Former Sacramento Republic GK Josh Cohen named Footballer of the Year in Israel

From the “Remember him?” files, there was big news recently concerning a former Sacramento Republic FC player. Goalkeeper Josh Cohen was named Footballer of the Year in Israel, the top individual award, after a stellar season with Maccabi Haifa.

Cohen was the No. 1 for Maccabi Haifa as they won the Israeli top flight title this season. While they’ve been near the top of the standings for the past several seasons, they hadn’t won the league title since 2010-11, so it was a pretty big accomplishment in itself.

Cohen, who played 29 games in the league during the season, posted 16 clean sheets, a terrific return, and Maccabi Haifa just edged out the competition for the title, so his contributions were immense.

Cohen’s selection as player of the season was also one of the closest of all time, but given that goalkeepers rarely take the all-out individual awards, it’s pretty remarkable he got the nod at all. Many congratulations to the 28-year-old California native for winning the league title and the Footballer of the Year award, and keep doing your thing.

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