Charlotte FC forward Liel Abada (11) during the first half against the Toronto FC in the Major League Soccer match up at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC, April 13, 2024. Photo: Scott Kinser/Cal Sport Media/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

Liel Abada, an Israeli footballer who left the Scottish club Celtic FC in March due to the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, scored his first ever goal in the American MLS league for Charlotte FC last week.

The goal came in the 69th minute in the team’s victory against Toronto FC.

“I have been waiting for this goal for a very long time,” Abada said. “I had a very, very difficult time in Scotland. Now I’m happy, and I just wanted to enjoy it.”

Abada, one of the most promising young strikers in world football, scored 15 goals in the 2021-22 season as Celtic won the League Cup and the Scottish Premiership title. But he allegedly sat out games for Glasgow’s Celtic FC amid anti-Israel fan protests. Soon afterward he left the club under unclear circumstances. In the first game following the Hamas terror group’s onslaught across southern Israel on Oct. 7, Celtic fans displayed massive banners that read “Victory To The Resistance.”

Abada, who is from the Israeli city of Petah Tikvah, had two remaining years on his Celtic contract.

“Leaving Celtic wasn’t in my plans, yet life’s unpredictable turns remind us that we’re not always in control,” Abada wrote in March on Instagram.

Charlotte FC acquired Abada for a hefty $8 million in order to purchase his contract from Celtic. Abada is signed through 2026 with an option for 2027 and will occupy an international roster slot.