Giorgi Loria

Giorgi Loria
Loria with FC Anzhi Makhachkala in 2018
Personal information
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
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 25 (0)
2015 Olympiacos 0 (0)
2015–2018 Krylia Sovetov Samara 39 (0)
2017–2018 → Anzhi Makhachkala (loan) 13 (0)
2019 1. FC Magdeburg 11 (0)
2019–2023 Anorthosis Famagusta 111 (0)
2023–2024 Dinamo Tbilisi 26 (0)
2024–2025 Omonia Aradippou 32 (0)
2025– Dinamo Tbilisi 0 (0)
International career‡
2006–2008 Georgia U-21 4 (0)
2008–2025 Georgia 79 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12 May 2025
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 5 June 2025

Giorgi Loria (Order of Honor) (Georgian: გიორგი ლორია, pronounced [ɡioɾɡi loɾia]; born 27 January 1986) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Dinamo Tbilisi.

During his long career Loria has played in five different leagues and become the most capped goalkeeper of the national team.[1] He is the three-time Georgian champion with Dinamo Tbilisi. Loria has also won the national cup and Supercup six times in total. While at Anorthosis, he lifted the Cypriot Cup as well.

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 having won eight titles across all three domestic competitions.[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 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 Crete was rumored to have accepted a bid in the region of €700,000, as Loria was among the top goalkeepers in the 2014–15 season.[8]

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 was 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 1. FC 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 (2019–2023) 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] Following this season, Loria was recognized as Goalkeeper of the Year at an annual awards ceremony.[19]

On 15 May 2024, he reached the milestone of 100 clean sheets for Dinamo.[20] On 3 July 2024, newly promoted Cypriot First Division side Omonia Aradippou announced signing Loria on a year-long deal.[21]

On 29 June 2025, Dinamo Tbilisi announced the return of Loria on a contract until the end of the season.[22]

International career

Loria made his debut for Georgia in a friendly match against Estonia on 27 May 2008.[23] In his seventh appearance for Georgia, Loria saved a penalty kick from Slovenia's Milivoje Novaković, helping the team to a 2–1 win in Koper.[24] For much of his national team career, Loria battled with Nukri Revishvili for the number one jersey, as well as the veteran Giorgi Lomaia, who played in the majority of the team's UEFA Euro 2008 and 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Loria played the first six matches of the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, before being replaced by Revishvili for the final four matches.[25] He then started the first five 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification matches but was displaced by Giorgi Makaridze for four of the last five fixtures.[25] Loria played in all six of Georgia's 2018–19 UEFA Nations League fixtures, keeping four clean sheets and conceding only twice as the Crusaders finished top of Group 1 in League D with five wins from six matches to gain promotion to League C. [26] He then played the entire UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying campaign, keeping clean sheets against Gibraltar,[27] Denmark[28] and the Republic of Ireland.[29][30] On 8 October 2020, Loria kept a clean sheet in the 1–0 defeat of Belarus in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying play-off semi-final at the Boris Paichadze National Stadium in Tbilisi.[31] He went on to play in the play-off final against North Macedonia on 12 November, which Georgia lost 1–0 to narrowly miss out on their first qualification to a major international tournament.[32]

Loria continued to keep goal for Georgia during the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign and kept a clean sheet in the final match as the Georgians beat Sweden in Batumi.[33] The emergence of Giorgi Mamardashvili saw Loria rotate with the U21 goalkeeper during the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League, where Georgia gained promotion to League B, topping their group with 16 points from six matches.[34] Mamardashvili became first choice goalkeeper in the successful UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.[35]

In May 2024, Loria was named in Georgia's squad for the UEFA Euro 2024 finals in Germany, where he served as back-up for Giorgi Mamardashvili.[36]

On June 4, 2025, Loria announced his retirement from the national team after seventeen years as a Georgian international. He played his last match for the Georgia national football team one day later on June 5th, in a friendly against Faroe Islands.[37][38]

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.[39]

Married to Salome Kopaliani, he has one daughter.

Career statistics

Club

As of 11 May 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Dinamo Tbilisi 2005–06 Erovnuli Liga 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 0
2006–07 10 0 0 0 2 0 — 12 0
2007–08 4 0 0 0 2 0 — 6 0
2008–09 3 0 0 0 0 0 — 3 0
2009–10 34 0 5 0 4 0 — 43 0
2010–11 35 0 3 0 6 0 — 44 0
2011–12 30 0 1 0 8 0 — 39 0
2012–13 24 0 8 0 — — 32 0
2013–14 30 0 5 0 6 0 1[a] 0 42 0
2014–15 — — 2 0 — 2 0
2023 13 0 2 0 4 0 2[a] 0 21 0
2024 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0
Total 197 0 24 0 34 0 3 0 258 0
OFI Crete 2014–15 Superleague Greece 25 0 5 0 — — 30 0
Olympiacos 2015–16 Superleague Greece — — — — —
Krylia Sovetov Samara 2015–16 Russian Premier League 14 0 1 0 — — 15 0
2016–17 25 0 0 0 — — 25 0
Total 39 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 40 0
Anzhi Makhachkala (loan) 2017–18 Russian Premier League 13 0 — — — 13 0
1. FC Magdeburg 2018–19 2. Bundesliga 11 0 — — — 11 0
Anorthosis 2019–20 Cypriot First Division 21 0 2 0 — — 23 0
2020–21 34 0 4 0 1 0 — 39 0
2021–22 31 0 1 0 5 0 1 0 38 0
2022–23 25 0 2 0 — — 27 0
Total 111 0 9 0 6 0 1 0 127 0
Omonia Aradippou 2024-25 Cypriot First Division 32 0 0 0 — — 32 0
Career total 420 0 38 0 40 0 4 0 502 0
  1. ^ a b Appearances in Georgian Super Cup

Honours

Anorthosis

Dinamo Tbilisi

References

  1. ^ "ყველა დროის სტატისტიკა" [All-time statistics.]. 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" [Loria signed.]. sdna.gr. 7 May 2015. Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  7. ^ "Στον Ολυμπιακό ο Λορία" [Loria to Olympiacos.]. sport24.gr. 7 May 2015.
  8. ^ "Ανακοίνωσε Λόρια, Μαρτίνες και Τζανδάρη ο Ολυμπιακός!" [Olympiacos announced Loria, Martinez, and Tzandaris!]. www.gazzetta.gr. 2 July 2015.
  9. ^ "Ο Καπίνο έφαγε... τον Λόρια" [Kapino ate... Loria]. www.athleticradio.gr. 16 July 2015.
  10. ^ Гиорги Лория до конца сезона будет выступать за "Анжи" [Giorgi Loria will play for Anzhi until the end of the season.] (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. Archived from the original on 19 January 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  12. ^ "Loria schließt beim FCM die Fejzic-Lücke" [Loria closes the Fejzic gap at FCM.]. 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. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  14. ^ "Ανανέωσε ο "Scorpion" Loria μέχρι το 2024 - Τα νέα του Φοίνικα" [The "Scorpion" Loria renewed until 2024 - Phoenix news.].
  15. ^ "Lori Ευχαριστούμε!". 27 June 2023.
  16. ^ "დაბრუნება 9 წლის შემდეგ - გიორგი ლორია ისევ დინამოს მეკარეა" [Return after 9 years - Giorgi Loria is Dynamo's goalkeeper again.]. europop.ge (in Georgian). Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  17. ^ "ლორიას საოცარი დაბრუნება - მან დინამო სუპერთასის ფინალში გაიყვანა" [Loria's incredible return – he led Dinamo to the Super Cup final.]. europop.ge (in Georgian). 30 June 2023.
  18. ^ ""დინამო თბილისმა" საქართველოს სუპერთასი მეცხრედ მოიგო" ["Dinamo Tbilisi" won the Georgian Super Cup for the ninth time.]. worldsport.ge (in Georgian). 4 July 2023.
  19. ^ "AWARDS 2023 CBELIGA". crystalsport.ge. 4 December 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  20. ^ "გიორგი ლორიას რეკორდი - "ჯვაროსნების" მეკარემ ელიგაში 100 "მშრალი" მატჩი ჩაატარა" [Giorgi Loria's record – the "Crusaders" goalkeeper has played 100 clean-sheet matches in the Erovnuli Liga.]. 1tv.ge (in Georgian). Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  21. ^ "ოფიციალურად: გიორგი ლორია ომონია არადიპუსის ფეხბურთელია" [Officially: Giorgi Loria is an Omonia Aradippou player.]. lagazzetta.ge (in Georgian). 3 July 2024. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  22. ^ "გიორგი ლორია დინამოში დაბრუნდა". fcdinamo.ge (in Georgian). FC Dinamo Tbilisi. 29 June 2025. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  23. ^ "გიორგი ლორია: "მაგდებურგთან" ალექსამდრე იაშვილმა დამაკავშირა" [Giorgi Loria: "Aleksandre Iashvili connected me with Magdeburg."] (in Georgian). for.ge. 22 February 2019.
  24. ^ "საქართველოს ნაკრები 21 - მატჩი 3742 - GEO" [Georgian National Team 21 - Match 3742 - GEO]. nakrebi.ge (in Georgian). Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  25. ^ a b "Giorgi Loria - Player Profile". Eurosport. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  26. ^ "All the 2018/19 UEFA Nations League results". UEFA. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  27. ^ "Georgia vs Gibraltar: Line-ups". UEFA. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  28. ^ "Georgia vs Denmark: Line-ups". UEFA. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  29. ^ Shirokov, Roman (12 August 2023). "ww88". Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  30. ^ "Georgia vs Republic of Ireland: Line-ups". UEFA. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  31. ^ "Georgia vs Belarus: Line-ups". UEFA. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  32. ^ "Georgia vs North Macedonia: Match info". UEFA. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  33. ^ "Georgia vs Sweden: Line-ups". UEFA. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  34. ^ "UEFA Nations League 2022/23". RSSSF. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  35. ^ "Giorgi Mamardashvili - Matches". UEFA. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  36. ^ "Giorgi Loria - Matches". UEFA. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  37. ^ Giorgi Loria - I have finished my international career, thank you, Georgia #1TVSPORT (In Georgian)
  38. ^ Giorgi Loria will play his last match for the national team tomorrow (in Georgian)
  39. ^ "მილიონად შეფასებული ქართველი მეკარე და მისი ორი სალომე" [A Georgian goalkeeper valued at a million and his two Salomes.] (in Georgian). ambebi.ge. 28 June 2013.
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