Shlomo Scharf

Shlomo Scharf (Hebrew: שלמה שרף‎; born 1 January 1943) is a former Israeli football player and manager who now works as a regular commentator on Israeli Sport 5 TV channel. Scharf managed Maccabi Haifa to three championships,[4] and was Israel national football team manager from 1992 to 1999.[5]

Shlomo Scharf
Personal information
Date of birth (1943-01-01) January 1, 1943
Place of birth Biysk, Altai Krai, USSR
Position(s) Manager
Youth career
Hapoel Kfar Saba
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1961–1973[1][2] Hapoel Kfar Saba
Teams managed
1974–1976 Hapoel Kfar Saba
1976–1978 Hapoel Yehud[3]
1978–1980 Hapoel Kfar Saba
1980–1983 Bnei Yehuda
1983–1987 Maccabi Haifa
1990–1992 Maccabi Haifa
1992–1999 Israel
2000 Maccabi Tel Aviv
2000 Hapoel Be'er Sheva
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Managerial career

As manager of the national team in Israel, Scharf is remembered for beating France 3-2 on French soil wrapping up his first European cycle with the national team.

Impressive during his tenure as Israeli national coach were the defeats were transformed to draws, and later into victories. His contract was always running for the next two years, and because of the visible improvement in the side, extensions followed.

More games on which good results had been gained was a win against Poland, starting the qualifying campaign for the European Championships, as well as a sound defeat of the Bulgarian national team without their star Hristo Stoichkov, again in the first match of the qualifying round, this time for the World Cup in France, with the presence of a strong crowd in their home stadium of Ramat Gan.

Scharf's top achievement came when long-time nemesis Austria was defeated, with an impressive score of 5-0, Israel's biggest competitive win against an arguably stronger team.

On the negative side were both losses to Cyprus as visitors, as well as the humiliation against Denmark in the Euro 2000 playoffs, which ended the experienced trainer's spell as the national team's manager.

Following a short spell with Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Be'er Sheva, Scharf retired, ending a highly prominent coaching career. He is still respected in the local media, and his opinion is periodically sought to characterize what's new and old in Israeli football.

His catchphrase on the Israeli "Sport5" channel is "Extraordinary, good!" when he appreciates a certain football team or player.

Honours

As a Player

As a Manager

References
  1. http://terorist00.tripod.com/histo.html
  2. http://dribblist.com/israel/teams/hapoel_kfar_saba/1970–1971
  3. http://boom.co.il/newsite/page.php?main=view_article&type=0&article_id=33472
  4. "Shlomo Scharf, Sports Commentator". Israel Hayom. Retrieved December 27, 2010.
  5. Cazal, Jean-Michel; Bleicher, Yaniv (February 19, 2010). "Israel Official Games 1990–1999". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved December 27, 2010.
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