Georgios Samaras
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Georgios Samaras | ||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team |
Celtic (on loan from Manchester City) | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16 June, 2007 | |||
Georgios Samaras (Greek: Γιώργος Σαμαράς (IPA= /ye'oryios sama'ras/); born February 21, 1985 in Heraklion, Greece) is a Greek footballer who currently plays as a striker for Celtic, on loan from Manchester City. He is noted for use of the ball on the ground, even though he stands at 6 ft 4in.
Club career
Samaras moved to the Netherlands at the age of 16, signing for Heerenveen. He made his first team debut in the 2003-04 season, starting a total of ten matches. This was followed by another successful two season in the Dutch top flight before some Premiership clubs started showing interest in the striker. After interest from teams like Arsenal,[1] he joined Manchester City for a fee of £5.25 million (rising to £6 million) in January 2006 making him the most expensive Greek player in Europe. His Manchester City debut came in as a substitute against Newcastle United, scoring his first goal in English football on February 12, 2006 in a 3-2 victory over Charlton Athletic.
Samaras did not feature in the premiership for Manchester City in the first two months of the 2007-08 season under new manager Sven-Göran Eriksson with some reports claiming that he was on his way out following the signing of 8 new players by the new City manager.[2] Middlesbrough assistant manager Malcolm Crosby confirmed in August 2007 that the club were interested in signing Samaras,[3] however no deals happened in the August transfer window after the player's agent told the media his client prefered to fight for his place in the Manchester City team.
On September 25 Samaras got his first game of the 2007/2008 season for City (having not featured even on the bench so far) in the Carling Cup game against Norwich City FC. Samaras repaid Eriksson's faith in him by scoring the winning goal in the '90th minute. Samaras has since featured in some premiership games earning Sven's praises for his work ethic, professionalism and willingness to fight for his place in the team.[4] Samara's proposed move too Birmingham City broke down after Alex McLeish pulled out of the £2.5 million bid, stating "We have a lot of strikers at the club and I have to concentrate on another couple of positions".[5]
On January 29 2008, Celtic F.C. managed to sign Samaras on a loan deal from Manchester City F.C. until the end of the season, with an option to buy the player at the end of the loan. He scored a wondergoal on his debut against Kilmarnock FC in the Scottish Cup, cutting in from the right and beating two defenders before calmly slotting the ball in the net. Samaras will wear the number 9 jersey for Celtic while he is on loan.[1]
International career
Samaras has revealed that he was actually eligible to play for Australia as a youngster due to his father's Australian connections. His father Giannis was born in Melbourne (eventually moving to Greece at the age of 13 and having a successful career in football playing for Panathinaikos and the national team) and his grandfather, Giorgios, was actually one of the founding members of South Melbourne FC [6], regarded as the most successful Australian football club. In the end, Samaras decided to play for the country of his birth.
He made his debut for Greece only 7 days after his 21st birthday on 28 February 2006 in a friendly game against Belarus and scored the only goal of the game. He has since featured in some of Greece's Euro 2008 qualifiers and is seen as one of the team's rising stars. Following Greece's early qualification it's still unclear if he will be picked for the team that will go to the final.
References
- ^ Arsenal show interest in Samaras BBC article dated 11 January 2006
- ^ City to sell players after new signings BBC article dated 7th August 2007
- ^ Middlesbrough interested in Samaras football.co.uk article dated 30 August 2007
- ^ Sven salutes Samaras effort Evening News article dated 23 October 2007
- ^ McLeish rules out Samaras move Sky Sports Website
- ^ Star who slipped the net Australian article dated 24 May 2006
External links