Giorgi Makaridze (Georgian: გიორგი მაკარიძე, romanized: giorgi mak'aridze, pronounced [ɡioɾɡi makʼaɾidze]; born 31 March 1990) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Portuguese Liga 3 club Sporting da Covilhã.

Giorgi Makaridze
Makaridze playing for Le Mans in 2009
Personal information
Date of birth (1990-03-31) 31 March 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth Tbilisi, USSR
Height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
Covilhã
Youth career
2003–2006 Dinamo Tbilisi
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Dinamo Tbilisi-2 9 (0)
2009–2013 Le Mans 34 (0)
2014 Doxa Katokopia 0 (0)
2014–2016 Feirense 54 (1)
2016–2018 Moreirense 33 (0)
2018–2019 Rio Ave 0 (0)
2019–2020 Vitória Setúbal 43 (0)
2020–2022 Almería 34 (0)
2022–2023 Ponferradina 7 (0)
2023 Marítimo 6 (0)
2024– Covilhã 0 (0)
International career
2006 Georgia U17 1 (0)
2007–2011 Georgia U21 7 (0)
2007–2020 Georgia 17 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:14, 9 February 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 00:14, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

He previously played for Dinamo Tbilisi, Le Mans, Doxa Katokopia, Feirense, Moreirense, F.C Rio Ave and Almería.

Club career

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Born in Tbilisi, Makaridze began his career in the Dinamo Tbilisi academy, afterwards moving to Le Mans UC72 on January 10, 2009, for €800,000 on a four-year contract worth €85,000.[1]

In April 2014, he would leave Le Mans for Doxa Katokopia,[2][3] but would never play a single game for the Cypriot club, leaving them for Feirense in Portugal, who were in Segunda Division Portugal at the time, playing 54 games. After getting promoted to Liga Nos, Makaridze joined Moreirense, playing 33 games and winning the 2017 Taça da Liga with them. In 2018 there was a rumor that Makaridze would join Benfica, but this move would never materialise, and instead he signed with Rio Ave. He would later agree to mutually terminate his contract with them, joining Vitoria FC in January of the same season.

On 12 September 2020, Makaridze moved away from the Portuguese league to sign a two-year contract with Segunda División side UD Almería.[4] He was released by the club on 3 June 2022 as his contract was due to expire,[5] and joined SD Ponferradina on 4 July.[6]

On 9 January 2023, after being mainly a backup to Amir Abedzadeh, Makaridze left Ponfe.[7]

On 11 January 2023, Makaridze signed a year-and-a-half contract with Marítimo in Portugal.[8] On 27 July 2023, Marítimo announced that Makaridze's contract had been terminated by mutual agreement.[9]

On 8 February 2024, Makaridze joined Portuguese Liga 3 side Sporting da Covilhã.[10]

International career

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Giorgi Makaridze was a member of Georgia U17 team and played 10 games there. He also participated in Georgia U19 (played 8 games) and Georgia U21 (played 9 games). At age of 17, Makaridze established himself as a great prospect and starter for the Georgia national football team along with other teenagers such as Levan Kenia and Levan Mchedlidze.[11] Currently he has played 14 games in Georgian National Football Team.

Career statistics

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As of 14 January 2018[12]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Le Mans 2009–10 Ligue 1/Ligue 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 3 0
2010–11 0 0 5 0 0 0 5 0
2011–12 27 0 4 0 0 0 31 0
2012–13 5 0 1 0 0 0 5 0
Total 34 0 11 0 0 0 45 0
Doxa Katokopias 2013–14 Cypriot First Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Feirense 2014–15 Segunda Liga/LigaPro 18 0 1 0 0 0 19 0
2015–16 36 1 4 0 0 0 40 1
Total 54 1 5 0 0 0 59 1
Moreirense 2016–17 Primeira Liga 33 0 3 0 0 0 36 0
2017–18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 33 0 3 0 0 0 36 0
Career total 121 1 19 0 0 0 140 1

Honours

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Club

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Moreirense
Almería

Individual

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References

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  1. ^ "Georgi Makaridze signe au MUC 72". Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
  2. ^ "Μακαρίντζε in, Μορφής out | ποδοσφαιρο , α΄ κατηγορία , δόξα | SentraGoal.Cyprus". Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  3. ^ "ΔΟΞΑ: Ενίσχυση με Μακαρίτσε - Super Sport FM". Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  4. ^ "Giorgi Makaridze, nuevo portero de la UD Almería" [Giorgi Makaridze, new goalkeeper of UD Almería] (in Spanish). UD Almería. 12 September 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Makaridze, Nelson and Aitor Buñuel will not be retained". UD Almería. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Giorgi Makaridze, primer fichaje de la SD Ponferradina para la nueva temporada" [Giorgi Makaridze, first signing of SD Ponferradina for the new season] (in Spanish). SD Ponferradina. 4 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Georgi Makaridze termina su vinculación con la SD Ponferradina" [Georgi Makaridze ends his link with SD Ponferradina] (in Spanish). SD Ponferradina. 9 January 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  8. ^ "BEM-VINDO, MAKARIDZE" [Welcome, Makaridze] (in Portuguese). C.S. Marítimo. 11 January 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  9. ^ "Marítimo rescinde com Lucho Vega e Giorgi Makaridze" [Marítimo terminates Lucho Vega and Giorgi Makaridze's contracts] (in European Portuguese). 27 July 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  10. ^ "Mercado (oficial): Makaridze é reforço do Covilhã" [Market (official): Makaridze is a Covilhã reinforcement]. A Bola (in Portuguese). 8 February 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Georgia hails new generation". FIFA. 25 October 2007. Archived from the original on 29 June 2008. Retrieved 24 December 2008.
  12. ^ Giorgi Makaridze at Soccerway
  13. ^ "Sorteio dita Sporting-FC Porto na 3ª Jornada" [Draw states Sporting-FC Porto in the 3rd Round] (in Portuguese). record. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
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