# Mordechai Spiegler

Mordechai "Motaleh" Spiegler (Hebrew: מרדכי "מוטל'ה" שפיגלר; born 19 August 1944) is an Israeli retired football player and manager. A prolific forward, he is placed second in Israel's all time goalscoring list, with 32 goals in 83 caps.

## Early life

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

## 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

Spiegler 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 two 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. Spiegler 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. He 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

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1960–61 | Liga Leumit | 14 | 5 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1961–62 | Liga Leumit | 17 | 5 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1962–63 | Liga Alef | 28 | 23 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1963–64 | Liga Alef | 22 | 24 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1964–65 | Liga Leumit | 27 | 16 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1965–66 | Liga Leumit | 30 | 17 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1966–68 | Liga Leumit | 54 | 38 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1968–69 | Liga Leumit | 25 | 26 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1969–70 | Liga Leumit | 30 | 12 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1970–71 | Liga Leumit | 30 | 13 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1971–72 | Liga Leumit | 24 | 17 |
| Maccabi Netanya | Total | Total | 301 | 196 |
| Paris FC | 1972–73 | Division 1 | 39 | 11 |
| Paris Saint-Germain | 1973–74 | Division 2 | 13 | 10 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1974–75 | Liga Leumit | 26 | 5 |
| New York Cosmos | 1975 | NASL | 17 | 6 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1975–76 | Liga Leumit | 32 | 5 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1976–77 | Liga Leumit | 26 | 5 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1977–78 | Liga Leumit | 3 | 1 |
| Maccabi Netanya | Total | Total | 61 | 11 |
| Hapoel Haifa | 1978–79 | Liga Leumit | 20 | 1 |
| Beitar Tel Aviv | 1981–82 | Liga Leumit | 15 | 2 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 492 | 242 |

### International

Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Israel | 1963 | 1 | 0 |
| Israel | 1964 | 8 | 4 |
| Israel | 1965 | 5 | 0 |
| Israel | 1966 | 8 | 4 |
| Israel | 1967 | 1 | 0 |
| Israel | 1968 | 14 | 15 |
| Israel | 1969 | 10 | 3 |
| Israel | 1970 | 8 | 3 |
| Israel | 1971 | 5 | 1 |
| Israel | 1972 | 6 | 1 |
| Israel | 1973 | 6 | 1 |
| Israel | 1974 | 0 | 0 |
| Israel | 1975 | 0 | 0 |
| Israel | 1976 | 3 | 0 |
| Israel | 1977 | 8 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 83 | 32 |
    Scores and results list Israel's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Spiegler goal.
List of international goals scored by Mordechai Spiegler :
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 2 January 1964 | Government Stadium, Wan Chai, Hong Kong | Hong Kong | 3–0 | Win | Friendly |
| 2 | 26 May 1964 | Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel | Hong Kong | 1–0 | Win | 1964 AFC Asian Cup |
| 3 | 29 May 1964 | Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel | India | 2–0 | Win | 1964 AFC Asian Cup |
| 4 | 28 November 1964 | Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel | Yugoslavia | 2–0 | Win | Friendly |
| 5 | 6 April 1966 | Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel | Finland | 7–1 | Win | Friendly |
| 6 | 6 April 1966 | Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel | Finland | 7–1 | Win | Friendly |
| 7 | 15 June 1966 | Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel | Uruguay | 1–2 | Loss | Friendly |
| 8 | 12 October 1966 | Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel | Yugoslavia | 1–3 | Loss | Friendly |
| 9 | 14 February 1968 | Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel | Switzerland | 2–1 | Win | Friendly |
| 10 | 14 February 1968 | Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel | Switzerland | 2–1 | Win | Friendly |
| 11 | 17 March 1968 | Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel | Ceylon | 7–0 | Win | 1968 Summer Olympics qualification |
| 12 | 17 March 1968 | Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel | Ceylon | 7–0 | Win | 1968 Summer Olympics qualification |
| 13 | 17 March 1968 | Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel | Ceylon | 7–0 | Win | 1968 Summer Olympics qualification |
| 14 | 12 May 1968 | Amjadieh Stadium, Tehran, Iran | Hong Kong | 6–1 | Win | 1968 AFC Asian Cup |
| 15 | 12 May 1968 | Amjadieh Stadium, Tehran, Iran | Hong Kong | 6–1 | Win | 1968 AFC Asian Cup |
| 16 | 10 September 1968 | Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel | Northern Ireland | 2–3 | Loss | Friendly |
| 17 | 15 September 1968 | Yankee Stadium New York City, United States | United States | 3–3 | Draw | Friendly |
| 18 | 15 September 1968 | Yankee Stadium New York City, United States | United States | 3–3 | Draw | Friendly |
| 19 | 25 September 1968 | Temple Stadium, Philadelphia, United States | United States | 4–0 | Win | Friendly |
| 20 | 25 September 1968 | Temple Stadium, Philadelphia, United States | United States | 4–0 | Win | Friendly |
| 21 | 25 September 1968 | Temple Stadium, Philadelphia, United States | United States | 4–0 | Win | Friendly |
| 22 | 25 September 1968 | Temple Stadium, Philadelphia, United States | United States | 4–0 | Win | Friendly |
| 23 | 15 October 1968 | Estadio Nou Camp, León, Guanajuato, Mexico | El Salvador | 3–1 | Win | 1968 Summer Olympics |
| 24 | 28 September 1969 | Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel | New Zealand | 2–0 | Win | 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 25 | 1 October 1969 | Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel | New Zealand | 4–0 | Win | 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 26 | 14 December 1969 | Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, Australia | Australia | 1–1 | Draw | 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 27 | 22 March 1970 | Addis Ababa Stadium, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | Ethiopia | 5–1 | Win | Friendly |
| 28 | 22 March 1970 | Addis Ababa Stadium, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | Ethiopia | 5–1 | Win | Friendly |
| 29 | 7 June 1970 | Estadio Luis Dosal, Toluca, Mexico | Sweden | 1–1 | Draw | 1970 FIFA World Cup |
| 30 | 11 November 1971 | Lang Park, Brisbane, Australia | Australia | 2–2 | Draw | Friendly |
| 31 | 28 March 1972 | Bogyoke Aung San Stadium, Yangon, Burma | India | 1–0 | Win | 1972 Summer Olympics qualification |
| 32 | 21 May 1973 | Seoul, South Korea | Thailand | 6–0 | Win | 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification |

## Managerial statistics

| Team | Nat. | From | To | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Team | Nat. | From | To | M | W | D | L | Win % |
| Maccabi Haifa | | 1979 | 1979 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 000.00 |
| Hapoel Haifa | | 1979 | 1980 | 30 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 026.67 |
| Beitar Tel Aviv | | 1980 | 1982 | 65 | 28 | 21 | 16 | 043.08 |
| Maccabi Netanya | | 1982 | 1984 | 80 | 44 | 17 | 19 | 055.00 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | | 1984 | 1984 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 012.50 |
| Maccabi Jaffa | | 1985 | 1985 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 041.67 |
| Maccabi Netanya | | 1990 | 1992 | 86 | 27 | 26 | 33 | 031.40 |
| Tzafririm Holon | | 1994 | 1996 | 55 | 19 | 9 | 27 | 034.55 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 339 | 132 | 92 | 115 | 038.94 |

## Honours
### Player

Maccabi Netanya
* Israeli Premier League: 1970–71, 1977–78
* Israel State Cup: 1977–78
* Israeli Supercup: 1971, 1978
Israel
* AFC Youth Championship: 1964
* AFC Asian Cup: 1964
Individual
* Israeli Premier League top goalscorer: 1965–66, 1966–68, 1968–69
* Israeli Player of the Year: 1965–66, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71
* Member of the Israeli Football Hall of Fame

### Manager

Beitar Tel Aviv
* Second Division:1980–81
Maccabi Netanya
* Israeli Premier League: 1982–83
* Israeli Supercup: 1983
* UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1983, 1984
* League Cup: 1982, 1983