Nitzan Shirazi

Nitzan Shirazi was born in 1971 in Tel Aviv

Nitzan Shirazi was born in Tel Aviv on 21 July 1971. His father, Meir Shirazi, was a player and manager at Bnei Yehuda, and his brother Hezi Shirazi also played for the club.

He joined the Bnei Yehuda children's team at age 8 and later led its youth team to a championship. At 17 he moved up to the senior team and played for the youth national team from 1988 to 1990. He later played in lower leagues and retired because of an injury.

He began coaching in youth football and became assistant to Bnei Yehuda coach Guy Levy, then head coach after Levy resigned. He took the team to the State Cup final and later to its first season in the UEFA Cup. He resigned in December 2007 after 6 straight losses.

He then coached Maccabi Petah Tikva and Hapoel Haifa. In January 2012 he became coach of Hapoel Tel Aviv and won the State Cup with the club that season.

In September 2012, after a medical problem, he became the club's professional director. He left in 2013 to focus on treatment and died of cancer on 22 July 2014. He was survived by his wife and 3 children.