Ronny Rosenthal (sometimes spelled Ronnie/Roni Rosenthal) (Hebrew: רוני רוזנטל) was a brilliant striker and a famous Israeli footballer. Born October 11, 1963, in Haifa, Israel. Started playing on the premier team in 1980, to what became a start-line of an outstanding career.

Career

Born and raised in Haifa, Israel, he soon joined the local club, Maccabi Haifa F.C.. He started playing at the age of 11, in the junior team. At the age of 16 he was promoted to the senior squad for a match, as a substitute, and took the opportunity with both legs, scoring 2 goals. After that showing he remained in the senior squad. At that time he was also selected to the junior national team.

When Shlomo Sherf was hired as the manager, it was the season of 1983/84. Ronny Rosenthal led the team as one of its three strikers, winning 2 consecutive league-championships, before taking-off to Europe. At that time he was also selected for the Israel national football team.
Rosenthal moved to the Belgium side Club Brugge at the end of the 1985/86 season, for a transfer fee of $275K. A couple of years later he moved to Standard Liege in a trade. In the midst of the 1989/90 season he was loaned out to the English side Luton Town, where he was spotted by Liverpool which loaned him for the rest of the season. He made very high remarks in Liverpool that season, assisting the club in winning the premier league championship of 1990, with 7 goals in his 8 matches. Immediately after that Liverpool bought him for a fee of &pound 1.1M. Ronny Rosenthal was the club's top scorer during the 1990/91 season with 18 goals in 25 appearances. At that time he earned his nickname Rocket Ronny. He stayed in Liverpool for 4 additional seasons, until moving to Tottenham Hotspur in January 1994, for a fee of &pound 250,000.

He was a Tottenham player starting the season 1993/94, for 4 full seasons. After the 1997/98 season, he was transferd to Watford in a free transfer. Rocket Ronny helped promote Watford from Division 1 to the Premier League. He suffered from injuries, particularly in the 1998/99 season, in which he played only 5 matches. After which, he decided to retire, at the age of 36.

Clubs

• Maccabi Haifa (Israel) (1983-1986)
• Club Brugge (Belgium) (1986-1988)
• Standard Liege (Belgium) (1988-1990)
• Luton Town (England) (1990)
• Liverpool (England) (1990-1994)
• Tottenham Hotspur (England) (1994-1997)
• Watford (England) (1997-1999)

Milestones

• 2 Israeli Premier division championships, 1983/1984 & 1984/1985 with Maccabi Haifa.
• Belgian premier division championship, 1987/1988 with Club Brugge.
• English Premier League championship, 1989/1990 with Liverpool.

Career highlights

• Overall 38 goals for Maccabi Haifa.
• Overall 85 goals for European clubs.
• 11 international goals for the Israel National Football Team.
• Israel National Team: 60 international caps (41 full caps).
• Reaching UEFA Cup quarter-finals with Club Brugge in 1987/1988.
• Rosenthal's first appearance for Liverpool - 4:0 on Charlton Athletic with a personal hat-trick.
• France vs. Israel in Paris (1993) - Israel wins away 3:2 with Ronny Rosenthal assisting all 3 goals.
• On his first appearance for Tottenham, Rosenthal scored with a stunning 20-meter header against Sheffield Wednesday.
• F.A. Cup quarter-finals, Southampton vs. Tottenham (1994/1995). Transforming a 2 goals behind on half-time to 6:2 in favor of Tottenham (hat-trick).
• Azerbaijan vs. Israel (1996). A spectacular personal goal, taking the ball from inside the Israeli penalty box, dribbling alone all the way, past the keeper, into then net. Israelis selected this as their "Millennium Goal".
• Watford vs Blackpool - 1997/98. Another brilliant personal goal, passing through the whole defence to score.

Personal data

• Nationality: Israel.
• Date of birth: October 11, 1963.
• Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
• Weight: 131.5 lb (60 kg)
• Personal status: Married with 2 children.
• Matches played for the national team (caps): 60.
• International goals in the national team: 11.
• Current occupation: Footballers Agent

External links

Ronny Rosenthal's page on Maccabi-Haifa F.C website (Hebrew)
Ronny Rosenthal's page on Tottenham Hotspur F.C website
Ronny Rosenthal's page on Liverpool F.C TV site