Yonatan Cohen (Hebrew: יונתן כהן; born 29 June 1996) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as a forward for Melbourne City and the Israel national team.[1]

Yonatan Cohen
Cohen on the day of his presentation in Pisa in 2021
Personal information
Date of birth (1996-06-29) 29 June 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth Tel Aviv, Israel
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder, forward
Team information
Current team
Melbourne City
Number 10
Youth career
2005–2009 Maccabi Tel Aviv
2009–2010 Hapoel Tel Aviv
2010–2015 Maccabi Tel Aviv
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2021 Maccabi Tel Aviv 76 (28)
2015–2016Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla (loan) 31 (11)
2016–2018Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv (loan) 61 (10)
2021–2023 Pisa 26 (4)
2022–2023Maccabi Tel Aviv (loan) 14 (1)
2023–2024 Maccabi Tel Aviv 15 (1)
2024– Melbourne City 4 (1)
International career
2014 Israel U19 1 (0)
2015–2018 Israel U21 7 (2)
2019– Israel 8 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10 November 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 March 2022

Early life

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Cohen was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to a family of Ashkenazi Jewish and Polish-Jewish descent. His older brother Guy Cohen is also a footballer, and his father Mickey Cohen is an Israeli retired footballer who played for Maccabi Tel Aviv as well.[2]

He also holds a Polish passport, which eased his move to certain European football leagues.[3]

Club career

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Maccabi Tel Aviv

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Cohen playing for Pisa against Ascoli in 2021

Cohen began playing youth football for Maccabi Tel aviv before going on loans to Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla and to Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv. Then-manager Arik Benado brought Cohen to Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv, where he made his senior debut in the Israeli Premier League.[2] Cohen became an important player for Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv during the 2016–17 season, relegating previously established midfielders Pedro Joaquín Galván and Amir Agayev to the bench.[4]

Pisa

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Since August 2021, Cohen plays for Pisa SC in the Italian Serie B having made his debut against Alessandria in Day 2, and scoring his first goal during the following fixture vs Ternana on 11 September.

Return to Maccabi Tel Aviv

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On 29 September 2022, Pisa announced Cohen's return to Maccabi Tel Aviv. The transfer was initially a loan, at the end of the loan term Maccabi was obligated to purchase his rights.[5]

Melbourne City

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Cohen moved to the A-League for the 2024-25 season, signing with Melbourne City FC.[6]

International career

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Cohen made his debut for the senior Israel national team on 21 March 2019 in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier against Slovenia.[7]

Honours

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Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv

Maccabi Tel Aviv

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Israel Football Association". eng.football.org.il. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b Goldstein, Amit (25 May 2017). "יונתן כהן: על הכישרון הצעיר של מכבי תל אביב, המשחק בבני יהודה" [Yonatan Cohen: The young talent of Maccabi Tel Aviv, playing in Bnei Yehuda] (in Hebrew). Haaretz.
  3. ^ Levy, Tomer (9 July 2020). "מכבי ת"א תדרוש 2.5 מיליון יורו על כהן, גלזר ופרץ" [Maccabi Tel Aviv Will Ask For €2.5M For Cohen, Glazer and Peretz]. Sport5 (in Hebrew). Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  4. ^ Goldberg, Asher (25 February 2017). "בני יהודה רוצה להאריך את החוזה עם יונתן כהן" [Bnei Yehuda wants to extend the contract with Yonatan Cohen] (in Hebrew). Maariv.
  5. ^ "Yonatan Cohen passa al Maccabi Tel Aviv" (in Italian). Pisa. 29 September 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Double signing boost as fan favourite returns". Melbourne City FC. 16 September 2024.
  7. ^ "Israel v Slovenia game report". UEFA. 21 March 2019.
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