Vartan Ghazarian


Vartan Ghazarian is a football manager and former player, who last coached club AC Tripoli. Born in Armenia, Ghazarian moved to Lebanon and obtained citizenship through naturalization in 1994. He played for Homenetmen and Sagesse as a striker, and represented Lebanon from 1995 until 2001.
Ghazarian is the joint highest all-time scorer in the Lebanese Premier League, scoring 118 official league goals. He was also the top scorer for the national team with 19 goals, before Roda Antar broke his record in 2015. In 2017, Ghazarian was appointed manager of Tripoli.

Club career

Ghazarian started his senior career in 1989 in Armenia, at Spartak Oktemberyan, before moving to FK Kapan in 1990. In 1992 he moved to Lebanon, joining Homenetmen Beirut. He stayed there for seven years, before moving to Sagesse in 1999. He spent three years there, before moving back to Homenetmen in 2002. Ghazarian then joined Sagesse once again, in 2005, before retiring in 2009 aged 39.
His first goal in the Lebanese Premier League came on 23 January 1993, when he scored the second goal for Homentmen against Tadamon Sour in the 54th minute.
On 16 November 2008, during Round 6 of the league, at the age of 39 years, Ghazarian scored his 130th goal in the Lebanese first division against Tadamon Sour, becoming the highest all-time scorer in the history of Lebanese football. However, some do not recognize the 12 goals he scored in the 2000–01 season, which was canceled. Still, his remaining tally equals Fadi Alloush's total of 118 goals.

International career

Ghazarian was the leading goal scorer in the history of the Lebanon national team, scoring a total of 19 goals. His record was later broken by Roda Antar in 2015, who scored his 20th goal in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Laos.

Managerial career

In 2009, Ghazarian returned to his native Armenia where he trained an Armenian club. He returned to Lebanon, becoming the assistant coach for Tripoli, as well as the main coach in 2017.

Career statistics

International

GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
116 January 1996Beirut, Lebanon1–0WonFriendly
211 February 1996Beirut, Lebanon1–0WonFriendly
326 May 1996Asgabat, Turkmenistan1–0Won1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
49 June 1996Beirut, Lebanon3–5Loss1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
59 June 1996Beirut, Lebanon3–5Loss1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
65 September 1996Beirut, Lebanon1–2LossFriendly
78 September 1996Beirut, Lebanon2–1WonFriendly
88 September 1996Beirut, Lebanon2–1WonFriendly
99 October 1996Beirut, Lebanon1–1DrawFriendly
105 December 1996Beirut, Lebanon4–2WonFriendly
115 December 1996Beirut, Lebanon4–2WonFriendly
1212 January 1997Beirut, Lebanon2–2DrawFriendly
1319 March 1997Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates1–2LossFriendly
1427 April 1997Beirut, Lebanon2–0WonFriendly
1523 February 2000Tripoli, Lebanon1–1DrawFriendly
1626 May 2001Bangkok, Thailand8–1Won2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
1726 May 2001Bangkok, Thailand8–1Won2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
1828 May 2001Bangkok, Thailand5–0Won2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
1930 May 2001Bangkok, Thailand2–2Draw2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Club

Syunik Kapan
Homenetmen