Roberto Colautti

Roberto Damián Colautti (; born 24 May 1982) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. He began his career in Argentina with Boca Juniors and joined the Israeli club Maccabi Haifa in 2004. He became an Israeli citizen in 2007, on account of marrying an Israeli in 2005. He was promptly selected for the Israel national team, for which he won 21 caps over the next four years, scoring six goals.

Colautti played for the German team Borussia Mönchengladbach from 2007 to 2010, and then returned to Israel with Maccabi Tel Aviv. He moved to Cyprus in 2013 to join Anorthosis Famagusta; after a single season he joined AEK Larnaca. He left Larnaca in 2015.

Early and personal life Colautti was born in Córdoba, Argentina. His grandfather was from Udine in northeastern Italy.

He acquired an Israeli citizenship in 2007, two years after marrying his Israeli girlfriend Alvit Strauss (sister of Israeli goalkeepers Sagi Strauss and Ram Strauss) and on account of their marriage. They have four daughters.

Club career Early career Colautti was raised in , a settlement of 1,000 inhabitants near Córdoba. After playing semi-professionally in the city, he attracted the attention of Boca Juniors from Buenos Aires. and dealt with injuries for most of this season. He did however manage to score 3 goals in his 10 appearances. Mönchengladbach finished first in the 2. Bundesliga to gain promotion to the Bundesliga for the 2008–09 season.

Colautti's second season at Borussia Park was again interrupted by injuries, and he only played 24 Bundesliga matches out of a possible 34; of which ten were starts. He scored a crucial goal for Mönchengladbach on 10 May 2009 against Schalke 04 in the 90th minute to secure a 1–0 win in his side's fourth-last league match of the season. This was the Israeli forward's only goal of the season; although he did score two goals in an 8–1 victory over VfB Fichte Bielefeld in a DFB Pokal tie. This late strike proved to be instrumental in securing Borussia's survival in the Bundesliga, as they finished one point clear of being forced to play-off for their position in the league, and just two points ahead of Karlsruher SC, who finished bottom.

Maccabi Tel Aviv On 29 March 2010, Colautti signed a contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv and returned to Israel in July that year. On 1 August 2010, Colautti scored his first goal at Maccabi Toto Cup win against Maccabi Netanya. His first season in yellow was a tough one after the club underperformed and Colautti himself struggled to score. He lost his place with the first 11 and remained a substitute for the rest of the season. After all, Colautti managed to score nine league goals for Maccabi and an overall of 13 goals in 40 appearances during the season.

AEK Larnaca Colautti joined AEK Larnaca on 28 June 2014, signing a one-year deal, with the possibility to extend the contract. His league debut came on 24 August 2014 in a 5–2 victory against Apollon Limassol, where he scored his first goals, a brace.

International career On 2 September 2006, Colautti made his debut for the Israel national team, having received clearance from FIFA only two days before the match. His debut saw Israel defeat Estonia 1–0 in Tallinn, Estonia. Colautti scored the only goal of the match in the 9th minute. He has scored a brace against Croatia and further goals against Andorra, Macedonia and another goal against Estonia. All of his goals have come in Israel's UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers; in his first seven matches, he had six international goals to his name.

Colautti was granted full Israeli citizenship along with Toto Tamuz (originally from Nigeria), after their respective applications were approved by the Minister of Internal Affairs Roni Bar-On in 2007.

Career statistics Scores and results list Israel's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Colautti goal.

Honours Boca Juniors Argentine Primera División: 2003 Apertura

Maccabi Haifa Israeli Premier League: 2004–05, 2005–06 Toto Cup: 2005–06

Borussia Mönchengladbach 2. Bundesliga: 2007–08

Maccabi Tel Aviv Israeli Premier League: 2012–13

Individual Israeli Premier League top goalscorer: 2004–05