David "Dudu" Aouate (or Awat, , pronounced Dūdū Ahwaht; born 17 October 1977) is an Israeli retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. After playing for several clubs in his country, most notably Maccabi Haifa, he moved to Spain in 2003, going on to represent Racing de Santander, Deportivo La Coruña and Mallorca for a total of 303 La Liga matches. Aouate won 78 caps for Israel, during 14 years. Club career Israel David Aouate was born in Nazareth Illit, Israel (now Nof HaGalil, Israel), to a family of Sephardic Jewish descent. He began his career at Maccabi Haifa F.C. where he had also played youth football, as an understudy to Nir Davidovich. Wanting first-team action, he was loaned to Hapoel Nazareth Illit F.C. but never got a real chance until he transferred to Hapoel Haifa FC, having been assured that he would be the club's first-choice, but he again found himself struggling to establish himself as such. Early in the 1998–99 season, however, the team's regular, Avi Peretz, was injured, and Aouate took his place. Hapoel eventually won the championship that year and he was praised for his performances; by the time Peretz recovered, Aouate was irreplaceable. Aouate's performances for Hapoel saw him get called up to the Israel national team in 1999. In the 2001–02 campaign he returned to Maccabi Haifa as a cover for Davidovich, who was seriously injured, and the team went on to win the Premier League as he established himself as the undisputed starter. In 2002–03, Aouate was the starter as Maccabi played in the UEFA Champions League, the first time an Israeli side made it to the group stage of the competition. Haifa finished in third place in their group following a historic victory over powerhouse Manchester United, finishing runners-up in the league to Maccabi Tel Aviv; his solid performances earned him a transfer to European football, with Spanish club Racing de Santander signing him on 17 July 2003. Spain Aouate's move to Spain was made easier by the fact that he obtained a French passport, thus not counting as a foreigner. After forcing his way into the starting line-up in 2004–05 due to Ricardo's loan return to Manchester United – going on to play 74 games out of 76 in his final two years – he signed a four-year contract with fellow La Liga side Deportivo de La Coruña in August