Antal Yaakobishvili

Antal Yaakobishvili (born 12 July 2004) is a Hungarian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Spanish club Girona FC B.

The native form of this personal name is Yaakobishvili Antal. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Antal Yaakobishvili
Personal information
Date of birth (2004-07-12) 12 July 2004
Place of birth Budapest, Hungary
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Girona B
Number 4
Youth career
Baráti Bőrlabda
2015–2017 MTK Budapest
2017–2021 Sant Just
2021–2023 Girona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2022– Girona B 26 (1)
2024– Girona 1 (0)
International career‡
2021 Hungary U18 1 (0)
2023 Hungary U19 3 (0)
2023– Hungary U21 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 January 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21 November 2023

Early life

Yaakobishvili was born in Budapest, Hungary to Jewish father; his father was born in Georgia and spent two years in Israel, enabling Israeli citizenship; his mother is Hungarian.[1][2] His younger brother Áron is also a footballer, and plays as a goalkeeper for the youth sides of FC Barcelona.[3][1][4]

Club career

Yaakobishvili moved to Barcelona in 2017 after his mother received a job offer in the city,[3] and joined the youth sides of Atlètic Sant Just FC along with his younger brother. In 2021, he was signed by Girona FC, joining their Juvenil squads.[5]

Yaakobishvili made his senior debut with Girona's reserves on 11 December 2022, starting in a 4–1 Tercera Federación home routing of CE L'Hospitalet. He scored his first senior goal the following 12 February, netting the B's second in a 2–0 away win over UE Tona.[6]

Yaakobishvili made his first team debut on 17 January 2024, coming on as a half-time substitute for Juanpe in a 3–1 home win over Rayo Vallecano, for the season's Copa del Rey.[7][8]

On 21 January 2024, he debuted in La Liga in a 5–1 victory over Sevilla FC on the 25 game week of the 2023–24 La Liga season.[9]

International career

Yaakobishvili has represented Hungary at under-18, under-19 and under-21 levels. In June 2023, it was reported by Israeli sports journalism outlet Sport 5 that Yaakobishvili and his brother were attempting to gain Israeli citizenship so as to represent the nation at international level.[1] However, their agent Attila Georgi denied these rumours, stating that the brothers were Hungarian and that they wanted to represent Hungary at international level.[10]

Career statistics
As of match played 24 January 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Girona B 2022–23 Tercera Federación 140———140
2023–24 Tercera Federación 120———120
Total 260———260
Girona 2023–24 La Liga 1020——30
Career total 270200000290

    References
    1. Pashchatsky, Moti; Malamud, Elhanan (22 June 2023). "שוער העתיד של ברצלונה ואחיו שיכולים לשחק בנבחרת ישראל" [The future goalkeeper of Barcelona and his brother who can play for the Israeli national team]. sport5.co.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
    2. ""Nem lőnek elég erőset!" – Lewandowskiékkal készült a Barca Magyar kapusa" ["They don't shoot hard enough!" - Barca's Hungarian goalkeeper trained with Lewandowski]. nb1.hu (in Hungarian). 17 May 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
    3. "¿Quiénes son Astralaga, Kochen y Yako, los suplentes de Iñaki Peña?" [Who are Astralaga, Kochen and Yako, the replacements of Iñaki Peña?] (in Spanish). El Periódico. 6 December 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
    4. "Magyar futballista edzett az FC Barcelona első csapatával" [Hungarian football player trained with the first team of FC Barcelona]. magyarnemzet.hu (in Hungarian). 25 March 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
    5. "Magyar válogatott: spanyol élcsapatból érkezhet Marco Rossi meglepetésembere az Eb-re" [Hungarian national team: Marco Rossi's surprise man may come to the European Championship from the Spanish top team] (in Hungarian). SportPoszt.com. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
    6. "El Girona B fa la feina al camp del Tona (0–2)" [Girona B get the job done at the home grounds of Tona (0–2)] (in Catalan). L'Esportiu. 12 February 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
    7. "El fuego del Girona llega a la Copa" [Girona's fire reach the Cup] (in Spanish). Marca. 17 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
    8. "Yaakobishvili, el gigante que ilusiona al Girona" [Yaakobishvili, the giant who gives hope to Girona] (in Spanish). Sport. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
    9. "Yaakobishvili Antal a La Ligában is bemutatkozott, újra tarolt, és élre állt a Girona!". Nemzeti Sport (in Hungarian). 21 January 2024. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
    10. "Cáfol a menedzser: a Yaakobishvili testvérek nem váltanak országot" [The agent denies: the Yaakobishvili brothers are not changing countries]. sportal.blikk.hu (in Hungarian). 28 June 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.