  Greece 1-2 Lose UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
3 August 10, 2011 Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny  Côte d'Ivoire 3-4 Lose Friendly

Statistics

As of 30 September 2011
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Israel League Israel State Cup Toto Cup Europe Total
2006–07 Maccabi Netanya Israeli Premier League 30 7 1 0 8 0 2 0 41 7
2007–08 24 7 4 2 3 0 2 0 33 9
2008–09 29 7 4 0 3 0 2 0 38 7
2009–10 Hapoel Tel Aviv Israeli Premier League 34 22 5 4 2 2 11 3 52 31
2010–11 11 4 0 0 3 0 9 3 23 7
2011–12 Fußball-Bundesliga 1. FC Kaiserslautern Fußball-Bundesliga 17 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 20 4

Personal life

Schechter is Jewish[2] of Romanian origin.[3] While playing for Maccabi Netanya, Shechter attended Torah classes twice a week.[4] Additionally, Shechter puts on Tefillin every morning as he believes that if he does not do so, he will have a bad day.[4]

Honours

Footnotes

  1. ^ Soclof, Adam (2010-08-22). "Soccer kipah stunt draws yellow card, Israeli attention". JTA (blogs.jta.org). http://blogs.jta.org/telegraph/article/2010/08/22/2740561/soccer-kippah-stunt-draws-yellow-card-israeli-attention. Retrieved 24 August 2010. 
  2. ^ "Israeli Sports". Jewish Sports Review 8 (87): 20. September/October 2011, accessed September 16, 2011. 
  3. ^ "Brum make check on Shech". The Sun. 19 February 2010. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2859660/Brum-make-check-on-Shech.html. 
  4. ^ a b Botz, Lee (2009-10-28). "איתי שכטר: "נולדתי למשחקים כאלה" [Itay Shechter: "I Was Born For Matches Like These"]" (in Hebrew). Yedioth Ahronoth (Ynet.co.il). http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3796296,00.html. Retrieved 28 October 2009. 

External links

1. FC Kaiserslautern – current squad