Israel Silva

Israel Silva Matos de Souza is a former Brazilian footballer who played as a striker.

Club career

Silva started his career in Brazil but his best years as a soccer player came when he went to play in Guatemala. He started at Deportivo Teculután for whom he scored 34 goals and moved on to Xelajú MC and scored twelve goals taking them to a final and won by beating Marquense. Then CSD Municipal put their eye on him and he was transferred there in December 2007. He did not have the best season so the team let him go. Deportivo Jalapa decided to buy him and little by little he became the player he once was. An offer to play in Greece was presented and left to play in Kerkyra FC.
Silva is Xelajú's all-time leader with 176 goals, helping the club win the league championship in 2012.

Naturalization

During the time that Silva was playing in Guatemala he decided to give up his Brazilian citizenship to receive the Guatemalan. He is said that he would love to play for the Guatemala national football team.

Post retirement

In September 2022, Silva was appointed as a coach at the Xtreme Soccer Xela high-performance academy in Quetzaltenango, where he would work close together with another former Brazilian footballer, Sandro Zamboni.
Silva later also started his own academy called Academia De Fútbol Israel Silva.