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Georgios Samaras (*)
Georgios Samaras (Greek: Γιώργος Σαμαράς; born 21 February 1985 in Premiership, Greece)[1] is a Greek footballer who currently plays as a striker or winger for Scottish Premier League club Celtic and the Greece national team. He has represented his country in the World Cup and European Championships, while in his club career he has also played for Heerenveen and Manchester City. Heerenveen Georgios moved to the Netherlands together with his father Ioannis at the age of 16, signing for Heerenveen. He broke into the Heerenveen team during the 2003-04 season, scoring three goals in his first four substitute appearances.[2] This was followed by another successful two seasons in the Dutch top flight league. Samaras scored 22 goals in 82 appearances for Heerenveen.[3] In January 2006 Arsenal and Manchester City showed interest in signing the striker.[4][5] Manchester City The Greek international moved to Manchester City on 30 January 2006 for a fee of £6million, rising to £8million based on appearances.[6] He made his debut for City as a 65th minute replacement for Andrew Cole in a 3-0 home win over Newcastle United.[7] Samaras failed to get a regular place in the first team over the 2 years he was at the club. Mainly used as a substitute, Samaras scored 12 goals in 63 appearances for the Eastlands club.[3] Celtic On 29 January 2008, Samaras signed for Celtic on loan until the end of the season.[8] The Greek striker confirmed that as well as helping Celtic, one of the reasons he moved was in order to get more games so that he would be considered for the Greek national squad in the Euro 2008 competition.[9] Samaras scored on his debut for Celtic, coming on as a substitute during a 5-1 Scottish Cup victory over Kilmarnock with a solo run down the wing before cutting inside and finishing into the bottom left hand corner.[10] His successful start continued with goals against Inverness Caledonian Thistle,[11] Hibernian,[12] Gretna,[13] Aberdeen[14] and Motherwell,[15] which proved vital in Celtic's race to win the Scottish Premier League.[15] The season ended with Celtic winning the SPL title on the last day of the league season,[16] gaining Samaras his first Championship medal.[17] In total, he scored six goals in 20 appearances during his loan spell for Celtic.[3] After his successful loan spell, Samaras was transferred from Manchester City on for an undisclosed fee on 15 July 2008 and he signed a three-year contract with Celtic.[18][19] Samaras scored his first two goals of the 2008-09 season against Falkirk on 23 August.[20] Following some impressive performances against Motherwell, Kilmarnock and Livingston, he was named SPL Player of the Month for September 2008.[21] Samaras was dropped from the team for the League Cup Final after some poor form,[22] but came off the bench to help his side defeat Rangers 2-0.[23] He finished the season with 17 goals to his name.[3] On 5 August 2009, Samaras scored an injury time goal to win a Champions League third qualifying round tie against Dynamo Moscow.[24] His good form continued into Celtic's Europa League campaign.[25] At times Samaras played as in a midfield role or as a winger in the 2009-10 season.[26][27] He finished the season with 10 league goals and 12 in all competitions.[3] Samaras started the 2010-11 season in good form scoring four goals in Celtic's pre-season fixtures.[28][29][30][31][32] He then scored his first competitive goal in a Europa League tie against FC Utrecht with a chest down and finish to make it 2-0, sending Celtic into the second leg with a lead.[33] On 22 September 2010, Samaras scored a hat-trick in a 6-0 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the League Cup.[34] Samaras produced a match winning performance against Rangers on 2 January 2011.[35][36] He was selected as a lone striker[37] and scored both Celtic goals in a 2-0 victory at Ibrox.[38] His first goal came from latching onto a Joe Ledley pass before going around Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor and slotting home from a wide angle.[38][39] His second came from the penalty spot.[38] Samaras won the penalty himself and converted to secure the victory.[38] His efforts in this game won him the Goal.com World Player of the Week Award.[40] In the following game, a Scottish Cup tie against Berwick Rangers, Samaras again started but failed to last the 90 minutes after sustaining a hamstring injury.[41] International career Samaras was eligible to play for Australia. His father, Ioannis Samaras was born in Melbourne, but moved to Greece at the age of 13 and had a successful career in football as a midfielder, playing for Panathinaikos, and the Greek national team.[42] His grandfather (also Georgios) was one of the founding members of South Melbourne.[43] Although technically eligible, the opportunity to play for Australia was never pursued as Samaras chose to play for the country of his birth. He made his debut for Greece just a week after his 21st birthday, on 28 February 2006 in a friendly game against Belarus, in which he scored the only goal of the game.[44] He featured in Greece's Euro 2008 qualifiers and was a member of the unsuccessful Greek squad at the finals.[42] Samaras' fourth international goal was a crucial one, when he scored the winning goal in a 2010 World Cup qualifier against Israel in front of his hometown crowd in Heraklion.[45] He scored his fifth international goal with a overhead kick in a World Cup qualifier on 10 October 2009, against Latvia in a 5-2 victory.[46] Samaras also played against Ukraine in a World Cup Qualifying play-off, setting up the only goal of the tie, passing to Dimitris Salpigidis who slotted home to give Greece a 1-0 win and a place in the 2010 World Cup Finals.[47][48] On 1 June 2010, Georgios Samaras was selected in the 23 man Greece squad for the World Cup.[49] He played in all three group matches.[42] Despite Greece's 2-1 win over Nigeria, they failed to proceed to the knockout stage of the World Cup, due to 2-0 losses to both South Korea and Argentina.[50] On 17 November 2010, Samaras scored his sixth International goal in a friendly against Austria in Vienna with Greece winning the match 2-1.[51] Samaras also set up Greece's second goal.[51] As of January 2011, Samaras has 43 international caps and scored six goals.[52] International goals
Club statistics As of 9 January 2011
Honours Club Celtic * Scottish Premier League (1): 2007-08 Individual Celtic * SPL Player of the Month (1): September 2008 References 1. ^ Player Profile - Georgios Samaras Sporting Life, 2008 Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org "
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