Vartan Ghazarian

Vartan Martun Ghazarian (Armenian: Վարտան Մարտուն Ղազարյան; Arabic: وارطان غازاريان‎; born 1 December 1969) is a football manager and former player. Born in Armenia, Ghazarian moved to Lebanon and obtained citizenship through naturalization in 1994.[1][2] He played for Homenetmen and Sagesse as a striker, and represented Lebanon from 1995 until 2001.

Vartan Ghazarian
Personal information
Full name Vartan Martun Ghazarian
Date of birth (1969-12-01) 1 December 1969
Place of birth Armenian SSR, Soviet Union[1]
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989 Spartak Hoktemberyan 19 (4)
1990–1992 Syunik Kapan[lower-alpha 1] 76 (75)
1992–1999 Homenetmen Beirut (67)
1999–2002 Sagesse (17[lower-alpha 2])
2002–2005 Homenetmen Beirut (4+)
2005–2009 Sagesse (17)
Total ? (200+)
National team
1995–2001 Lebanon 39 (19)
Teams managed
2017 Tripoli
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Ghazarian is the second-highest all-time scorer in the Lebanese Premier League, scoring 117 official league goals.[lower-alpha 2] He was also the top scorer for the national team with 19 goals, before Roda Antar broke his record in 2015. In 2017, Ghazarian was appointed manager of Tripoli.

Club career

Ghazarian started his senior career in 1989 in Armenia, at Spartak Oktemberyan, before moving to FK Kapan in 1990.[3] In 1992 he moved to Lebanon, joining Homenetmen Beirut.[4] He stayed there for seven years, before moving to Sagesse in 1999. He spent three years there, before moving back to Homenetmen in 2002.[4] Ghazarian then joined Sagesse once again, in 2005, before retiring in 2009 aged 39.[4]

His first goal in the Lebanese Premier League came on 23 January 1993, when he scored the second goal for Homentmen against Tadamon Sour in the 54th minute.[4] Ghazarian was chosen named AFC Player of the Month for January 1996.[5]

On 16 November 2008, during Round 6 of the league, at the age of 39 years, Ghazarian scored his 129th goal in the Lebanese first division against Tadamon Sour, becoming the highest all-time scorer in the history of Lebanese football.[6] However, some do not recognize the 12 goals he scored in the 2000–01 season, which was canceled,[6] making him the second-highest top-goalscorer of the league with 117 goals, behind Fadi Alloush's total of 120.[6][7]

International career

Ghazarian was the leading goal scorer in the history of the Lebanon national team, scoring a total of 19 goals (four in World Cup qualifiers, three in Asian Cup qualifiers and twelve in friendlies).[8] His record was later broken by Roda Antar in 2015, who scored his 20th goal in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Laos.[9]

Managerial career

In 2009, Ghazarian returned to his native Armenia where he trained an Armenian club.[1][4] He returned to Lebanon, becoming the assistant coach for Tripoli, before being appointed head coach in 2017.[10]

Career statistics

International
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Lebanon 1995 1 0
1996 11 11
1997 7 3
1998 5 0
1999 3 0
2000 6 1
2001 6 4
Total 39 19
Scores and results list Lebanon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ghazarian goal.[8]
List of international goals scored by Vartan Ghazarian
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 16 January 1996 Beirut, Lebanon  Cyprus 1–0 Won Friendly
2 11 February 1996 Beirut, Lebanon  Ecuador 1–0 Won Friendly
3 26 May 1996 Asgabat, Turkmenistan  Turkmenistan 1–0 Won 1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
4 9 June 1996 Beirut, Lebanon  Kuwait 3–5 Loss 1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
5 1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
6 5 September 1996 Beirut, Lebanon  Oman 1–2 Loss Friendly
7 8 September 1996 Beirut, Lebanon  Oman 2–1 Won Friendly
8
9 9 October 1996 Beirut, Lebanon  New Zealand 1–1 Draw Friendly
10 5 December 1996 Beirut, Lebanon  Georgia 4–2 Won Friendly
11
12 12 January 1997 Beirut, Lebanon  Algeria 2–2 Draw Friendly
13 19 March 1997 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates  United Arab Emirates 1–2 Loss Friendly
14 27 April 1997 Beirut, Lebanon  Libya 2–0 Won Friendly
15 23 February 2000 Tripoli, Lebanon  Jordan 1–1 Draw Friendly
16 26 May 2001 Bangkok, Thailand  Pakistan 8–1 Won 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
17
18 28 May 2001 Bangkok, Thailand  Sri Lanka 5–0 Won 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
19 30 May 2001 Bangkok, Thailand  Thailand 2–2 Draw 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Club

Syunik Kapan

Homenetmen

Individual

Awards

  • AFC Player of the Month: January 1996[5]

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. FK Kapan changed its name to Syunik Kapan in 1991.
  2. Ghazarian scored a total of 129 Lebanese Premier League goals, however his 12 goals scored during the 2000–01 season were not counted as the season was canceled.

References
  1. "بطل من لبنان". forum.kooora.com. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  2. FIFA.com. "Welcome to FIFA.com News - Lebanon's Armenian talent pool - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  3. "Armenian players in National team of Lebanon -". playerhistory.com. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  4. "VARTANE GHAZARIAN". www.abdogedeon.com. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  5. "تكريم الشرقي وغازاريان". نداء الوطن. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  6. "منتديات كووورة". forum.kooora.com. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  7. من هو الهداف التاريخي للدوري اللبناني ؟ .. فادي علوش أم فارطان غازاريان وما حقيقة الجدل؟ [Who is the historical top scorer for the Lebanese League? Fadi Alloush or Vartan Ghazarian, and what is the truth behind the controversy?]. Aljadeed Sport. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  8. "Vartan Ghazarian - Goals in International Matches". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  9. "Roda Antar - Goals in International Matches". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  10. "غازاريان مدربًا لطرابلس اللبناني". كووورة. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
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