"Liverpool wanted me, and then they brought in another goalkeeper: Grubler"

At the age of 77, Yitzhak Visoker looks proudly at the past: the promotion to Hapoel Petah Tikva, the championships in Netanya and the national team ("I pushed an Iranian policeman and he fell, I became the hero of the community").

Only one thing he regrets - missing out on a career in Europe

Asher Goldberg

17/02/2022

Thursday, 17 February 2022, 16:11 Updated: 16:16

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"The Israeli team played in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico against Italy. The game ended in a 0-0 draw and I had a good game at all. After that I was invited to talk to an Italian players' agent and a representative of Inter Milan. Inter's goalkeepers then were Ivan Bourdon and Lido Vieri. I'm free to come. So it was not yet acceptable, I asked to return to Israel and decide with my family. They agreed, but here my mother claimed I had nothing to do abroad, better to be a member of Cooperative Dan. I was naive, inexperienced and gave Inter a negative answer. I was a friend of Dan for 10 years, driving all the lines in Tel Aviv. "

At age 77, Isaac Visoker lived a full and peaceful life.

He takes care of his assets, a shop and two industrial buildings, and at the same time meets with friends from all stations of his life, from childhood and the company of Dan to, of course, football.

Only on one thing is he a little sorry - the miss of a career in Europe, and not just at Inter.

He also had an appeal from the legendary Liverpool manager Bob Paisley.

"Maccabi Netanya played in England against Brighton in Moshe Griani's move to England," Visoker recalled. As a goalkeeper alongside Ray Clemens.I replied in the affirmative, but Paisley wanted to make it clear to me that he was ‘taking off tomorrow for Canada to meet a goalkeeper from Rhodesia’, with whom negotiations had begun.

This goalkeeper was Bruce Grobler, Clemens moved to Tottenham and I politely received from Paisley a negative answer.

I had an offer from Norwich before.

They asked for an answer on the spot, I asked for two weeks to decide and it was dropped from the chapter. "

One of our greatest goalkeepers.

Visoker (Photo: courtesy of the photographer)

Visoker's father was born in Petah Tikva, his mother immigrated from Turkey as a child.

His grandfather Kopel was the head of the religious council in Petah Tikva and one of the founders of the Great Synagogue on Hovevei Zion Street.

So how did his connection to football begin?

"My older brother Yaakov, who was 14 years older than me, was the goalkeeper of Hapoel Petah Tikva and a member of the Israeli national team. As a child, I went to all the team games and training and walked around excitedly around my brother and all the players - Nahari, Herzavim and other childhood heroes. Of course I came to the training and games of the Israeli team and knew everyone, from Khodorov and Glazer to Goldstein, Menchel and Rafi Levy. "And walking to the old Hapoel Petah Tikva field. My role as a boy was a pioneer."

"Our goalkeeper in the boys's was not in a good time. Uri Karni told me to stand at the gate because as Yaakov Visoker's brother, 'I'm sure it's in my kindergarten.' The truth is that I was very happy. '

He later rose to the senior team.

The person who vacated the place at the gate was none other than his brother Yaakov.

"The Yugoslav coaches Juvenovic and Milosevic promoted me to the seniors. At the beginning of the 1963/64 season, after 5 consecutive championships, Yaakov moved to play for Samson Tel Aviv. Mickey Sheinfeld and I became goalkeepers. I believed we would win the title for the sixth consecutive championship."

"It was my third game in the senior team, in our old field on Abarbanel Street. In the 22nd minute, Hapoel Tel Aviv led 0: 3 and missed its fourth goal in Shlomielia. In those minutes I just thought what would happen to me, I was only 18 and a half, where I fell and how. It will be over. Before the break we made it 1: 3, but in the locker room there was a shock, complete silence. Stelmach was the only one who spoke and demanded that we not lose. .

Inherited brother Jacob.

The Young Visoker in Bloomfield (Photo: Official Website, Wikipedia)

He did not win the championship that season, in which the newcomer Hapoel Ramat Gan performed one of the biggest sensations in the history of Israeli football.

"We lost to them in the 21st round, seven rounds to go. In the 81st minute the ball was in the direction of exit from the latitude. Stelmach tried to pass to me, I went forward and the ball passed over me and Shlomo Levy scored his second goal, 2: 3 to Ramat Gan."

His serious injury brought his brother Yaakov back to Hapoel Petah Tikva for the 1964/5 season.

"The IDF championship in those days was like the state championship.

"I was included in the Nahal team. In the game against the Air Force, in a foreign outing, the striker Shaareiim and the Air Force Fleischman hit me with a kick in the leg, almost breaking it in two. It took me almost a year to recover."

Visoker lost twice in the cup final - in 1968 1: 0 to Bnei Yehuda and in 1974 1: 0 to Hapoel Haifa, from a goal in the 117th minute.

"I still believed that I would not miss lifting a trophy during my career. It happened with Maccabi Netanya in May 1978, in a 1: 2 victory over Bnei Yehuda. I have a gold medal in the trophy cabinet."

He made his national team debut in December 1963, in Saigon against South Vietnam.

The team lost 1: 0.

Three months later, in March 1964, the Vietnamese arrived here.

"45,000 spectators came and were shocked. A free kick outside Kaung's field for connections and Nun's goal knocked us out of the Olympics. We are champions in illusions, dwarfing the opponent because the urine went up in our heads. Vietnam players are not only short, they played good football and smashed our dream ".

Four years later he qualified with the team for Mexico, but again suffered from bad luck and stayed home due to injury.

"The Yugoslav Chirich who brought us up left, and the job in Mexico was first given to Emanuel Sheffer. We went to a training camp in St. Moritz to get used to the thin air there. .

In 1968 he also became the hero of Iranian Jewry.

"We played in the Asian Cup final in Tehran, we lost 2: 1 from a goal in the 90th minute that was not and was not created. At the end I ran after the referee Natragan from India. "And he fell. A Jew who saw the story passed it on to the Jewish community in Tehran. They made me a hero of the community."

He reached the peak of his career, of course, by participating in the 1970 World Cup. "It was a huge experience. We did not know anything before about the teams we played against. When we arrived there was shock, lots of photographers and TV people and non-stop interviews. It goes without saying "From Israel to Mexico they turn into centimeters. Before the game against Italy I peeked at their warm-up. Goalkeeper Albertosi went up for a warm-up with a striped swimsuit, as if he was going to swim in the sea. The Italians did not underestimate Israel, they came to enjoy."

Gigi Jam scored, but Hakwon Habash, today Ethiopia, waved a flag.

"I played well in the 2-0 loss to Uruguay, against Sweden I had less work."

In 1976 he closed the circle.

After missing the Mexico Olympics, he has already participated in Montreal.

"I was captain of the Israeli national team in the games in Toronto and Montreal, under coach David Schweizer. We reached the quarterfinals and lost to Brazil 4: 1 after 0: 0 at the half and very respectable performances."

After the Olympics, he finished the goalkeeping chapter in the Israeli team, on his own initiative.

"I understood that they wanted Yuji Surinov to stand. I talked to Dovid and told him that instead of being deported, I was going alone after 13 years. I retired from the Israeli team and the truth is that they did not try to persuade me to continue."

He also left Hapoel Petach Tikva.

"After we were relegated to the second division, I continued, but I felt I was not there. They also signed a new goalkeeper, a young man named Yaron Brown. I had an offer from Hapoel Kfar Saba, but after a meeting it fell because of money, they claimed it was expensive for them."

He received offers from Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Netanya.

"I met with Maccabi Tel Aviv manager Haim 'Leibo' Leibowitz 'and received a good offer to come in Surinov's place. Another meeting was with Roni Sher Tov, Yitzhak Land and Reuven Friesner from Maccabi Netanya. I promised a quick answer to both teams."

In May 1977 he watched the Cup semi-final and made a decision.

"Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Maccabi Netanya 1: 6 in a display by Vicky Peretz and Bnei Tabak. I sat with myself and thought that Maccabi Netanya could help. At Maccabi Tel Aviv I thought I would swallow and it would not advance my career."

The following season he won with Netanya the double and the Intertoto Cup and then, in 1980, another championship.

"It was a tremendous and amazing team. I'm not arrogant, but Netanya of then with today's conditions would fit in strongly with Europe in the big factories."

Retirement was in force Ramat Gan.

"Coach Arie Redler asked me to come and play there. I received a 10,000 shekel signing grant, but after three games, with a pushing minority of spectators, I returned the money and retired from football."

He still travels to visit places he played.

"I visited with my wife and friends the field where I played in Saigon 1963 and I remembered every step on the way to the locker room. I was also on the field in Rangoon in Burma, where I played in 1972. I want to close a circle in Tehran. I wonder when I will get to Iran."

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