Oded Machnes

Machnes built his senior reputation at Maccabi Netanya, establishing himself as a cornerstone of the club's dominant sides across the 1970s and early 1980s.[1] He won the Israeli top-flight scoring title four times and was named Israeli Footballer of the Year three times — one of those selections coming in the 1981/82 season, when Maccabi Netanya finished second rather than first in the league.[3] Across his top-division career, he scored approximately 196 goals, a total that at one point tied him with Alon Mizrahi for the all-time Israeli league scoring record.[5]

His twin brother Gadi was also part of the Maccabi Netanya setup, and the two had a hand in shaping the club's squad. Together, they recruited David Lavi to the club after spotting him playing football when they were teenagers, introducing him to their father Aryeh, who was a coach.[3][6] Machnes later noted that he and Lavi were both four-time leading scorers, shared the penalty area, remained close friends, and never felt jealousy toward one another.[6]

A particularly memorable moment from his time at the club came in the 1979–80 season. On 2 February 1980, in the 18th round of the championship, Maccabi Netanya hosted Hapoel Tel Aviv at their stadium — known as "the Box" — before a crowd of 10,000 spectators. In the 73rd minute, Benny Lam crossed toward Machnes, who headed the ball past Hapoel goalkeeper Aryeh Bazerno for the only goal of the match. The 1–0 victory gave Netanya a three-point lead over Hapoel Tel Aviv at a time when a win was worth two points, and the goal proved pivotal in that season's title race.[7]

The 1977/78 season stands as perhaps the greatest in Maccabi Netanya's history, a campaign in which the club claimed the league championship and State Cup before finishing first in its Intertoto group.[8] Machnes was central to the State Cup final victory over Bnei Yehuda, scoring the opening goal in only the third minute after his twin brother Gadi won the ball and played it into his path. Netanya ultimately won 2–1, with Moshe Griani adding the second goal.[8][9]

In a later retrospective interview, Machnes recalled that the outcome was effectively settled within the opening fifteen minutes, with Netanya controlling the match before Bnei Yehuda added a consolation goal.[9] The twin-assist-to-twin combination in a cup final was described as an exceptional occurrence in Israeli football.[8]

Machnes represented Israel at the 1976 Montreal Olympics as part of the national football squad.[10] He recalled living in the Olympic Village four years after the Munich massacre and sharing dining facilities with athletes from around the world. He particularly remembered standing in line beside Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci, the first gymnast to receive a perfect Olympic score.[10]

Machnes's later comments about Israel being eliminated through a drawing of lots concerned the national team's 1968 Mexico City campaign, not the Olympic tournament in which he played.[10]

After retiring as a player, Machnes took on a brief stint as head coach of Maccabi Netanya but stepped away from coaching, citing the profession's pressure.[4] He subsequently built and operated a network of football schools that coached children from preschool age through seventh grade.[4][11]

During the second COVID-19 lockdown, the network was closed, and Machnes publicly argued for allowing children to resume outdoor training under distancing rules. He said that children had replaced post-goal embraces with somersaults, scissors, and airplane-style celebrations.[11]

In 2017, he was appointed director of the Youth Stars Program within the Israeli Professional Football Leagues administration, a role that involved guiding clubs and evaluating their youth-development standards.[4] A newspaper item dated 7 June 1991 was titled "Where Did Oded Machnes Disappear?", although its catalog record does not provide the article's full text.[12]

Machnes returned to the site of many of his greatest goals when, ahead of the final official match at Maccabi Netanya's old stadium, he gathered with three other former club stars to recall their playing days and the goals scored before the venue's crowded wooden stands.[13] He was also among the distinguished former players present at the inauguration of Netanya's new stadium, where he sat alongside businessman Yitzhak Tshuva.[2]

Asked to reflect on the greatest teams in Israeli football from his era, Machnes named Shmuel Perlman's treble-winning side and Motaleh Spiegler's 1982/83 team, widely known as "Netanya and 15 others," as leading candidates.[3][8] He attributed those teams' strength to players who had grown up together through Netanya's youth system, were emotionally bound to the club, and shared a common commitment to its success.[3]

His favorite individual goal came in a 3–1 away victory over Maccabi Petah Tikva. Motaleh Spiegler played a long ball from roughly half a field away; Machnes chipped it over David Spivak and Itche Drucker, brought it down from his head to his foot, and chipped it over goalkeeper Shimshon Lebkowitz. He described it as a legendary individual goal.[3] The Hebrew press recognized his prolific scoring with the nickname "King of Goals" as early as June 1976, and a Ma'ariv headline in April 1977 marked his 50th goal.[14][15]

Accounts differ on the timing of Bnei Yehuda's consolation goal in the 1978 State Cup final. Machnes, his brother Gadi, and Moshe Griani maintained that it was scored in the 89th minute, while former Bnei Yehuda players placed it in the 44th minute.[9]

A separate clarification concerns Machnes's later discussion of Israel's 1968 Olympic elimination. He repeated the account that the team was eliminated by a drawing of lots and linked the episode to the subsequent adoption of penalty shootouts, but he was speaking retrospectively; his own Olympic participation came in Montreal in 1976.[10]