Henok Goitom facts for kids
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Goitom with AIK in 2014
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 22 September 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Solna, Sweden | ||
| Height | 1.89 m | ||
| Playing position | Centre-forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | AIK (assistant) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1998–2000 | Essinge IK | ||
| 2001–2002 | Inter Orhoy | ||
| 2002–2003 | Vasalunds IF | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2003–2007 | Udinese | 1 | (1) |
| 2005–2007 | → Ciudad Murcia (loan) | 75 | (23) |
| 2007–2009 | Murcia | 31 | (2) |
| 2008–2009 | → Valladolid (loan) | 29 | (10) |
| 2009–2012 | Almería | 78 | (8) |
| 2012–2015 | AIK | 93 | (39) |
| 2016 | Getafe | 2 | (0) |
| 2016 | San Jose Earthquakes | 8 | (0) |
| 2017–2021 | AIK | 142 | (39) |
| Total | 459 | (122) | |
| National team | |||
| 2003 | Sweden U19 | 3 | (1) |
| 2005–2006 | Sweden U21 | 13 | (4) |
| 2015–2019 | Eritrea | 4 | (1) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2021–2022 | AIK (under-19) | ||
| 2022 | AIK (interim) | ||
| 2022– | AIK (assistant) | ||
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Henok Goitom (born 22 September 1984) is a former professional footballer. He played as a centre-forward, which means he was a main attacker. Today, he works as an assistant manager for AIK.
Henok spent most of his 18-year career playing for AIK in Sweden and for various clubs in Spain. In Spain, he played 215 matches and scored 42 goals. This included 109 games and 14 goals in La Liga, which is Spain's top football league. He also played professionally in Italy and the United States.
Even though he was born in Sweden and played for Sweden's youth teams, Goitom later chose to play for the Eritrea senior team. He made his debut for Eritrea in 2015. Over four years, he played four games and scored one goal for them.
Contents
Early Life and Background
Henok Goitom was born in Solna, a city near Stockholm in Sweden. He grew up in a nearby area called Husby. His parents were both born in Eritrea.
Club Football Journey
Playing in Italy: Udinese
In 2004, Henok Goitom moved to Italy to join the football club Udinese Calcio. He didn't play much during his time there. However, in his only game in Serie A (Italy's top league) on 19 February 2005, he made a big impact. He came on as a substitute very late in the game. After just seven minutes, he scored a goal in the 90th minute against Inter Milan, making the score 1–1.
After his time at Udinese, Goitom went to Spain. He played for Ciudad de Murcia in the Segunda División (Spain's second league) for two years on loan. In his second season with them (2006–07), he scored 15 league goals, which was a great achievement.
Moving to Spain: Murcia and Valladolid
In 2007, Goitom left Udinese and signed a four-year contract with Real Murcia CF, another Spanish club. He only scored two goals during the 2007–08 season. His team was unfortunately relegated from La Liga, finishing last.
In July 2008, Goitom was loaned to Real Valladolid, another team in Spain's top league. He became a key player for them. On 8 March 2009, he scored two goals in a 3–2 away win against Recreativo de Huelva. He was also sent off in that game, along with a teammate. He finished that season as Valladolid's top scorer with ten goals.
Time with Almería
In July 2009, Goitom left Murcia and joined UD Almería in La Liga. He replaced a player who had moved to Sevilla FC. In his first season (2009–10), he scored one goal in a 1–1 home draw against CD Tenerife. Even though he was the only pure striker, he wasn't always a starter. However, Almería managed to stay in the top division.
Goitom scored one of Almería's most important goals on 19 January 2011. It was a penalty kick in a 3–2 victory against Deportivo de La Coruña. This win helped Almería reach the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey (Spain's main cup competition) for the first time ever. He scored another goal in that competition. However, in the league that season (2010–11), he only scored once. Almería then returned to the second division after four years in the top league. In August 2012, Goitom ended his contract with Almería.
Returning Home: AIK
On 16 August 2012, Henok Goitom signed with his hometown club, AIK Fotboll, which plays in the Allsvenskan (Sweden's top league). In November 2015, it was announced that he would leave the club when his contract ended on 31 December.
Short Stays: Getafe and San Jose Earthquakes
After being without a club for nearly three months, Goitom signed a short-term deal with Getafe CF in Spain on 22 March 2016. He played his first game about a week later as a substitute in a 2–0 loss to Rayo Vallecano. He played only a total of 124 minutes for Getafe, and the team was relegated from the top league.
On 10 August 2016, Goitom moved to the United States to join San Jose Earthquakes on a free transfer. He made his Major League Soccer debut nine days later. He came off the bench in a 1–2 loss to Houston Dynamo. At the end of that season, the club decided not to keep him.
Back to AIK and Retirement
On 3 March 2017, Goitom signed a two-year deal to return to AIK Fotboll. This meant he was back in his home country and its main football league. In February 2018, he became the team captain.
Henok Goitom announced his retirement from playing football after the 2021 season, when he was 37 years old. On 19 August 2022, he was appointed as the interim manager (temporary manager) of his last club, AIK.
International Football Career
Playing for Sweden's Youth Teams
Henok Goitom was a regular player for the Swedish under-21 team in 2006. He played for Sweden during the qualification games for the 2006 and 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championships. He was never called up to play for the main Swedish national team.
Playing for Eritrea
In September 2015, when he was 30 years old, Goitom asked FIFA for permission to play for Eritrea. He made his debut for Eritrea on 10 October 2015. It was a 2–0 home loss to Botswana in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. He scored a goal in the return game, but Eritrea lost 5–1 on aggregate (total score) over both matches.
Career Statistics
Club Appearances and Goals
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Udinese | 2003–04 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| 2004–05 | Serie A | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 2 | 1 | ||
| 2005–06 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2006–07 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 2 | 1 | |||
| Ciudad Murcia (loan) | 2005–06 | Segunda División | 37 | 8 | 0 | 0 | — | 37 | 8 | |
| 2006–07 | Segunda División | 38 | 15 | 0 | 0 | — | 38 | 15 | ||
| Total | 75 | 23 | 0 | 0 | — | 75 | 23 | |||
| Murcia | 2007–08 | La Liga | 31 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 33 | 2 | |
| Valladolid (loan) | 2008–09 | La Liga | 29 | 10 | 2 | 1 | — | 31 | 11 | |
| Almería | 2009–10 | La Liga | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 21 | 1 | |
| 2010–11 | La Liga | 26 | 1 | 5 | 2 | — | 31 | 3 | ||
| 2011–12 | Segunda División | 31 | 6 | 3 | 1 | — | 34 | 7 | ||
| Total | 78 | 8 | 8 | 3 | — | 86 | 11 | |||
| AIK | 2012 | Allsvenskan | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 2 |
| 2013 | Allsvenskan | 27 | 8 | 3 | 1 | — | 30 | 9 | ||
| 2014 | Allsvenskan | 28 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 33 | 14 | |
| 2015 | Allsvenskan | 29 | 18 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 39 | 27 | |
| Total | 93 | 39 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 8 | 114 | 52 | ||
| Getafe | 2015–16 | La Liga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 2016 | Major League Soccer | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |
| AIK | 2017 | Allsvenskan | 24 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 31 | 7 |
| 2018 | Allsvenskan | 30 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 40 | 13 | |
| 2019 | Allsvenskan | 30 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 43 | 15 | |
| 2020 | Allsvenskan | 29 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 10 | |
| 2021 | Allsvenskan | 29 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 29 | 3 | ||
| Total | 142 | 39 | 17 | 5 | 17 | 4 | 176 | 48 | ||
| Career total | 459 | 122 | 39 | 14 | 29 | 12 | 527 | 148 | ||
International Appearances and Goals
Games and Goals for National Teams
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eritrea | 2015 | 2 | 1 |
| 2016 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 4 | 1 |
- Scores and results list Eritrea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Goitom goal.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 13 October 2015 | Francistown Stadium, Francistown, Botswana |  Botswana |
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2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Football Honours
AIK
- Allsvenskan: 2018 (This means AIK won the top Swedish league in 2018 with Goitom on the team.)
See also
In Spanish: Henok Goitom para niños
