Dudu Aouate
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| Dudu Aouate | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | David Aouate | |
| Date of birth | 17 October, 1977 | |
| Place of birth | Nazareth Illit, Israel | |
| Height | 188 cm | |
| Position | Goalkeeper | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Deportivo | |
| Number | 1 | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| Maccabi Haifa | ||
| Professional clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (goals) |
| 1997-1998 1998-2001 2001–2003 2003-2006 2006-present | Maccabi Teverya Maccabi She'arayim Hapoel Nazareth Illit Hapoel Haifa Maccabi Haifa Racing Santander Deportivo | ? (?) 104 (0) 60 (0) ? (?) 1 (0) |
| National team** | ||
| 1999-present | Israel U-21 Israel | 11 (0) 18 (0) |
|
* Professional club appearances and goals | ||
Dudu Aouate, (Hebrew: דודו אוואט, DOO-DOO AH-WAT), (born October 17, 1977) is an Israeli association football (soccer) player. He plays as a goalkeeper for Deportivo de La Coruña.
Contents |
[edit] Personal life
Aouate is married to Hagit and has two daughters.
[edit] Playing career
[edit] Development in Israel
He began his career with Hapoel Nazareth Illit, but moved to Maccabi Haifa at an early age and was put behind Nir Davidovich as the leading goalkeeping choice at the club. Wanting first team football, Awat moved to Maccabi Tel-Aviv, but was again underplayed. He then transferred to Hapoel Haifa, having been assured that he would be the club's first choice goalkeeper, but he again found himself struggling to establish himself as such. Early in the 1998-99 season, however, the regular goalkeeper, Avi Peretz was injured and Awat took his place. Hapoel won the championship that year and Dudu was praised for his performances. By the time Peretz recovered, Awat was irreplacable.
His performances for Hapoel Haifa meant that Awat was called up to the Israel national football team in 1999. In 2002, Awat returned to Maccabi Haifa as a cover for another seriously injured player. They won the championship, and Awat established himself as their natural first choice. Awat also gained increasing recognition after performing fabulously for the national team, and was soon considered by many the leading goalkeeper in the country.
During the 2002-03 season, Awat was the goalie for Maccabi Haifa as they played in the UEFA Champions League, the first time an Israeli squad made it to the group stage of the competition. Haifa finished in third place in their group following an historic victory over powerhouse Manchester United F.C.. In the Israeli League, Haifa finished the season in second place. Awat's solid performances earned him a move to European football, with Spanish club Racing de Santander signing him on July 17, 2003.
[edit] Move to Spain
Dudu Aouate's move to Spain was made easier by the fact that he obtained a French passport, thus he would not count as a foreigner.
Now 28 years old, Awat could be about to face the biggest summer of his career with a shock transfer to Barcelona on the cards, as the Catalan giants eye up a replacement for Víctor Valdés. According to the player's agent, Ronen Katzav, "there has been serious negotiations with Barcelona and Deportivo la Coruna." Awat has enjoyed a stunning season in 2005/06 as an ever present between the sticks for his club Racing de Santander with penalty saves against Real Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona including denying world player of the year Ronaldinho. Awat, however, remains cool on the prospect of joining one of the world's biggest clubs claiming, "I'm enjoying my football at Santander, so I don't know if I want to move." It is reported he has been offered a three year extension to his contract at Racing which would take him to 2010.
In early August 2006 Awat signed a 4 year contract with the La Liga outfit Deportivo de La Coruña in a swap deal involving three players plus 1.5 million Euros.
[edit] Yom Kippur Controversy
In an interview with As in Spain, Aouate was asked about the significance of Yom Kippur and some general questions about the prohibitions of the holiday. Aouate added that he understood that playing football on Yom Kippur is not allowed but stated that if forced to play against Real Sociedad, he would. His comments swirled a huge controversy in Israel with even a member of the Shas party calling for Aouate to be removed from the national team<ref>Awat sparks storm with decision to play on Yom Kippur. Ha'aretz. (in English)</ref>.
[edit] Notes
<references/> Dudu Aouate
| Deportivo de La Coruña - Current Squad |
|---|
|
1 Aouate | 2 Manuel Pablo | 3 Rodri | 4 Duscher | 5 Coloccini | 6 De Guzmán | 7 Bodipo | 8 Sergio | 9 Taborda | 10 Arizmendi | 11 Riki | 12 Pablo Alvarez | 13 Munúa | 14 Andrade | 15 Capdevila | 16 Juan Rodriguez | 17 Arbeloa | 18 Lopo | 19 Barragán | 20 Cristian | 21 Valerón | 22 Juanma | 23 Estoyanoff | 24 Verdú | 25 Filipe | Manager: Caparrós |
