Ya'akov Grundman

Ya'akov Grundman was born in 1939 in Poland

Grundman was born in 1939 in Proszowice, Poland. During World War II his family hid for 3 years on the land of a Polish farmer near the town. After the war the family moved to Israel and settled in the Hatikva Quarter of Tel Aviv.

He played as an attacking midfielder for Bnei Yehuda, where teammates called him "The Pole." He was in the squad that won promotion to the Liga Leumit in 1959 and the State Cup in 1968. He played 8 games for the Israel national team between 1961 and 1964.

An injury ended his playing career, and he trained as a coach in Israel and Germany. He won the State Cup with Hapoel Haifa in 1974, the double with Maccabi Tel Aviv in 1977, and the league with Maccabi Netanya in 1980. With Itzhak Schneor he coached Israel from 1988 to 1992, reaching a playoff against Colombia for the 1990 World Cup.

He also worked as a radio commentator and owned the Puma agency in Israel. He fell ill with cancer in 2001 and later scouted for the national team. He received the FIFA Order of Merit in 2004 and died in May that year.