Henok Goitom is a Swedish-Eritrean professional football payer, who was born and raised in Sweden and currently plays for clubs in Spain. Henok, first moved to Italy in 2004 to join Udinese Calcio, where he was rarely an option during his short stay.
However, in his sole Serie A appearance, on 19 February 2005, he only needed seven minutes as a late substitute to net a 90th minute equalizer against F.C. Internazionale Milano.
Subsequently, Goitom served a two-year loan in the Spanish second division, with Ciudad de Murcia and scored 15 league goals during his second season.
In 2007, Goitom was released by Udinese, and signed a four-year deal with Ciudad Murcia's city rivals, Real Murcia, for €3 million. He was officially unveiled by the club on 14 July.
The president of UD AlmerÃa, Alfonso GarcÃa, however, announced his club would take the matter to court. GarcÃa, as he appeared before the media during the presentation of defender Aitor López Rekarte, showed journalists papers which proved an agreement had already been reached between the Andalusians and Udinese.
With Murcia, Goitom only netted twice during the entire season, which saw the team eventually relegated from La Liga, as last. In July 2008, he was loaned for 2008–09 to fellow league side Real Valladolid, which had an option to buy in June 2009.
Established as first-choice, Goitom netted twice as Valladolid beat Recreativo de Huelva 3–2 away on 7 March 2009, but was also sent off during the match (as teammate Ãlvaro Rubio). He finished the season as the club's top scorer, at 10.
In late July 2009, he was released by Murcia and joined fellow league side AlmerÃa, replacing Sevilla FC-bound (via Real Madrid) Ãlvaro Negredo. His 2009–10 season output consisted of one goal, in a 1–1 home draw against CD Tenerife; also, even though he was the only pure striker in the squad, he was never an undisputed starter, but the Andalusians retained their top division status in the end.
On 19 January 2011, Goitom scored one of AlmerÃa's most important goals, netting a penalty kick in a 3–2 win at Deportivo de La Coruña (4–2 on aggregate), with the club reaching the semifinals of the Copa del Rey for the first time ever (he added two more in the competition, netting in both legs against Real Sociedad).However, he again only netted once in the league, in a 2–2 home draw against Atlético Madrid, and the club returned to the second division after four years. After another season with the Andalusians, with his club failing to reach play-offs, he rescinded his contract.
On 16 August 2012, Goitom signed a contract with his hometown team AIK of the Swedish top-tier league, Allsvenskan
Goitom was a regular starter for the Sweden national under-21 football team during 2006, and played for the nation during qualification for the 2006 and 2007 European Championships.
He was on the verge of breaking into the full squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup squad in Germany, but did not make the final cut.
Henok Goitom
