Gor Malakyan

Gor Malakyan was born on June 12, 1994 in Yerevan, Armenia. He is the younger brother of current teammate Edgar Malakyan, with whom he has also shared squad in FC Pyunik (2011/12), Alashkert FC (2014), FC Shirak (2015) and the Armenian National Football Team (2016-?). Despite Gor had originally started playing in more attacking positions, such as playmaker or secondary striker, his conditions and characteristics lead him to deeper and more defensive and balanced positions. By the time he got to FC Shirak, he had been playing central midfield - thus getting to a steady role as a defensive midfielder. After a great performance in 2015/16 UEFA Europa League playoffs, nearly qualifying for the group stage, FC Stal Kamianske (owned by another Armenian) decided to purchase his and his older brother's services.[1] Since then, he's cemented himself as a regular member of the team's rotation system. In July 2018 he left the organized Stal Kamianske (Feniks Bucha) and returned to Armenia to join the newly created Ararat-Armenia.[2] On 30 July 2020, Ararat-Armenia announced the departure of Malakyan after his contract expired.[3]

Malakyan currently is a defensive midfielder of playmaking pedigree. Besides his tackling and marking (defensive IQ), he makes the difference mostly because of his passing and dribbling - more often than not making contact with the ball in the deep midfield, to either pass or dribble past defenders and give shape to the offense's first few touches. Such resources could be for instance spotted easily in Armenia's epic 3–2 win over Montenegro for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, imposing his "touch and go" passing on his teammates. Technically gifted and in a position where there are not many Armenian players at his level, Malakyan is set to be one of Armenia's near future biggest talents.

• Gor Malakyan at Soccerway