Giorgi Loria

Giorgi Loria (Georgian: გიორგი ლორია, pronounced [ɡioɾɡi loɾia]; born 27 January 1986) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Dinamo Tbilisi and the Georgia national team.

Giorgi Loria
Personal information
Full name Giorgi Loria
Date of birth (1986-01-27) 27 January 1986
Place of birth Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Height 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Dinamo Tbilisi
Number 17
Youth career
1994–2002 Avaza Tbilisi
2002–2005 Dinamo Tbilisi
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2014 Dinamo Tbilisi 171 (0)
2014–2015 OFI Crete 25 (0)
2015 Olympiacos 0 (0)
2015–2018 Krylia Sovetov Samara 39 (0)
2017–2018 → Anzhi Makhachkala (loan) 13 (0)
2019 Magdeburg 11 (0)
2019–2023 Anorthosis Famagusta 111 (0)
2023– Dinamo Tbilisi 5 (0)
International career‡
2006–2008 Georgia U-21 4 (0)
2008– Georgia 77 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 25 September 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13:27 17 April 2023 (UTC).

During his long career Loria has played in five different leagues and become the most capped goalkeeper of the national team.[1]

Club career

Loria joined the Avaza football school at age 8. At 17 he moved to Dinamo Tbilisi academy whence he was initially promoted to its junior team.[2]

In 2005 Loria played for the senior team for the first time. After nine consecutive seasons at Dinamo he left the club in July 2014.[3]

During the 2014–15 season, Loria played for OFI Crete but due to the club's financial problems he left the club at the end of the season. According to a source, Loria had reached a verbal agreement with PAOK F.C. in early 2015,[4] however he did not sign for the team.

The keeper was eventually signed by Olympiacos as a back-up of Roberto, since the second-choice goalkeeper Balázs Megyeri had left the Greek giants.[5] Loria signed with Olympiacos for a two-year contract.[6][7] OFI was rumored to have accepted a bid in the region of €700,000, as Loria was among the top goalies in the 2014–15 season.[8] However, there are strong indications that the player was actually signed on a free transfer.

Loria quickly left Olympiacos due to personal issues and increased competition with teammates Stefanos Kapino and Andreas Gianniotis for the team's #2, while Roberto is undoubtedly the team's first-choice under their goalposts and one of Thrylos' captains. Olympiacos' latest intention to invest in the two young Greek prospects' development was a contributing factor for Loria's decision to leave the squad. Both the player and the club agreed that it is best to part ways.[9] He signed for the Russian Premier League side Krylia Sovetov Samara shortly after.

On 21 August 2017, following Krylia Sovetov's relegation from the Russian Premier League, he joined Anzhi Makhachkala on loan for 2017–18 season.[10]

On 18 January 2019, Loria signed a six-month deal with 2. Bundesliga side Magdeburg.[11][12]

On 4 July 2019, he signed with Cypriot club Anorthosis Famagusta.[13] On 17 March 2022, the sides renewed the contract until the summer of 2024.[14]

On 27 June 2023, the management of Anorthosis announced that he is a past member of the team. In the four years (2019-23) that he wore the "blue and white" he was the team's main goalkeeper and a protagonist in the team's successes, winning the 2021 Cup and qualifying for the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage. And with 127 appearances in official matches, he managed to climb to seventh place on the list of foreigners with the most appearances.[15]

After a nine-year pause Loria rejoined his youth club and Erovnuli Liga's defending champions Dinamo Tbilisi in late June 2023.[16] A few days after his return, Dinamo won a four-team Super Cup tournament with Loria playing a crucial role in this success as he saved three after-match penalties in two games.[17][18]

International career

Loria made a debut for the national team in a 1–1 friendly match against Estonia on 27 May 2008 despite being considered N2 goalkeeper at Dinamo Tbilisi.[19] He quickly proved to be a strong and stable member of the team. With 77 appearances as of April 2023, he is currently among the six all-time most-capped Georgian players.

Career statistics

Club
As of 25 September 2023
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Dinamo Tbilisi 2005/06 Erovnuli Liga 100000—10
2006/07 1000020—120
2007/08 400020—60
2008/09 300000—30
2009/10 3405040—430
2010/11 3503060—440
2011/12 3001080—390
2012/13 24080——320
2013/14 30050601[lower-alpha 1]0420
2014/15 ——20—20
2023 5010402[lower-alpha 1]0120
Total 1760230340302360
OFI Crete 2014/15 Superleague 25050——300
Olympiacos 2015/16 —————
Krylia Sovetov Samara 2015/16 Russian Premier League 14010——150
2016/17 25000——250
Total 390100000400
Anzhi Makhachkala 2017/18 Russian Premier League 130———130
Magdeburg 2018/19 2. Bundesliga 110———110
Anorthosis 2019/20 Cypriot First Division 21020——230
2020/21 3404010—390
2021/22 310105010380
2022/23 25020——270
Total 11109060101270
Career total 3750380400404570

Notes

  1. Appearances in Georgian Super Cup

Personal life

His father Nugzar Loria was a film producer. Giorgi himself studied at the Theatre and Film University and once featured in movie What happened in Kyiv as an actor.[20]

Married to Salome Kopaliani, he has one daughter.

Honours

Anorthosis

Dinamo Tbilisi

References
  1. "ყველა დროის სტატისტიკა". nakrebi.ge (in Georgian). Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  2. "გიორგი ლორია: "ცხოვრებაში პირველად ვიტირე..."" [Giorgi Loria: I cried for the first time in my life] (in Georgian). ambebi.ge. 18 September 2012.
  3. "გიორგი ლორია "დინამოდან" გაუშვეს" [Dinamo parted ways with Giorgi Loria] (in Georgian). ambebi.ge. 30 July 2014.
  4. "Loria agrees PAOK deal". sdna.gr. 23 March 2015. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  5. "Loria set to sign at Olympiakos". sdna.gr. 6 May 2015. Archived from the original on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  6. "Υπέγραψε ο Λόρια". sdna.gr. 7 May 2015. Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  7. "Στον Ολυμπιακό ο Λορία". sport24.gr. 7 May 2015.
  8. "Ανακοίνωσε Λόρια, Μαρτίνες και Τζανδάρη ο Ολυμπιακός!". www.gazzetta.gr. 2 July 2015.
  9. "Ο Καπίνο έφαγε... τον Λόρια". www.athleticradio.gr. 16 July 2015.
  10. Гиорги Лория до конца сезона будет выступать за "Анжи" (in Russian). PFC Krylia Sovetov Samara. 21 August 2017.
  11. "1. FCM verpflichtet Giorgi Loria" [! FCM sign Giorgi Loria]. 1. FC Magdeburg. 18 January 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  12. "Loria schließt beim FCM die Fejzic-Lücke". kicker Online (in German). 18 January 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  13. "Γκιόργκι Λόρια ο "εκλεκτός" για τον "άσσο" (δηλώσεις)" [Giorgi Loria the "chosen" one] (in Greek). Anorthosis Famagusta. 4 July 2019.
  14. https://foinikasnews.com/2022/03/ananeose-o-scorpion-loria-mechri-to-2024/
  15. https://anorthosisfc.com.cy/2023/06/lori-eycharistoyme/
  16. "დაბრუნება 9 წლის შემდეგ - გიორგი ლორია ისევ დინამოს მეკარეა". europop.ge (in Georgian). Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  17. "ლორიას საოცარი დაბრუნება - მან დინამო სუპერთასის ფინალში გაიყვანა". europop.ge (in Georgian). 30 June 2023.
  18. ""დინამო თბილისმა" საქართველოს სუპერთასი მეცხრედ მოიგო". worldsport.ge (in Georgian). 4 July 2023.
  19. "გიორგი ლორია: "მაგდებურგთან" ალექსამდრე იაშვილმა დამაკავშირა" (in Georgian). for.ge. 22 February 2019.
  20. "მილიონად შეფასებული ქართველი მეკარე და მისი ორი სალომე" (in Georgian). ambebi.ge. 28 June 2013.
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