Mordechai "Motaleh" Spiegler (born 19 August 1944) is a retired Israeli footballer, and manager. A prolific forward, Shpigler is placed second in Israel's all time goalscoring list, with 32 goals in 83 caps.

Early life

Mordechai Shpigler was born in Asbest, Soviet Russia, and is Jewish. He immigrated to Netanya, Israel, when he was a boy.

Playing career

Club career

As a striker, he played for Maccabi Netanya along with Paris Saint Germain in France and alongside Pelé for New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League in the 1970s. He was chosen as the Israeli Player of the Year a record four times, in 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, and in 1970–71.

International career

Shpigler made his international debut for Israel on 2 January 1964 against Hong Kong. He appeared in the Israeli win in the 1964 AFC Asian Cup, and scored 2 goals at the tournament, which made him a joint tournament top scorer. His major achievement was helping Israel qualify for the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. He scored Israel's lone goal in World Cup history in a 1–1 draw against Sweden. His 32 goals for the national team (according to IFA count, FIFA counts only 24 of them) was the Israeli record up until 2021 when he was surpassed by Eran Zahavi. Shpigler scored 24 goals in 62 'official' internationals for the Israel national side, he also played in 21 other 'unofficial' matches (mostly Olympic Games qualifiers) scoring eight more goals. Spiegler captained the Israel Olympic team at Mexico City 1968 that reached the quarter-finals, losing to Bulgaria by a draw, 1–1.

Post-playing career

Spiegler was nominated as the best Israeli player of the prior 50 years by the Israel Football Association in the UEFA Jubilee Awards in November 2003. Shpigler is a member of the Education and Publicity Committee of the IFA. In 2007, he won a lifetime contributions special award for the Israeli national team in the 1970 FIFA World Cup, determined by Yedioth Ahronoth and the Israeli football player association.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Maccabi Netanya Israel Individual

Manager

Beitar Tel Aviv Maccabi Netanya