ISRAEL: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Thousands pay last respects to Israel's football legend Avi Cohen

Record ID: 396207

  • Title: ISRAEL: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Thousands pay last respects to Israel's football legend Avi Cohen
  • Date: 30th December 2010
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) BONNY GINTZBURG, FORMER ISRAELI NATIONAL TEAM GOALKEEPER, SAYING "It was a big big shock for us that Avi passed away. It's a big tragedy for the family, for the friends and of course for the nation because Avi was the captain of the national team and he was a hero." MOURNERS GATHERED ROUND COFFIN MOURNERS LINED UP NEXT TO COFFIN MAN LIGHTING MEMORI
  • Embargoed: 14th January 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel, Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Obituaries,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA3PBPN3MD4BF6ZKBDQ636B0L8P
  • Story Text: Israelis lay to rest Avi Cohen, one of the country's best-known soccer players, who died on Tuesday from injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash.
    Thousands of mourners accompanied former Liverpool and Israel defender Avi Cohen's funeral procession on Wednesday (December 29), hours after he died from injures sustained in a road accident in Tel Aviv last week.
    Cohen, who was 54, was thrown from his motorcycle after a collision with a car in Tel Aviv on December 20. Doctors declared him brain dead on Tuesday (December 28) and he suffered cardiac arrest on Wednesday morning, hospital officials said.
    Hundreds filed past Cohen's coffin during a memorial ceremony at the National Stadium in Ramat Gan, the scene of some of his most memorable moments with his boyhood club Maccabi Tel Aviv.
    Bonny Gintzburg, former Israel goalkeeper who like Cohen, played at Glasgow Rangers, said Cohen's death was a shock.
    "It's a big tragedy for the family, for the friends and of course for the nation because Avi was the captain of the national team and he was a hero," Gintzburg said.
    Me'ir Alkabetz, an Israeli soccer fan, said Cohen's death was a national tragedy.
    "It's a great loss for football, for sport, for the state. I'm full of sorrow for the family. I'm very moved, very sad," he said.
    Cohen's Maccabi Tel Aviv and Israel colleagues carried Cohen's body to its final resting place at a cemetery north of Tel Aviv as thousands of stunned and tearful mourners witnessed the the burial.
    Cohen was the first Israeli to play in the English top flight when he signed with Liverpool in 1979. He played with the Anfield club for over two seasons. He made 64 appearances for Israel, 33 as captain.
    His son, Tamir Cohen, currently plays for Bolton Wanderers.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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