Kevork Mardikian (alternative spelling Kifork Mardekyan born in

Latakia Latakia (; ; Syrian Arabic, Syrian pronunciation: ) is the principal port city of Syria and capital city of the Latakia Governorate located on the Mediterranean coast. Historically, it has also been known as Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad Mar ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

on 14 July 1954) is a former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

of Armenian descent. He captained the Syrian national team between 1979 and 1985.

Career

Mardikian started his career at Hutteen, before joining Al-Jaish in 1976, due to mandatory military service. He played for

in the 1980 Asian Cup,

1984 Asian Cup The 1984 AFC Asian Cup was the 8th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were hosted by Singapore between 1 Decemb ...

and the

1980 Moscow Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

. He has been described as "one of the best Syrian footballers of all time". As a coach, Mardikian has coached Syria in various youth teams such as Syria U-20 (successful qualification to the

2005 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 15th edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in the Netherlands between 10 June and 2 July 2005. Venues Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 2005 FIFA Worl ...

) and Syria U-17. He also coached in the United Arab Emirates, Lebanese side Homenetmen, and his former club Hutteen, where he led the latter to the Syrian Cup final in 1998–99. His son Mardik Mardikian is also a footballer.

References

Living people Sportspeople from Latakia Hutteen SC players Al-Jaish SC (Syria) players Syrian men's footballers Syria men's international footballers Footballers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Syria 1980 AFC Asian Cup players 1984 AFC Asian Cup players 1954 births Syrian people of Armenian descent Syrian football managers Men's association football midfielders Syria national football team managers Expatriate football managers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate football managers in Lebanon Mardikian family 20th-century Syrian sportsmen {{Armenia-footy-bio-stub