Henok Goitom

Henok Goitom

Goitom playing for AIK in 2014
Personal information
Date of birth (1984-09-22) 22 September 1984
Place of birth Solna, Sweden
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Centre forward
Club information
Current team
 Getafe
Number 7
Youth career
1998–2000 Essinge IK
2001–2002 Inter Orhoy
2002–2003 Vasalunds IF
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2003–2007 Udinese 1 (1)
2005–2007 → Ciudad Murcia (loan) 75 (23)
2007–2009 Murcia 31 (2)
2008–2009 → Valladolid (loan) 29 (10)
2009–2012 Almería 78 (8)
2012–2015 AIK 93 (39)
2016– Getafe 1 (0)
National team‡
2005–2006 Sweden U21 13 (4)
2015– Eritrea 2 (1)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11 April 2016.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:29, 13 October 2015 (UTC)

Henok Goitom (born 22 September 1984) is an Eritrean professional footballer who plays for Spanish club Getafe CF as a centre forward.

Early life

Of Eritrean descent, Goitom was born in Solna, Stockholm County, and raised in nearby Husby.

Club career

Udinese

Goitom moved to Italy in 2004 to join Udinese Calcio, rarely being an option during his short stay. However, in his sole Serie A appearance, on 19 February 2005, Goitom only needed seven minutes as a late substitute to score the 90th minute 1–1 equalizer against Inter Milan.[1]

Spain

Subsequently, Goitom served a two-year loan in the Spanish second division with Ciudad de Murcia, and netted 15 league goals during his second season.

In 2007, Goitom was released by Udinese and signed a four-year deal with Ciudad Murcia's city rivals Real Murcia, for €3 million.[2] He was officially unveiled by the club on 14 July.

The president of UD Almería, Alfonso García, however, announced his club would take the matter to court: as he appeared before the media during the presentation of Aitor López Rekarte, showed journalists papers which proved an agreement had already been reached between Almería and Udinese.[3]

With Murcia, Goitom only scored twice during the entire campaign, which saw the team eventually relegated from La Liga as last. In July 2008 he was loaned for one season to fellow league side Real Valladolid, which had an option to buy at the campaign's closure.[4]

Established as first-choice, Goitom netted twice as Valladolid beat Recreativo de Huelva 3–2 away on 8 March 2009, but was also sent off during the match (as teammate Álvaro Rubio).[5] He finished the season as the club's top scorer, at ten.

In late July 2009, Goitom was released by Murcia and joined fellow league side Almería, replacing Sevilla FC-bound Álvaro Negredo. His 2009–10 season output consisted of one goal, in a 1–1 home draw against CD Tenerife;[6] also, even though he was the only pure striker in the squad, he was never an undisputed starter,[7] but the Andalusians retained their top division status in the end.

On 19 January 2011, Goitom scored one of Almería's most important goals, netting a penalty kick in a 3–2 win at Deportivo de La Coruña (4–2 on aggregate), with the club reaching the semifinals of the Copa del Rey for the first time ever (he added one more in the competition, against Real Sociedad[8]).[9] However, he again only netted once in the league, in a 2–2 home draw against Atlético Madrid,[10] and the club returned to the second division after four years; in mid-August 2012 he rescinded his contract.[11]

AIK

On 16 August 2012, Goitom signed with hometown club AIK Fotboll in the Allsvenskan.[12] In November 2015, it was announced he would be released when his contract ended on 31 December.[13]

International career

Goitom was a regular starter for the Swedish under-21 team during 2006, and played for the nation during qualification for the 2006 and 2007 UEFA European Championships.[14][15] He was on the verge of breaking into the full squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup squad in Germany, but did not make the final cut.

In September 2015, at age of 30, Goitom made an official request to FIFA for permission to play for Eritrea.[16] On 10 October he gained his first cap, in a 0–2 home loss to Botswana for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers;[17][18] he scored in the return leg, to a final 1–5 defeat on aggregate.[19]

International goals

Scores and results list Eritrea's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref
1. 13 October 2015 Francistown Stadium, Francistown, Botswana  Botswana
1–0
1–3
2018 World Cup qualification [19]

Club statistics

As of 1 November 2015[20]
Season Club Division League Cup Europe Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
2004–05 Udinese Serie A 1110—21
2005–06 Ciudad de Murcia Segunda División 378——378
2006–07 3815——3815
2007–08 Murcia La Liga 31220—332
2008–09 Valladolid 291021—3111
2009–10 Almería 211——211
2010–11 26152—313
2011–12 Segunda División 31610—326
2012 AIK Allsvenskan 911021122
2013 27821—299
2014 281211413314
2015 291832—3220
Career Total 307831876233192

References

  1. ↑ Colpo di Veron, l'Inter si illude – Goitom beffa Mancini allo scadere (Veron strike, Inter thinks it's over – Goitom mocks Mancini in the end); La Repubblica, 19 February 2005 (Italian)
  2. ↑ El Murcia ficha al delantero sueco Henok Goitom (Murcia sign Swedish forward Henok Goitom); Marca, 12 July 2007 (Spanish)
  3. ↑ El Almería denunciará el fichaje de Goitom por el Murcia (Almería to denounce Murcia's signing of Goitom); La Opinión de Murcia, 17 July 2007 (Spanish)
  4. ↑ Goitom llega al Valladolid "para marcar goles y ayudar a mantener la permanencia" (Goitom arrives in Valladolid to "score goals and help maintain top flight status"); Soitu, 17 July 2008 (Spanish)
  5. ↑ Recreativo Huelva 2–3 Valladolid; ESPN Soccernet, 8 March 2009
  6. ↑ Eritrean Henok Goitom back in action in La Liga; Eri-International Sports, 18 January 2010
  7. ↑ El sueco no ha superado la 'maldición del 20' (The Swede has not overcome the 'curse of the 20'); Ideal, 25 May 2010 (Spanish)
  8. ↑ El Almería ganó la eliminatoria ante una Real que lo intentó pero pagó sus errores (Almería won tie against Real who tried but paid for mistakes); El Diario Vasco, 11 November 2010 (Spanish)
  9. ↑ El Almería se niega a despertar del sueño (Almería refuses to awake from dream); Marca, 19 January 2011 (Spanish)
  10. ↑ Almeria fight back for draw; ESPN Soccernet, 12 March 2011
  11. ↑ Goitom deja de pertencer al Almería (Goitom no longer an Almería player); Almería's official website, 13 August 2012 (Spanish)
  12. ↑ Goitom klar för AIK: "Är det rätta steget"; Expressen, 16 August 2012 (Swedish)
  13. ↑ Henok Goitom lämnar AIK Fotboll (Henok Goitom leaves AIK Fotboll); AIK's official website, 31 December 2015 (Swedish)
  14. ↑ Goitom seals Sofia success; UEFA.com, 25 March 2005
  15. ↑ Goitom fuels Swedes' dreams; UEFA.com, 16 August 2006
  16. ↑ Carlsson, Simon (15 September 2015). "Väljer bort Sverige – för spel med Eritrea" [Rejects Sweden – to play with Eritrea] (in Swedish). Expressen. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  17. ↑ "Eritrea needs to bounce back against Botswana in World Cup qualifier". Caperi. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  18. ↑ "Eritrea 0–2 Botswana". Eurosport. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  19. 1 2 "Botswana advances against Eritrea, Henok Goitom scores on a brilliant header". Tesfa News. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  20. ↑ "H. Goitom". Soccerway. Retrieved 28 March 2014.

External links

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