Vardan Ghazaryan

In this Lebanese name, the father's name is Martun and the family name is Ghazaryan.

Vardan Martun Ghazaryan (Armenian: Վարդան Մարտուն Ղազարյան; Arabic: وارطان مارتون غازاريان; born 1 December 1969) is a football coach and former player.

Vardan Ghazaryan

Personal information
Full name	Vardan Martun Ghazaryan[1]
Date of birth	(1969-12-01) 1 December 1969 (age 55)
Place of birth	Kapan, 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[a]	76	(75)
1992–1999	Homenetmen Beirut		(60+)
1999–2002	Sagesse		(29)
2002–2005	Homenetmen Beirut		(4+)
2005–2009	Sagesse		(17)
Total			(200+[b])
International career
1995–2001	Lebanon	66	(21)
Managerial career
2017	Tripoli
2021–2022	Sagesse
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Born in Armenia, Ghazaryan moved to Lebanon and obtained citizenship through naturalisation in 1994. He played for Homenetmen and Sagesse as a striker, and represented Lebanon internationally from 1995 until 2001.

Ghazaryan is the second-highest all-time scorer in the Lebanese Premier League, scoring 117 official league goals.^[b] He is also the second-highest scorer for the national team with 21 goals, after having been surpassed by Hassan Maatouk in 2023. Ghazaryan was appointed manager of Tripoli in 2017 for one year. He returned to Sagesse as head coach in 2021.

Club career

Ghazaryan started his senior career in 1989 in Armenia, at Spartak Hoktemberyan, before moving to Kapan in 1990.^[2] In 1992 he moved to Lebanon, joining Homenetmen Beirut.^[3] 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] Ghazaryan 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 Homenetmen against Tadamon Sour in the 54th minute.^[3] Ghazaryan was named AFC Player of the Month for January 1996.^[5]

On 16 November 2008, at 39 years old, Ghazaryan scored his 129th goal in the Lebanese Premier League against Tadamon Sour, becoming the highest all-time scorer in the league.^[3] However, some do not recognise the 12 goals he scored in the 2000–01 season, which was canceled,^[3] making him the second-highest top-goalscorer with 117 goals, behind Fadi Alloush's total of 120.^[6]

International career

Having moved to Lebanon from Armenia, Ghazaryan obtained Lebanese citizenship through naturalisation in 1994.^[7] He was the top goalscorer in the history of the Lebanon national team,^[8] with 21 goals (four in World Cup qualifiers, three in Asian Cup qualifiers and 14 in friendlies).^[9] In 2023, Ghazaryan was surpassed by Hassan Maatouk.^[10]

Managerial career

In 2009, Ghazaryan returned to his native Armenia where he trained an Armenian club;^[3] he moved back to Lebanon four years later.^[11] Ghazaryan became the assistant coach for Tripoli,^[11] before being appointed head coach in 2017.^[12]

In July 2021, ahead of the 2021 Lebanese Challenge Cup, Ghazaryan was appointed head coach of Lebanese Premier League side Sagesse, for whom he had already played as a player.^[13][14]

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Lebanon	1995	1	0
	1996	14	11
	1997	15	3
	1998	15	1
	1999	6	1
	2000	9	1
	2001	6	4
Total		66	21

Scores and results list Lebanon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ghazaryan goal.^[9]

List of international goals scored by Vardan Ghazaryan

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	16 January 1996	Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon	Cyprus	1–0	1–0	Friendly
2	11 February 1996	Bourj Hammoud Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon	Ecuador	1–0	1–0	Friendly
3	26 May 1996	Köpetdag Stadium, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan	Turkmenistan	1–0	1–0	1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
4	9 June 1996	Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon	Kuwait	2–0	3–5	1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
5				3–3
6	5 September 1996	Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon	Oman	1–0	1–2	Friendly
7	8 September 1996	Beirut Municipal Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon	Oman	1–1	2–1	Friendly
8				2–1
9	9 October 1996	Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon	New Zealand	1–0	1–1	Friendly
10	5 December 1996	Beirut Municipal Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon	Georgia	1–2	4–2	Friendly
11	8 December 1996	Beirut Municipal Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon	Georgia	3–2	3–2	Friendly
12	12 January 1997	Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon	Algeria	1–1	2–2	Friendly
13	19 March 1997	Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	United Arab Emirates	1–2	1–2	Friendly
14	27 April 1997	Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon	Libya	2–0	2–0	Friendly
15	17 October 1998	Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Syria	1–0	3–3	1998 Friendship Tournament
16	16 August 1999	Amman International Stadium, Amman, Jordan	Saudi Arabia	1–0	1–2	1999 Pan Arab Games
17	23 February 2000	International Olympic Stadium, Tripoli, Lebanon	Jordan	1–0	1–1	Friendly
18	26 May 2001	Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand	Pakistan	2–0	8–1	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
19				6–1
20	28 May 2001	Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand	Sri Lanka	1–0	5–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
21	30 May 2001	Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand	Thailand	1–0	2–2	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Player

Syunik Kapan

• Armenian SSR League: 1991

Homenetmen

• Lebanese Second Division: 2002–03

Individual

• IFFHS All-time Lebanon Men's Dream Team^[15]
• AFC Player of the Month: January 1996^[5]
• Lebanese Premier League Best Player: 1996–97^[16]
• Lebanese Premier League Team of the Season: 1996–97,^[17] 1999–2000^[18]

See also

• List of Lebanon international footballers
• List of Lebanon international footballers born outside Lebanon

Notes

1. Kapan changed its name to Syunik Kapan in 1991.
2. Ghazaryan 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. "Vardan Ghazaryan". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
2. Vardan Ghazaryan at FootballFacts.ru (in Russian)
3. "بطل من لبنان". liban4sports.com. Archived from the original on 22 November 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2022. Alt URL
4. "VARTANE GHAZARIAN". www.abdogedeon.com. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
5. "تكريم الشرقي وغازاريان". نداء الوطن. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
6. 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.
7. "وارطـان غازاريـان يغـادر نهائيـاً ويشـكر الاتحاد وناديي الهومنتمان والحكمة والجمهور". جريدة السفير. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
8. FIFA.com. "Welcome to FIFA.com News - Lebanon's Armenian talent pool". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
9. "Vardan Ghazaryan". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
10. FA Lebanon [@FALebanon] (22 June 2023). حسن معتوق يسجل التقدم لمنتخب لبنان وينفرد في صدارة هدّافو منتخب لبنان منذ عام 1971 برصيد 22 هدف [Hassan Maatouk scores the opening goal for the Lebanese national team and is the sole top goalscorer of the Lebanon national team since 1971, with 22 goals] (Tweet) (in Arabic). Retrieved 22 June 2023 – via Twitter.
11. "بورتريه | وارطان غازاريان: عبقري لا يتكرر". الأخبار (in Arabic). Retrieved 22 February 2022.
12. "غازاريان مدربًا لطرابلس اللبناني". كووورة. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
13. Hijazi, Alloffs (7 July 2021). "وارطان مدرباً للحكمة". El Maestro Sport (in Arabic). Retrieved 23 July 2021.
14. Hijazi, Alloffs (22 July 2021). "إنتصار اول للحكمة مع وارطان". El Maestro Sport (in Arabic). Retrieved 23 July 2021.
15. "IFFHS Men's All Time Lebanon Dream Team". IFFHS. 6 February 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
16. "مهرجان كرة المنار". Shoot (166 ed.). 31 March 1997. p. 3.
17. مهرجان كرة المنار. Shoot (in Arabic) (166 ed.). 31 March 1997. p. 3.
18. مهرجان كرة المنار. Shoot (in Arabic) (328 ed.). 10 April 2000. p. 13.

External links

• Vardan Ghazaryan at FA Lebanon
• Vardan Ghazaryan at RSSSF
• Vardan Ghazaryan at National-Football-Teams.com
• Vardan Ghazaryan at FootballFacts.ru (in Russian)
• Vardan Ghazaryan at Kooora.com (in Arabic) (archived in English at Goalzz.com)