Gevorg Ghazaryan

Gevorg Ghazaryan
Personal information
Full name	Gevorg Garniki Ghazaryan
Date of birth	5 April 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth	Yerevan, Armenia
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder / forward
Team information
Current team	Marítimo
Number	10
Senior career*
Years	Team
2006–2011	Pyunik Yerevan
2007	→ Banants Yerevan (loan)
2011–2014	Metalurh Donetsk
2013	→ Shakhter Karagandy (loan)
2014–2015	Olympiacos
2015	Kerkyra
2015—	Marítimo
International career‡
2005–2006	Armenia U-19
2006–2010	Armenia U-21
2007–	Armenia
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2 April 2016; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 November 2016

Gevorg Ghazaryan (Template:Lang-hy; born 5 April 1988) is an Armenian football player who mainly plays as an attacking midfielder and can also play up front. He plays for the Armenian national team and currently plays in the Primeira Liga for C.S. Marítimo. Ghazaryan has participated in 44 international matches, scoring nine goals since his debut on 14 January 2007. He previously played for Greek Super League clubs Olympiacos and Kerkyra, and earlier for Pyunik F.C. and the youth systems of Pyunik. Ghazaryan is one of the prominent football players of Armenian origin.

Club career

Pyunik

In the 2004 Armenian Premier League 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).^[1]^[2]

In 2007, Ghazaryan played in Pyunik for the first round of the Armenian Premier League, then went on loan to FC 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, 2007 Armenian Premier League, 2008 Armenian Premier League, 2009 Armenian Premier League and 2010 Armenian Premier League, 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.^[3]

Metalurh Donetsk

In June 2011, he signed a contract with Metalurh Donetsk, along with Pyunik teammate Marcos Pizzelli.^[4]

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. Armenian international midfielder Gevorg Ghazaryan on 26 November 2013 signed a two-year contract with FC Shakhter Karagandy, as various sources said. The 25-year-old midfielder was playing on a loan at FC Shakhter Karagandy. The Armenian international moved to the club this summer. Earlier this month FC Shakhter Karagandy won the Cup of Kazakhstan.^[5] He was among the key players as his club made Europe remember its name after an unexpected victory over Celtic in the qualifying round of Champions League play-off.^[6]

On 15 January 2014, as various sources said, Armenian national squad’s midfielder Gevorg Ghazaryan will join FC Kairat Almaty.The contract will be signed if the sides reach agreement. In January Ghazaryan tried out at Eintracht Braunschweig but the club wanted to sign him free of charge.In December it was reported that Ghazaryan cannot reach a deal with FC Shakhter Karagandy as the club was not ready to pay the previously agreed amount.^[7] Eventually, he finished the 2013/14 season with Metalurh Donetsk.

Olympiacos

Ghazaryan continued his career in Greek Super League by signing for an undisclosed fee a two-year contract with Greek champions Olympiacos, while according to reports percentage of a possible resale lies to his agent Mino Raiola. On the 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, he'd leave for another half a season at Corfu island's PAE Kerkyra.

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 Armenian national team made Portuguese side C.S. Marítimo purchase his services in July 2015.

International career

Ghazaryan debuted in the Armenia U-21 youth team in the qualifying match against San Marino 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; 0–3. 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.^[8]

In 2007, he was called up to the senior Armenian national team. In the same year, on 22 August, Ghazaryan debuted in a match against Portugal. This match was a qualifier for UEFA Euro 2008. 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.^[9]^[10] Ghazaryan scored five goals at the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying stage. He was only outscored in Group B by teammate Henrikh Mkhitaryan and was among the top goalscorers in the qualifying stage.^[11]

On 11 September 2012, in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier match between the national teams of Armenia and Bulgaria, Ghazaryan was sent off for hitting the ball on a serving ballboy.^[12]^[13]