Giorgos Giamalis ( el, Γιώργος Γιάμαλης; 6 August 1907 – 24 February 1985) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He was nicknamed ''"Valentino"'', after Rudolph Valentino, as he was a great charmer of women at the time.

Club career

Giamalis started his career at Hefestos Constantinople in 1922. He was also playing in the team of the Robertian school where he studied from 1922 to 1925.newspaper "Athlitismos", 6 April 1932, page 1 Until 1924, he played as a midfielder when by a random event he played goalkeeper and established himself in this position. At the Robertio school he also participated in the 400-meter track team. Aek FC 1932 Cup winner

In 1926 he traveled to Greece and joined the newly-formed

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...

. He became the first great goalkeeper in the history of the club. He was known for his morals, as in 1927, in a match between AEK and

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

, Georgios Andrianopoulos scored a goal, but the ball had gone through a hole in the nets, without anyone noticing except Giamalis who ran to the referee and asked him to count the goal, as he had seen the ball going through the net. Immediately Andrianopoulos, who was also captain of Olympiacos, asked the referee to stop the match and called his teammates to the center of the pitch, to congratulate him and applaud Giamalis. In April 1930 in a derby against Panathinaikos he scored a goal as he was frustrated of his team losing by 2–1 and the fruitless efforts his teammates to equalize, he took a powerful

goal kick A goal kick is a method of restarting the play in a game of association football. Its procedure is dictated by Law 16 of the Laws of the Game. Award A goal kick is awarded to the defending team when the ball goes out of the field of play by cr ...

that the ball jumped two times in the opponent area and the opposition goalkeeper Argyrakis, in his effort to reach it, he pushed the ball into his net. He was the main goalkeeper of the club and in 1931 he won the first

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

, that was also the first title of the club, defeating

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Howard, Former President of the Jama ...

with a score of 5–3. He quit football in 1932 tired of the footballer's life, at the age of only 25.

International career

Giamalis was the first goalkeeper that played for

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

, appearing 10 times, 4 of which as its captain between 1929 and 1932. His debut on 7 April 1929, in the first historical match of Greece against Italy B, at the

Leoforos Alexandras Stadium Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium ( el, Γήπεδο Απόστολος Νικολαΐδης), commonly known as Leoforos Alexandras Stadium or Leoforos Stadium, is a football stadium and multi-sport center in Athens, Greece. It was inaugurated in 19 ...

After football

After the end of his career as a footballer, Giamalis was involved in track and field at a professional level and worked at PPC, even claiming positions at high ranks.

Personal life

Giamalis was married and had two daughters, Lina and Sofia. He died on 24 February 1985 from acute myocardial infarction. His funeral took place two days later at the cemetery of

Palaio Faliro Palaio Faliro ( el, Παλαιό Φάληρο, ; Katharevousa: Palaion Faliron, Παλαιόν Φάληρον, meaning "Old Phalerum") is a coastal district and a municipality in the southern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. At the 2011 c ...

Honours

AEK Athens *

: 1931–32

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giamalis, Giorgos 1907 births 1985 deaths Greek men's footballers Greece men's international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers AEK Athens F.C. players Constantinopolitan Greeks Turkish expatriate football managers Footballers from Istanbul Turkish people of Greek descent