Shmuel Rosenthal

Shmuel Rosenthal was born in 1947 in Petah Tikva

Shmuel Rosenthal was born in Petah Tikva on 22 April 1947. His mother Shulamit was born in Poland, and his father Mordechai came with the Lithuania team to the 1935 Maccabiah and stayed, later joining Hapoel Petah Tikva. Rosenthal began playing for Hapoel Petah Tikva as a boy.

He captained Israel's youth team, which won the Asian youth cup in 1965, 1966 and 1967. He debuted for the senior national team in 1965 and played at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico. At the 1970 World Cup he started all 3 of Israel's matches, against Uruguay, Sweden and Italy.

In 1972 he joined Borussia Mönchengladbach in West Germany, playing 13 Bundesliga matches and scoring 1 goal. He returned to Hapoel Petah Tikva in 1973, then played for Beitar Tel Aviv, the Oakland Stompers in the North American Soccer League, and Hapoel Lod. He later coached clubs including Maccabi Herzliya, Beitar Ramla and Hapoel Lod.

After retiring he worked as an insurance agent. In 1997 he was arrested and convicted after admitting to an attempt to smuggle 13 kg of cocaine from Mexico to Israel, and was sentenced to 13 years, of which he served 4. He later worked at the Israel Electric Corporation and moved to Arad, where he served as professional director of Maccabi Arad Tamar.