An emotional commemoration on the 12th anniversary of the passing of the late goalkeeper Mano Schwartz

At the end of the week (Friday, 31.3.2023) a moving memorial was held at the cemetery in Kibbutz Hathor near Haifa on the 12th anniversary of the passing of the late Emmanuel (Mano) Schwartz, who was the legendary goalkeeper of the Maccabi Haifa team, Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Israel national team, in 2011 he suffered a heart attack In Kusumui in Thailand where he lived in his last years.

In the crowd that came to honor the memory of the late beloved goalkeeper Manu Schwartz, there were his mother Esther, his sister Ilana and her family members, his brother Zohar and his family members, his grandchildren, friends and acquaintances, including those from Maccabi Haifa veterans including the manager of the Maccabi Haifa veterans group, Aryeh Barzilai, The former player Ilan Loft, the legendary manager of the team at the time Yehoshua (Negro) Sosan, Gili Barzilai and more.

At the beginning of the moving memorial, Aryeh Barzilai, former team manager and veteran of Maccabi Haifa, said: "Exactly, 12 years ago we lost the legendary goalkeeper Mano Schwartz, Mano was one of Maccabi Haifa's greatest goalkeepers, he was charming, warm and affectionate and everyone loved him. Even after he was gone And this after 12 years have passed, we came here to honor his memory, I will never forget him!".

Schwartz, one of the giant and outstanding goalkeepers who grew up in Haifa's youth department, started playing for the team as a child at the age of 8. He made his debut in the senior team of the Greens when he was only 16 years old and standing 1.87 m tall, he was handsome, modest, built and kind-hearted And my people, Schwartz aspired to be a field player, but the team did not have a goalie and because of his sturdy dimensions he positioned himself between the 2 goalposts and stayed there until the end of his career. Manu Schwartz replaced Boma Weinberg, who was injured in the Yom Kippur War, in the Maccabi Haifa goal. Many fans will remember him from the 1975/76 season when Maccabi Haifa was caught in bottom struggles and Schwartz displayed excellent ability and staying in the top league was largely credited to him, after making 129 appearances in the green uniform in the various frameworks, a season later Maccabi Haifa was relegated to the second, national league, when Schwartz saw his way back to the national team Ina Salula turned to Maccabi Haifa and asked to be released to the Maccabi Tel Aviv team. His late father Aryeh was willing to pay 200,000 pounds for him, which was a large sum in those days, as a release ransom, but the administrators of Maccabi Haifa at the time refused to release him and he had no choice but to enter international quarantine.

In the end, Maccabi Tel Aviv bought him for 320,000 lira, in a transfer that was not accepted with equanimity. The Maccabi Haifa fans were very angry and the members of the board had to walk around with bodyguards for fear that they would hurt them. In Maccabi Haifa uniform he recorded 121 league games and 10 cup games. One of the images that many fans of the Greens remember was that after an away game against Maccabi Jaffa in which his team was defeated, despite Schwartz's brilliant ability, he was caught on camera crying while putting traffic signs on the shoulder of the brakeman Isaiah Schwegger who was trying to comfort him.

In the uniform of the Maccabi Tel Aviv team Schwartz won the title of the state championship and also the state cup. In the 1978/79 season, Schwartz was a partner in the unforgettable championship campaign of the Yellows, together with Kochavi on the late Kafi Cohen, Giora Spiegel and Vicky Peretz. In that match, Schwartz displayed record ability and conceded only 16 goals - a record that was later equaled by Alexander Obarov , but never broke. Then in 1979 he received a call-up to the Israeli national team and after a while he retired and went to play in the indoor soccer league in the United States. In the early 80s he had a successful career in the indoor soccer league in the USA and in 2002 he moved to the island of Kosmoi in southern Thailand, where he was in the restaurant business and managed an Italian restaurant, where he lived until the day he died.

Emmanuel (Mano) Schwartz passed away in 2011 at the age of 54, may his memory be blessed!