Gevorg Ghazaryan (; born 5 April 1988) is an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or forward. Ghazaryan has participated in 73 international matches, scoring 14 goals since his debut on 14 January 2007. He previously played for

Greek Super League The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

clubs

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

and Kerkyra, and earlier for Pyunik.

Club career

Pyunik

In the

2004 Armenian Premier League The 2004 Armenian Premier League season was the thirteenth since its establishment. It was contested by 8 teams, and Pyunik FC won the championship. No team was relegated this season, because the Football Federation of Armenia decided to increase ...

season, Ghazaryan played for the youth team FC Pyunik, performing in the First League. For the next season, he debuted in the senior first team. On 6 July 2005, Ghazaryan came to the Lernagorts Stadium against the same command, replacing in the half-time interval with Aghvan Mkrtchyan. His first goal for the club happened the following season. On 24 May 2006, in a game against Shirak FC, Ghazaryan entered the field at the 55th minute of the match and, after five minutes, scored his first goal. In the same match, he scored his second goal, having issued such a double (the match ended with the score 7–0). In 2007, Ghazaryan played in Pyunik for the first round of the

Armenian Premier League The Armenian Premier League (, known as the Armenian Fastex Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the top association football, football competition in Armenia. From 1936 to 1991, the competition was held as a regional tournament within th ...

, then went on loan to Banants for the interests of the Armenian youth team. In the first game, Ghazaryan scored a hat-trick. Having played in the second round for Banants, he then returned to Pyunik. Every year that progresses, they see the potential and improve their skills. In 2010, Ghazaryan reached a new, higher support height of his experience. This season, he accounted two hat-tricks and scored twice in the 2010 Armenia Cup final. While Ghazaryan played for Pyunik, the club won the

2006 Armenian Premier League The 2006 Armenian Premier League season was the fifteenth since its establishment, and started on 14 April 2006. The last matches were played on 9 November 2006. FC Pyunik were the defending champions. Participating teams *FC Ararat Yerevan, Ara ...

, 2007 Armenian Premier League, 2008 Armenian Premier League, 2009 Armenian Premier League and

2010 Armenian Premier League The 2010 Armenian Premier League season was the nineteenth since its establishment. The season began in March 2010 and ended in November 2010. FC Pyunik were the defending champions, having won their twelfth championship last season. Participating ...

, the 2009 Armenian Cup and 2010 Armenian Cup and the 2006 Armenian Supercup, 2007 Armenian Supercup and 2009 Armenian Supercup. On 10 January 2011, it was reported that Ghazaryan went to the preseason camp with FC Kuban Krasnodar.

Metalurh Donetsk

In June 2011, Ghazaryan signed a contract with Metalurh Donetsk, along with Pyunik teammate Marcos Pizzelli. On 19 July 2012, in the Europa League soccer match against FK Čelik Nikšić, Ghazaryan made his first hat-trick for Metalurh and gave one assist, thus the Ukrainian club won 7–0. In January 2014, he was linked with a move to FC Kairat Almaty and he trialled with

Eintracht Braunschweig Braunschweiger Turn- und Sportverein Eintracht von 1895 e.V., commonly known as Eintracht Braunschweig () or BTSV (), is a German football and sports club based in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. They compete in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier o ...

. In December it was reported that Ghazaryan could not reach a deal with Shakhter Karagandy as the club was not ready to pay the previously agreed amount. Eventually, he finished the 2013–14 season with Metalurh Donetsk. Shakhter Karaganda In summer 2013, he joined

FC Shakhter Karagandy Football Club Shakhter (), commonly referred to as FC Shakhter Karagandy ( ), is a professional football club based in Karagandy, Kazakhstan. They have been members of the Kazakhstan Premier League since its foundation in 1992, but fell of to t ...

on loan from Metalurh Donetsk. In November he reportedly signed a two-year contract with club. He was among the key players as his club made Europe remember its name after an unexpected victory over

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

in the qualifying round of Champions League play-off.

Olympiacos

Ghazaryan continued his career in

by signing for an undisclosed fee a two-year contract with Greek champions

, while according to reports percentage of a possible resale lies to his agent Mino Raiola. Ghazaryan won the

Greek Football Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

and the

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

. On 30 January 2015, Olympiacos announced the termination of Ghazaryan's contract after half a year at the Piraeus club. It is said that his short stay at the club was ended due to an argument with Spanish coach Míchel, who sacked him from the squad. From Athens, Ghazaryan left for another half-season at

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

island's

PAE Kerkyra PAE Kerkyra (), was a Greek Association football, football club based in Corfu (city), Corfu, Greece. The club played in the Gamma Ethniki, the fourth tier of the Greek football league system, following changes to the league structure in 2019. It ...

Kerkyra

At his new team, Ghazaryan had the coach's trust and enough playing minutes to prove his value. With one goal and several assists, he was key to the team, except for when he got injured. Injuries and personal motives kept him off the field for some time, but his few games at the island and the solid performances for Armenia national team made Portuguese side C.S. Marítimo purchase his services in July 2015. Marítimo Ghazaryan spent almost exactly 3 years playing for the Portuguese team. During this time in Liga Portugal, he played in 67 matches, scoring 8 goals and providing 6 assists. He provided goal contributions against notable Portuguese sides S.L. Benfica and

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

, which are the best teams in Portugal and regularly play in European competitions. Chaves Ghazaryan's experience playing in Liga Portugal earned him a move to another Portuguese side G.D. Chaves, where he played for a year. He played 20 games, scoring 3 and assisting 2 goals. An important highlight from his short time playing for the team were his goals against Portuguese side S.L. Benfica. AEL Limassol Playing in the highest division of Portuguese league, Ghazaryan moved to Cyprus, where he played for

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou () is a Cyprus, Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL Limassol also maintains a AEL Limassol B.C., men's and AEL Limassol B.C. (women), women's basketball teams, a wom ...

. His stint in Cyprus was not successful, as he played in 24 games and scored only 1 goal. PAS Lamia Ghazaryan spent the remaining 6 months of his contract playing for the

side PAS Lamia on loan, where he only played 7 games and did not have any goal contributions. His short time at the Greek side consisted of many injuries, not allowing him to get back to his best level.

Pyunik return

On 14 July 2021, Ghazaryan returned to Pyunik. Ghazaryan left Pyunik on 31 May 2022 after his contract expired. Ararat-Armenia The last club of the legend's career was FC Ararat-Armenia, where he played 21 games, and scored 2 goals and provided 2 assists for his last team. Ghazaryan announced his retirement in August of 202

International career

Ghazaryan started his international career playing for the Armenia national under-19 football team, Armenia national under-19 youth team. In his first official game for the youth team against Cyprus national under-19 football team on 29 October 2006 , Ghazaryan played the whole game and helped his team win 1-0. His first goal occurred in the next match on 1 November 2006 against Hungary national under-19 football team, which wasn't enough to help the team as they lost 1-4 to the Hungarian side. Ghazaryan debuted in the Armenia U21 national team youth team in the qualifying match against

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

held on 17 May 2006. In the 63rd minute of the match, the 18-year-old Ghazaryan replaced Armen Tigranyan. This junior match is remembered by many. Having originally won 2–1, it turned out that the Armenian team played an ineligible player. This was followed by regular technical defeat; 3–0. But in the second leg, the youth team won 4–0 and advanced to the next round. One of the goals in the 66th minute was scored by Ghazaryan, opening his account for the youth team goals. In 2007, he was called up to the senior national team. In the same year, on 22 August, Ghazaryan debuted in a match against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. This match was a qualifier for

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

. The match was held in Yerevan Republican Stadium and ended a sensational draw – 1–1. Moreover, the Portuguese team had to recoup. Ghazaryan came off the bench for 58 minutes, replacing Hamlet Mkhitaryan. Ghazaryan scored five goals at the

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

qualifying stage Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

. He was only outscored in Group B by teammate

Henrikh Mkhitaryan Henrikh Mkhitaryan ( ; born 21 January 1989) is an Armenian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Inter Milan. Mkhitaryan won four Armenian Premier League titles with Pyunik, and joined Metalurh Donetsk in 2009; he moved ...

and was among the top goalscorers in the qualifying stage. On 11 September 2012, in a

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

qualifier match between the national teams of Armenia and

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, Ghazaryan was sent off for hitting the ball on a serving ballboy.

Personal life

Ghazaryan and his wife Victoria met in Sevan. Their son was born in December 2012. Ghazaryan was also a classmate of the wife of Armenian national and Metalurh teammate

Karlen Mkrtchyan Karlen Mkrtchyan (; born 25 November 1988) is an Armenian former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Pyunik Karlen Mkrtchyan is a graduate the Armenian football club school FC Pyunik, Pyunik Yer ...

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Armenia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ghazaryan goal.''

Honours

Pyunik Yerevan *

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, 2021–22 *

Armenian Cup The Armenian Cup () is the main football cup competition of Armenia. In its original form as the Armenian Cup, it started in 1939, when Armenia was a republic of the Soviet Union. It served as a qualification tournament for the Soviet Cup, and it ...

* Armenian Supercup: 2007, 2008, 2010 Olympiacos *

Superleague Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repl ...

: 2014–15 *

: 2014–15 Individual *Armenian Premier League Best young player: 2007 *Armenian Premier League top scorer:

*Player of the Month in Metalurh Donetsk: September 2011

References

External links

* *
armfootball.tripod.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghazaryan, Gevorg Living people 1988 births Footballers from Yerevan Armenian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Armenia men's youth international footballers Armenia men's under-21 international footballers 21st-century Armenian sportsmen Armenia men's international footballers FC Pyunik players FC Urartu players FC Metalurh Donetsk players FC Shakhter Karagandy players Olympiacos F.C. players PAE Kerkyra players C.S. Marítimo players G.D. Chaves players AEL Limassol players PAS Lamia 1964 players FC Ararat-Armenia players Armenian Premier League players Ukrainian Premier League players Kazakhstan Premier League players Super League Greece players Primeira Liga players Cypriot First Division players Armenian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Armenian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Kazakhstan Armenian expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Armenian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Armenian expatriates in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Armenian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus