The European Championship came to Mamardashvili at his best moment

Between siren songs of English football and German, Georgian Giorgi Mamardashvili He emerged as one of the best goalkeepers on the European scene and, after three clean campaigns in Valenciahas a great prize this summer in the form of Eurocup.

This is the first international tournament of Georgia in just thirty years of life and Mamardashvili became the main to achieve this, because even the star became the extreme Khvicha Kvaratskheliathe goalkeeper disguised himself as a hero, stopping a maximum penalty that allowed the former Soviet nation to enter its first major event.

Mamardashvili saved the penalty against the Greek Boots and thus showed his evolution in punishments. As the goalkeeper of Valenciathe goalkeeper went from not saving any of his first 17 penalties to stopping three of four, a situation that can also be extrapolated to his exit from the goal or his footwork, the only outstanding part of his game.

But at 23 years old, his emergence on the European scene has been great. According to Opta, he was the goalkeeper of League that he stopped more balls that should have ended in a goal and received ten less goals than what the data analysis predicted based on the statistics of the shots received by the Georgian.

His progress was unstoppable. Three summers ago, the footballer arrived from Dinamo Tbilisi after playing a great Europa League tie against Granada served the scouts of Valencia to bet in Georgian.

Although the fact that the footballer came to be the goalkeeper of the subsidiary, the injuries of Jasper Cillessen and of Jaume Domenech caused by them Mamardashvili He made his debut on the first day of the league with Valencia and stayed that way for the first eight games.

Although he lost his starting position due to the experience and good level of the Dutchman, a young Mamardashvili, who is almost 20 years old, regained his place in the eleven in the second half of the year and started in the latter part of Copa del Rey against Betis.

The Georgian settled into ownership the following year and was indeed key for Valencia to stay in the First Division in a season where the club Mestalla He was saved on the last day, but in this campaign, with the help of Rubén Baraja, he was able to show his true level.

Mamardashvilihas become a reference at Valencia and has been seen as the second best goalkeeper of the 21st century just behind Santi Canizares, has many options to leave the Mestalla club and, in fact, commented in an interview with a Georgian media that “soon” his future will be decided. However, he also said that Valencia is his home and he is always grateful to the club for giving him “a career in sports”.

While Newcastle, Atlético de Madrid or Bayern Munich – who backed out last summer when they were about to pay 35 million for him – is fighting the goalkeeper, ‘Mamar’ has a challenge that his Georgia move into the round of 16 in a group where they have to beat Turkey, Portugal and the Czech Republic.

With a calm and even introverted character, Mamardashvili emerged as the great hero of his country by destroying the Greek options to be in European Cup and enter a national team tournament for the first time, but now he has the chance to show Europe what he’s up to Valencia for three seasons.