Javier Cohene

Javier Antonio Cohene Mereles (Arabic: خافيير كوهيني ميراليس; born 3 May 1987) is a professional footballer who played predominantly as a centre-back, and represented the Palestine national team. Born and raised in Paraguay, some of his ancestors came from Bethlehem.[1]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Cohene and the second or maternal family name is Mereles.
Javier Cohene
Personal information
Full name Javier Antonio Cohene Mereles
Date of birth (1987-05-03) 3 May 1987
Place of birth Pirayú, Paraguay
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Centre back
Youth career
2004 Pirayu Sport
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005 General Díaz – (–)
2006 Gaúcho – (–)
2007 Passo Fundo – (–)
2007–2009 Olhanense 37 (2)
2009 River Plate 0 (0)
2010 Sportivo Luqueño 11 (0)
2010–2013 Paços Ferreira 58 (4)
2013–2014 Vitória Setúbal 18 (2)
2014–2015 Borac Čačak 6 (0)
2015–2016 Atlético CP 2 (0)
International career‡
2014 Palestine 1 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 30 August 2015
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 6 September 2014

Club career

After several short spells with General Díaz, and Brazilian clubs Gaúcho and Passo Fundo, Cohene moved to Europe to play in Portugal for second division side S.C. Olhanense, where he would remain for two seasons before moving back to South America to play for River Plate and Sportivo Luqueño.[2]

In the summer of 2010, Cohene returned to Portugal to play for F.C. Paços de Ferreira.[3] His first two, of his three seasons with Os Castores proved to be successful as he featured regularly in Paços' defense alongside Ricardo in the 2010–11 season, and Ozéia in the 2011–12 season. His first two seasons saw him make 60 appearances, and contributing six goals in the process.[4][5] His first season with Paços de Ferreira would see Cohene help his side reach the 2011 Taça da Liga Final, where his side were defeated by Benfica.[6]

The arrival of Paulo Fonseca at the Mata Real for the 2012–13 season saw Cohene feature less than previous seasons. He was primarily used as a back up to Ricardo and Tiago Valente, and would only feature regularly in domestic cup competitions. Despite Paços de Ferreira's historic third place league finish which granted qualification to the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League play-off round, Cohene left Paços in the summer of 2013.[7]

Following his departure from Os Pacenses, Cohene signed for Vitória de Setúbal.[8] He debuted for Os Sadinos on the 18 August against Porto.[9] Cohene would score his first goal since arriving at Vitória on the 31 August, against Vitória de Guimarães in a 4–1 away win.[10]

In Summer 2014, he moved for first time outside his comfort zone, which has been Latin America and the Iberian peninsula, and moved to South-eastern Europe, where he signed a contract with Serbian SuperLiga side FK Borac Čačak.[11]

On following summer, he and Borac decided to terminate contract by mutual agreement, and Cohene left Serbia but did stayed in Europe, only hat this time he was back to Portugal, and, on 1 August 2015, Cohene joined Atlético CP.

International career

Cohene committed to the Palestinian national team where he was eligible to play because of his Palestinian grandmother. Known as Javier Mereles when playing for Palestine, he received his first call-up by Jamal Mahmoud for the Peace Cup taking place in September 2014.[12] He scored his first goal on his debut against Chinese Taipei on 6 September 2014.

International goals
Scores and results list Palestine's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetitionRefs
1.6 September 2014Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila, Philippines Chinese Taipei
1–0
7–3
2014 Philippine Peace Cup[13]

References
  1. خافيير ميراليس .. موهبة فلسطينية جديدة تنضم للفدائي الكبير في الفلبين [Javier Mereles.. a Palestinian talent join The Redeemers in Philippines]. Al-Ayyam (in Arabic). 6 September 2014.
  2. "Javier Cohene presta provas" [Javier Cohene presta provas]. Record (in Portuguese). 11 July 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  3. "Cohene e Lucas certos" [Cohene and Lucas certain]. Record (in Portuguese). 17 June 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  4. "Javier Cohene 2010/11". ZeroZero (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  5. "Javier Cohene 2011/12". ZeroZero (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  6. "Benfica conquista Taça da Liga" [Benfica conquers League Cup]. Record (in Portuguese). 23 April 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  7. "Regresso ao trabalho com várias ausências" [Return to work with various absentees]. Record (in Portuguese). 1 July 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  8. "Cohene assina contrato hoje" [Cohene signs his contract today]. Record (in Portuguese). 8 July 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  9. "FC Porto intermitente, mas contundente na hora da verdade (1x3)" [FC Porto blinking, but scathing in the hour of truth (1x3)]. ZeroZero (in Portuguese). 18 August 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  10. "Vitória sadina na casa dos Vitórias (1x4)" [Sadina victory at the home of the victories (1x4)]. ZeroZero (in Portuguese). 18 August 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  11. Čekaju se sertifikati Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine at FK Borac Čačak official website, 3-9-2014 (in Serbian)
  12. "Football Palestine".
  13. "Palestine vs. Taiwan betting odds and stats". betscout.com. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.