Former Israeli football player killed in Hamas attacks celebrating 43rd birthday
Retired Israeli striker Lior Asulin died during the Re'im music festival massacre while celebrating his birthday.
Asulin, 43, was one of approximately 260 bodies retrieved from the Supernova site by rescue service Zaka after a surprise attack led by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Negev desert near the Gaza Strip. Former club Hapoel Tel Aviv confirmed his death on social media.
“With great sadness, after many hours when he was declared missing, we have been informed that our former player Lior Asulin was murdered by terrorists at the party in Re’im,” the Israeli Premier League club announced on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The Hapoel Tel Aviv club bows its head and sends condolences and strength to Lior’s family at this difficult time.”
READ MORE: How Supernova music festival turned into a 'bloodbath' massacre leaving 260 dead
His former Bnei Sakhnin manager, Eyal Lahman, has also paid tribute to Asulin. “A guy with a heart of gold, that was his most outstanding characteristic. They always said that his most outstanding characteristic was to give back, I saw that the most outstanding characteristic was to give his friends his soul," he said.
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“I heard yesterday that he was missing, the first thought that came to my mind was what a beautiful life he could have had and what a different life he spent at the end. Very sad, all the time he simply suffered.”
While Asulin was on loan at Sakhnin, they became the first Arab club to win the Israeli State Cup, with the striker scoring twice in the final. That qualified the newly promoted Northern District team for the following season's UEFA Cup.
Asulin' Hapoel team played against Spurs during the 2007 UEFA Cup group stages (Getty Images)While he would return to parent club Maccabi Herzliya that summer, he was sent back out to Beitar Jerusalem for consecutive seasons. During this spell, Asulin established himself as one of the top Israeli strikers in the top flight.
At the end of his second season, Herzliya chairman Ariel Shaiman claimed that the club had received lucrative offers from Marseille and Nice, plus bids from Cyprus, Greece, Russia and Turkey for the goalscorer.
However, he loaned out once again, this time to Bnei Yehuda. After another successful spell, Hapoel signed Asulin permanently in the summer of 2007.
In Tel Aviv, the striker would play a part during their UEFA Cup group stage campaign, which pitted them against Aalborg, Anderlecht, Getafe and Tottenham Hotspur. Against the latter, they lost 2-0 in the Israeli capital, with Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane scoring for Juande Ramos ' Spurs.
It would be a short stint with Hapoel for Asulin, with a loan to Apollon Limassol coming the following January before a permanent exit followed at the end of that season. The striker played for 13 clubs during a journeyman career, including four spells at Hapoel Petah Tikva.
The final five years of his career came in the Israeli second tier. During that time he won the Toto Cup twice with Hapoel Ramat Gan - as part of a league and cup double - and Hapoel Rishon LeZion.
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