Giorgos Merkis (, born 30 July 1984) is a retired

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

professional

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

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

for

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

club

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

and the Cyprus national team.

Career

Apollon Limassol

Merkis is a product of Apollon Limassol academies, making his first team debut during 2001–02 season at the age of 17. He spent the vast majority of his career with Apollon, where he won one

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

, two

cups CUPS (formerly an acronym for Common UNIX Printing System) is a modular printing system for Unix-like computer operating systems which allows a computer to act as a print server. A computer running CUPS is a host that can accept print jobs ...

and one super cup. After fifteen years at the club, his contract was mutually terminated on 12 January 2016.

APOEL

On 12 January 2016, Merkis signed an 18-month contract with fellow

club

. He made his official debut on 17 January 2016, coming on as a 69th-minute substitute in APOEL's 3–0 home win against

Enosis Neon Paralimni Enosis Neon Paralimni Football Club ( el, Ένωση Νέων Παραλιμνίου, ''Enosi Neon Paralimniou'', "Youth Union of Paralimni"), commonly referred to as ENP, is a Cypriot football team from Paralimni. Currently playing in the fi ...

for the

. He scored his first goal for APOEL against his former team Apollon Limassol on 2 April 2016, netting a late equalizer in his team's 2–2 home draw for the

Championship play-offs. A few months after joining APOEL, he was crowned champion as his team won the

title for a fourth consecutive time. On 2 March 2017, Merkis signed a two-year contract extension with APOEL, running until 31 May 2019.

International career

Merkis made his international debut with Cyprus National Team on 1 March 2006, in friendly match against

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

Tsirion Stadium The Tsirio Stadium ( el, Τσίρειο Στάδιο) is an all-seater multi-purpose stadium in Limassol, Cyprus. The stadium holds 13,331 people and is mostly used for football matches. It was the home ground of the three biggest clubs in Limas ...

, coming on as a 79th-minute substitute in Cyprus' 2–0 win. He scored his first goal on 16 November 2014, netting the opening goal in Cyprus' 5–0 home victory against

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

for the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Cyprus' goal tally first.''

Honours

; Apollon Limassol *

: 2005–06 *

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup () is the main cup competition in Cypriot football, run by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). It began in 1934, the same season with the Cypriot Championship. It is the second most important competition for Cypriot club team ...

: 2009–10,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

;

: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 *

Cypriot Super Cup The Cypriot Super Cup is a Cypriot football trophy, contested in an annual match between the previous season's Cypriot First Division champions, and the Cypriot Cup winners. The match is contested at the beginning of the football season, and is u ...

: 2019

Personal life

On June 3, 2017 Merkis married with Cypriot journalist Andrea Kyriakou. On October 8, 2018 Kyriakou gave birth to their first child, a son Labrinos Merkis.

References

External links

APOEL official profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Merkis, Giorgos 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Limassol Greek Cypriot people Cypriot footballers Association football defenders Apollon Limassol FC players APOEL FC players Cypriot First Division players Cyprus international footballers