Qualified for the round of 16 of the Euro for its first international tournament in its history, Georgia (74th nation in the world) can thank Georges Mikautadze (3 goals) but also its goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili. The Valencia goalkeeper (23 years old) has been shining brightly since the start of the competition and was able to showcase all his talent during the group stage. He will still have to achieve exploits to counter the offensive power of Spain, this Sunday, June 30 (9 p.m.).
An almost historic performance at the Euro
The visual impression was confirmed by the statistics: Giorgi Mamardashvili is surely the best goalkeeper of this first part of the Euro. The last bastion of Georgia made a total of 20 saves in three matches against Turkey (1-3), the Czech Republic (1-1) and Portugal (2-0), proving decisive each time. He is well ahead of Romania’s Florin Niță and Albania’s Thomas Strakosha, both with 13 saves.
His masterpiece came against the Czechs with eleven saves to collect the point of the draw, one point shy of the record in a group match set by Latvian Aleksandrs Koliņko in 2004 (12). “I want to congratulate everyone for the first point, it’s a historic moment”reacted soberly the 23-year-old player, not the type to get carried away when he saved the day for a team that was too often porous.
A safe bet in La Liga
Voted best goalkeeper in Georgia in 2020 and international hopeful of his country, Mamardashvili nevertheless takes the risk of joining the Valencia reserve in the summer of 2021, first on loan from Lokomotiv Tbilisi. From the pre-season he joined the professional squad and gained playing time after the injuries to Jaume Domenech and Jasper Cillesen, the first two in the hierarchy. “From the first training sessions, I saw that he was reliable, fast, that he had to improve a lot of things but that’s normal, he was very young, remembers José Bordalàs, his coach at the time, in Marca. We quickly detected that he was very talented and had a lot of potential. » At 20, he started the season in La Liga and proved decisive in his first outing before returning to the bench a few weeks later.
His performance nevertheless encouraged Valencia to exercise its low purchase option (€800,000). After his first learning season, Mamardashvili then became a starter at the dawn of the 2022-2023 financial year and confirmed last season with convincing matches. He establishes himself as a complete goalkeeper, often well placed, with good reflexes and solid in the air with his imposing size (1.97 m for 90 kilos). “He has reliability, he is a goalkeeper who gives you points and that is what we mainly ask for. He is capable of neutralizing the opponent’s chances and making you win a match. He gives a lot of security to the rest of his teammates.”adds José Bordalàs.
A future far from Valencia
His season in Valencia, punctuated by 13 clean sheets and the 7th defense in La Liga, already opened up new prospects for Mamardashvili that the Euro will further strengthen. He, however, is not necessarily seen elsewhere. “I would like to stay, but it is not up to me”he commented at the end of the Liga season, but the Valencian club is looking for cash and has already anticipated a departure by recruiting Macedonian goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski.
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Under contract until 2027, he is being tracked by many major European clubs including Inter Milan, Chelsea and Bayern Munich. The latter hesitated to enlist him a few months ago but ultimately did not want to match the 35 million euros requested by the Spanish team. A refusal that Lothar Matthäus, consultant for Sky Sports and former Bayern star player. “I don’t understand why they didn’t buy him, good players who win you titles cost more than 35 million euros. We saw today that he could become a worthy successor to Manuel Neuer”he said during this Euro.
