Georgios Samaras

Georgios Samaras (Greek: Γιώργος Σαμαράς, ; born 21 February 1985) is a Greek footballer who plays for Scottish Premier League club Celtic and the Greek national football team. He is predominantly a striker, but can also play on the left wing.

Samaras started his career at Crete, before moving on to Eredivisie side Heerenveen in 2001. He made his first team debut two years later and after a further three seasons with the club he moved to English Premier League side Manchester City for a fee of £6 million in 2006. After Sven-Göran Eriksson took over as Manchester City manager Samaras fell out of favour with the first team. In January 2008 he was loaned out to Scottish Premier League team Celtic. During this time he helped the club win the title for a third season in a row. Celtic signed him at the end of the loan spell and since moving to Glasgow he has won the 2008–09 Scottish League Cup, 2010–11 Scottish Cup and the 2011–12 Scottish Premier League. Samaras also won the SPL Player of the Month award in September 2008.

Although eligible to play for Australia, due to the fact his father Ioannis Samaras was born in Melbourne, Samaras chose to represent his country of birth, Greece, and made his debut in 2006. He has become a regular in the Greek side since then, earning over 60 caps and representing his country at Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012.