Leonid Krupnik

Leonid "Leo" Krupnik (Ukrainian: Леонід Крупнік, Russian: Леонид Крупник, Hebrew: ליאוניד קרופניק; born July 15, 1979, in Khmelnytskyi) is a Ukrainian-born American-Israeli former soccer player and current soccer coach. He played college soccer at the University of California, Berkeley. He played soccer professionally for the Des Moines Menace, MetroStars, Wilmington Hammerheads, Charleston Battery, Maccabi Netanya, Maccabi Herzliya, Bnei Sakhnin, Maccabi Haifa, New York Red Bulls, Maccabi Netanya, Hapoel Petah Tikva, Maccabi Umm al-Fahm, Maccabi Kabilio Jaffa, and Sektzia Nes Tziona. He won a silver medal at the 2005 Maccabiah Games in Israel with Team USA.

Leo Krupnik
Personal information
Full name Leonid Krupnik
Date of birth (1979-07-15) July 15, 1979
Place of birth Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine, Soviet Union
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
19951997 San Francisco Vikings
19972001 California Golden Bears
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002 Des Moines Menace 11 (0)
2002 MetroStars 0 (0)
20022003 Wilmington Hammerheads 27 (1)
20032005 Charleston Battery 27 (0)
20052006 Maccabi Netanya 24 (1)
2006 Maccabi Herzliya 7 (1)
20072008 Bnei Sakhnin 41 (0)
20082009 Maccabi Haifa 30 (0)
2009 New York Red Bulls 3 (0)
20102013 Maccabi Netanya 84 (0)
2013Hapoel Petah Tikva (loan) 8 (0)
20132014 Maccabi Umm al-Fahm 30 (0)
20142015 Maccabi Kabilio Jaffa 13 (0)
2015 Sektzia Nes Tziona 15 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of December 31, 2012
Leonid Krupnik
Medal record
Representing  United States
Football
Maccabiah Games
Silver medal – second place 2005 Maccabiah Football

Career

Youth and college

Krupnik was born in Ukraine, and is Jewish.[1] He moved with his parents, Mark and Rita, and brother Vladimir, from his native Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine, to the United States in the 1990s, settling in San Francisco, California.[2] Initially a promising gymnast, Krupnik was spotted playing football with some friends by the manager of the San Francisco Vikings youth team, and the youngster quickly changed sports.[1] Krupnik attended and was the team soccer captain of George Washington High School, graduating in 1997.[2]

He played four years of college soccer at the University of California, Berkeley ('01), majoring in social welfare. Krupnik was All-Pac-10 honorable mention in 2000 and 2001, Pac-10 All-Academic honorable mention in 2000 and first team in 2001.[3] Krupnik was also strong academically, and was on the Dean's Honor List in Fall of 2000.[4]

Professional

Krupnik was drafted with the 69th pick of the 2002 MLS SuperDraft by the MetroStars, but did not make the squad, and instead spent the 2002 season with the Des Moines Menace of the Premier Development League. He was signed by the MetroStars late in the season, again without seeing any first-team action, and was then released on free transfer to the Wilmington Hammerheads. After winning the 2003 championship with Wilmington, Krupnik was signed by Charleston Battery.

During his time in Israel in 2005 with the US Maccabiah Games team, Krupnik caught the eye of a scout from Maccabi Netanya.[1] Manager Reuven Atar asked Krupnik if he could join the team for training but Krupnik had a contract in the US.[1] It was his sister, Svetlana, who kept in touch with Reuven Atar and immediately after finishing his contract, Krupnik immigrated to Israel. Krupnik was attractive to Israeli club teams because he was eligible to receive Israeli citizenship and not count as a foreigner.

During the 2005–06 season he got into a contract dispute with the management. After the conclusion of the season, ownership of the club changed hands, and the Israeli manager, Reuven Atar, who brought Krupnik to the club, was fired. Krupnik was expected to return to the United States. Talks ensued between him and Major League Soccer but nothing became final.[5]

On July 20, 2006, Reuven Atar was appointed as manager of newly promoted Israeli Premier League club, Maccabi Herzliya. His first action was to sign Krupnik to a contract with the club.[6] Krupnik stayed with the club until the winter recess when he decided not to continue after Maccabi Herzliya would not agree to a new contract.

After leaving Maccabi Herzliya, Krupnik joined Bnei Sakhnin for the second half of the 2006–07 season and helped the club gain promotion to the Israeli Premier League. The following season Krupnik helped the newly promoted side to a fourth-place finish and qualification to the Intertoto Cup.

On June 17, 2008, Krupnik signed a contract with Maccabi Haifa for 3 years worth $360,000.[7] During his first season with the club Krupnik was a fixture in central defense appearing in 30 league matches, and helped Maccabi Haifa clinch their 11th Israeli Premier League title.

Krupnik returned the New York Red Bulls, known as the MetroStars during his first stint with the club, in July 2009. Krupnik made his MLS debut in a 4–0 loss to Colorado Rapids on July 25, 2009, and played in three games for the team before returning to Israel in November, when he was signed for a second stint with Maccabi Netanya.[8]

Since 2015 Krupnik has been the soccer coach at Menlo-Atherton High School in California.[9]

International

In 2005, coach Lev Kirshner picked Krupnik for the United States squad for the 2005 Maccabiah Games, an international Jewish athletic event similar to the Olympics held in Israel every four years. Kirshner brought a talented squad with the most professional experience ever. The American team, which also had Jonathan Bornstein and Benny Feilhaber playing for it, reached the final but lost to the host Israeli team, which was composed of Israel's Under-21 national team players.[10]

Statistics

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
USA League Open Cup League Cup North America Total
2002Des Moines MenaceUSL PDL1101000120
2002Wilmington HammerheadsUSL D3 Pro League2710000301
2003USL Pro Select League3000
2003Charleston BatteryA-League2700000270
20040000
2005USL First Division0000
Israel League Israel State Cup Toto Cup Europe Total
2005–06Maccabi NetanyaIsraeli Premier League241104000291
2006–07Maccabi Herzliya7100200091
2006–07Bnei SakhninLiga Leumit100002000120
2007–08Israeli Premier League310106000380
2008–09Maccabi Haifa300405000390
USA League Open Cup League Cup North America Total
2009New York Red BullsMajor League Soccer30000030
Israel League Israel State Cup Toto Cup Europe Total
2009–10Maccabi NetanyaIsraeli Premier League120000000120
2010–11Maccabi NetanyaIsraeli Premier League310407000420
2011–12Maccabi NetanyaIsraeli Premier League330303000380
2012–13Maccabi NetanyaIsraeli Premier League80004010130
Total USA 6514000691
Total Israel 190212029002212
Career total 2433100290002883

Honours

References

  1. Bell, Jack (September 12, 2007). "A Player Lands Comfortably on a Solid Team in Israel". The New York Times.
  2. "Leo Krupnik Bio - The University of California Official Athletic Site". California Golden Bears Athletics.
  3. https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/calberk.sidearmsports.com/documents/2018/9/10/2018_Info_Guide.pdf
  4. "Dean's Honor List:Fall 2000". University of California, Berkeley. Archived from the original on February 23, 2007. Retrieved March 2, 2007.
  5. הרכש הראשון של עטר: הבלם קרופניק. One.co.il (in Hebrew). October 4, 2006. Retrieved December 9, 2006.
  6. עטר וקרופניק ישתפו פעולה גם בהרצליה. Sport5.co.il (in Hebrew). October 4, 2006. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2006.
  7. ליאוניד קרופניק (in Hebrew). Maccabi Haifa F.C. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  8. "Red Bulls release Krupnik". BigAppleSoccer.com. November 18, 2009. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  9. Sports, Palo Alto Online. "Menlo-Atherton finds a new head coach for boys soccer". paloaltoonline.com.
  10. Kaplan, Ron (July 7, 2015). The Jewish Olympics: The History of the Maccabiah Games. Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN 9781632208552 via Google Books.
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