Schwager, Shai

Yeshaayahu Schwager

Schwager was a defender who played for Maccabi Haifa in the 1960s and 1970s. He appeared in 25 full international games for the Israeli National team between 1966-1974. Shai was a key member of Israel's squads at the 1968 Olympics and at the 1970 World Cup.

Birth and Death Dates:
b. unknown - d. 2000

Career Highlights:
At the 1968 Olympics, Shwager played (and started) in two of Israel's preliminary games: the victories over Ghana (5-3) and El Salvador (3-1). He did not play in Israel's final preliminary match, a 2-0 loss to Hungary, the eventual gold medalists. Israel finished in second place in the group, and advanced to the quarterfinals.

Shwager started at defense for Israel in the match against Bulgaria, which ended in a 1-1 draw. To determine which team would advance to the semifinals, there was a coin toss, which the Bulgarians won (Bulgaria eventually captured the silver medal).

Schwager was a starting defender in the 1970 World Cup, the only time in Israel's history that their team advanced to the final stage of competition. In their group, Israel lost to Uruguay (2-0), tied Sweden (1-1), and tied Italy (0-0), but did not advance past the preliminary group.

Origin:
Israel

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