Giorgi Mamardashvili: Valencia's Georgian Goalkeeper

When he was a kid, he admired and kept a close eye on mythical Iker Casillas and Gianluigi Buffon. As he grew older, it’s Manuel Neuer who became his role model. He marvels at the diligence and professionalism of Cristiano Ronaldo. Although he also admits that he’s not among the Portugese’s die-hard fans, his mentality is akin. “I don’t tolerate any kind of failure,” says Giorgi Mamardashvili, a 22-year-old goalkeeper who’s one of the main reasons Valencia CF – who failed to ensure their  La Liga status until the very last matchday of the season – haven’t got relegated to Segunda División for just the second time in the club’s rich history.

Mamardashvili grew up and lived in Gldani, an administrative district in Tbilisi. Like father, like son: his dad, David, is a former goalkeeper and goalkeeping coach of FC Gagra, where Giorgi was taking his first steps in football. At the age of 12, he joined the highly productive Dinamo Tbilisi academy, which unleashed upon the world the new generation of Georgian talents already taking the national team by storm, including the likes of Giorgi Chakvetadze (1999), Zuriko Davitashvili (2001), Anzor Mekvabishvili (2001), Irakli Azarovi (2002), Luka Gagnidze (2003) and, of course, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (2001).

As a 13/14-year-old kid, he was ineligible to play for Dinamo Tbilisi and joined FC Merani Martvili on a six-month loan. The destination wasn’t haphazard as his dad was expecting him there, coaching keepers. He came back and succeeded in Dinamo since his early days, being a standout goalkeeper in various youth tournaments and leagues, where he excelled with his penalty-stopping aptitude. In his senior career, he faced 22 penalties, saving seven of them (32%).

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