Once a magician Always a magician: Eyal Berkowitz celebrates 50
Eyal Berkowitz is far from being an example and role model, and yet he became a huge brand precisely after his retirement.
If as an actor he reached greatness thanks to sophistication, in the media he soared precisely because of simplicity.
Unlike many great past footballers, he seems to be breaking records off the field
David Rosenthal
01/04/2022
Friday, 01 April 2022, 12:00
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Eyal Berkowitz at a press conference announces that he wants to coach the team, 2010 (Walla! Sports system)
Many articles have already been written about the post-retirement life of footballers and many articles have been filmed.
Here at Walla too!
Sports, came up about three years ago with a series that dealt with past stars.
Some have made the transition to "citizenship" perfectly, others have had a hard time and there are those who have not been able to find themselves and are engaged in casual jobs.
They all have one thing in common: the immense difficulty they had getting up one morning and knowing it was over.
When Nir Klinger said after the cup final last year that he was "sorry for every goal, breaking a nose and tearing a muscle" for Maccabi Tel Aviv, it could also be seen, at the metaphorical level, longing for those days when he was an eccentric footballer, not a coach who feared his future at any given moment.
For these reasons, especially from them, it is surprising that Eyal Berkowitz reaches the age of 50 when his status is even stronger than the one he acquired as an athlete.
So, as a liaison with talent from the land of talent, he was a consensus in the football world, a magician for truth.
Today it is a brand in the core of the mainstream, serving TV at the closest time to prime time.
From dismantling defenses he moved to dismantling interviewees, all without any background or special preparation.
It just happened because he is Eyal Berkowitz, just as his career happened for the same reason.
For talented people things just happen, he took it to the level of art.
On the pitch he did it with a lot of sophistication, in the media he came precisely because of the simplicity.
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Bursted bunkers on the field, breaking politicians on TV.
Berkowitz in the heyday of the Premier League (Photo: GettyImages, Alex Livesey)
Berkowitz is not an example and role model for anything.
In fact, he is the other end of the scale - vulgar, loud, pulling out without thinking, shooting without stopping, uninhibited.
Football fans loved it when he was a player and people from all walks of life, genders and ages are dying for it in his current hat.
It's hard to hear at times, but it's also hard to argue with the fact that he does know how to get headlines and promises from politicians, and that's not a trivial matter.
When guests come to Ofira and Barco's studio, they know they'll be out in the open.
He ended his career for his uncle Farouk and embarrassed senior MKs and senior ministers (especially remember Avir Kara and the announcement from Israel Katz).
In football there were geniuses even before Berkowitz, but on television he serves as a touchstone.
Berkowitz is the poster boy for the death of the politically correct era in the media, the question of the egg and the chicken is whether he broke out thanks to this current or is he the one who produced it.
The answer to this is not clear and it probably has both.
It is true that loud programs were created when he was at his peak as an actor, but Berkowitz took it to another dimension, which, as mentioned, burst from the field of sports directly into the heart of Israeli current affairs without taking prisoners.
There are a lot of controversial people in our world of sports and entertainment.
In his own way, there is no other Berkowitz of his kind.
Alongside those who rightly die for him there are those who despise him, also rightly.
His experiences in clubs have earned him the name of a maker, the television has given him an image of a flea that has risen to greatness.
He put a chop on all the reviews and it worked.
When one considers the success and mixes it with folklore, it is not inconceivable that Berkowitz is the largest personal sports brand issued by the State of Israel ever.
More than Mickey Berkowitz, Mucci Benyon and yes, even Eran Zehavi.
Will he get the team at the end?
The last dream that Berkowitz did not fulfill (Photo: Kobi Eliyahu)
And in the midst of it all, Berkowitz buzzes in the ear of us all like a fly that never lets go of team coaching.
For more than a decade he has been doing everything to get there, even though his resume does not include a minute of training in a senior team.
It seems to be the only dream they have not fulfilled.
Is he worthy or not to accept it and will it ever happen?
There is no answer to that yet.
What is known is that everything he has wanted so far he has achieved - except this dream.
One way or another, at the age of 50, he sits at the top of the media in Israel, and does what he did on the grass - names of opponents.
He mostly seems to be enjoying life.
How many past players can say that?
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Israeli soccer
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Eyal Berkowitz