Haim Revivo

Haim Revivo
חיים רביבו

Personal information
Full name	Haim Michael Revivo חיים מיכאל רביבו
Date of birth	February 22, 1972 (1972-02-22) (age 39)
Place of birth	Ashdod, Israel
Playing position	Attacking/Side midfielder
Youth career
1984–88	Hapoel Ashdod
1988–90	Gadna Tel Aviv Yehuda
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1990–1993	Bnei Yehuda	76	(20)
1993–1994	Hapoel Tel Aviv	36	(12)
1994–1996	Maccabi Haifa	57	(45)
1996–2000	Celta Vigo	99	(25)
2000–2002	Fenerbahçe	68	(30)
2002–2003	Galatasaray	12	(5)
2003–2004	F.C. Ashdod	10	(3)
National team
1990	Israel U18	1	(0)
1992–93	Israel U21	9	(5)
1992–2004	Israel	67	(15)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Haim Michael Revivo (Hebrew: חיים מיכאל רביבו‎; born February 22, 1972, in Ashdod) is a retired Israeli football player, and a businessman. He was especially famous for his free-kick goals and his entertaining celebrations after these goals.

Biography

Playing career

From Ashdod to Tel Aviv

Haim Revivo was born to a traditional Mizrahi Jewish family in Ashdod.^[1] He played football at Hapoel Ashdod until the age of 16 when he transferred to the youth system of Gadna Tel Aviv Yehuda. Revivo liked that the club had no senior team and he would be a free agent once he reached 18. When he turned 19, Giora Spiegel brought him to Bnei Yehuda after both Hapoel Kfar Saba and Maccabi Petah Tikva turned him down. Revivo spent three seasons at Bnei Yehuda before transferring to city rivals, Hapoel.

When Reuven Atar requested to leave Maccabi Haifa for Hapoel Haifa, Ya'akov Shahar was quick to sign a replacement. He brought in Revivo, who was happy to join Haifa since he believed that from there he could get to a European club. In his first season with Haifa, Revivo led the league (along with Amir Turgeman) with 17 goals. In his second season, he wanted to move from the left side of the midfield to the center of the pitch. Then club manager, Giora Spiegel, was reluctant but in order to avoid a fight with his star, he released Alon Mizrahi. Revivo paid off dividends and was once again the league leading goal scorer. Haifa was quick to sell their star to Spanish club, Celta de Vigo.

From Spain to Turkey

Revivo became a starter at Celta Vigo. In October 1996, shortly after Revivo joined the club, he made headlines because of the club's league clash on Yom Kippur. Revivo desperately wanted to avoid the match that fell on the Jewish holiday. The club was able to move the match fixture ahead by a couple of hours and Revivo played for as long he could before being brought off in the second half to hurry home for the holiday.^[1] He played in Spain a few successful years. His first 2 years with Fenerbahçe were a success, and he led the team to the 2001 Turkish championship, but then he lost the attention of the club's management after other famous foreign players were brought in. He decided to leave, and caused much controversy with his move to Istanbul rivals Galatasaray. His spell at Galatasaray only lasted a year before he left Turkey.

After his return from Turkey to Israel he signed for Israel's F.C. Ashdod, but after 12 games he retired from football. He is now a successful businessman and one of the former owners of F.C. Ashdod.

National team career

At the age of 18, Haim Revivo made his first appearance for a national side (at any level) on December 18, 1990, playing with the Israel national under-18 football team against their Portuguese counterparts at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon. Revivo played in the midfield along with Avi Nimni and Eyal Berkovic who he would end up playing with most of his national team career.

A year and a half later, Revivo debuted with the Israel national under-21 football team on May 13, 1992 in a friendly against their Turkish counterparts at Herzliya Municipal Stadium in Israel. He scored on his debut and added another four goals in nine appearances, including a brace in a 1994 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualifier against Austria.

Six months after making his under-21 debut, he found himself representing the full side in a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier at Ramat Gan Stadium against Sweden. Revivo became a fixture in the national team lineup under Shlomo Scharf and competed for Israel in three FIFA World Cup qualifying campaigns and UEFA European Football Championship qualifying campaigns in addition to 26 friendly matches.

Personal life

Revivo is married to Sagit. The couple have three children and currently reside in Tel Aviv.

Honours

Club

• With Bnei Yehuda:
  • Toto Cup: 1991/92
• With Maccabi Haifa:
  • State Cup: 1994/95
• With Fenerbahçe:
  • Süper Lig: 2000/01

Individual

• Liga Leumit:
  • Leading scorer (2): 1994/95, 1995/96
  • Best Player (2): 1994/95, 1995/96^[2]

In 2005, he was voted the 92nd-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.^[3]

See also

• List of select Jewish football (association; soccer) players

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "ספורט ביום כיפור? היה דבר כזה" (in Hebrew). Yedioth Ahronoth. October 8, 2008. http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3606681,00.html. Retrieved October 10, 2008. 
2. ^ http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/israpoy.html
3. ^ גיא בניוביץ' (June 20, 1995). "הישראלי מספר 1: יצחק רבין – תרבות ובידור". Ynet. http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3083171,00.html. Retrieved July 10, 2011. 

• Haberman, Yitzhak. "חיים רביבו" (in Hebrew). Maccabi Haifa. http://maccabi-haifafc.walla.co.il/ts.cgi?tsscript=player&id=2127. Retrieved October 10, 2008. 

External links

• Haim Revivo's profile on the IFA's official website
• Haim Revivo career stats at Soccerbase
• Haim Revivo at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Revivo, Haim
Alternative names
Short description	Football (soccer) player
Date of birth	February 22, 1972
Place of birth	Ashdod, Israel
Date of death
Place of death