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ARMENIA'S MOST PROLIFIC MIDFIELDER
Bundesliga - official website
July 10 2013
Munich - Borussia Dortmund wanted as similar a replacement as possible
for Bavaria-bound Mario Gotze, and in Henrikh Mkhitaryan, they appear
to have got it.
Armenia has rarely been known as a hotbed of footballing talent,
but Dortmund's new signing Mkhitaryan stands head and shoulders above
the rest of his compatriots.
Admirable strike rate
Voted Armenia's footballer of the year in 2009, 2011 and 2012, the
2013 gong also looks like it will be a foregone conclusion for a man
who netted 12 goals in the first nine games of the last Ukrainian
season as Shakhtar Donetsk emulated Bayern Munich by knocking down
numerous records on their way to the title.
Such a goalscoring ratio would be admirable for any striker, only
Mkhitaryan is a midfielder by trade. He nevertheless set a new
Ukrainian league record, scoring 25 goals last term from a similar
position to Gotze, attracting the interest of many top clubs throughout
Europe.
Football in the blood
Dortmund had already seen his talents first hand when they eliminated
Mkhitaryan's Donetsk from the UEFA Champions League in the first
knockout stage, bringing an end to his ever-present stint in Europe
in 2012/13.
More European football will come, though, for a player who was
predestined for a career as a professional footballer. His father
Hamlet shone at FC Ararat Yerevan in the 1980s before uprooting his
family to join French club Valence. He died tragically of a brain
tumour at the age of 33, when Henrikh was just seven, and the family
returned to Armenia, where Henrikh joined Pyunik Yerevan.
No language barrier
>From there, he moved to Metalurg Donetsk before earning a move across
the city after just one season, in which he scored 12 goals. A move
to Germany's top-flight, not only represents a new step in his career,
but also a fifth new language having already mastered French, Russian,
English and Portuguese alongside his mothertongue Armenian.
Football and linguistics are common demoninators in his family
too with his mother head of the national teams' department of the
Armenian Football Federation and his sister, Monica, working for UEFA,
interpreting for president Michel Platini ahead of EURO 2012.
However, Mkhitaryan's competitive debut is not eagerly-awaited due to
his lingusitic abilites, but the style and ease with which he plays
his football. Perfectly suited to play a leading role in Dortmund's
youthful frontline under Jurgen Klopp, the only way is up for Armenia's
most prominent professional.
http://www.bundesliga.com/en/liga/news/2012/0000260085.php
From: Baghdasarian
Bundesliga - official website
July 10 2013
Munich - Borussia Dortmund wanted as similar a replacement as possible
for Bavaria-bound Mario Gotze, and in Henrikh Mkhitaryan, they appear
to have got it.
Armenia has rarely been known as a hotbed of footballing talent,
but Dortmund's new signing Mkhitaryan stands head and shoulders above
the rest of his compatriots.
Admirable strike rate
Voted Armenia's footballer of the year in 2009, 2011 and 2012, the
2013 gong also looks like it will be a foregone conclusion for a man
who netted 12 goals in the first nine games of the last Ukrainian
season as Shakhtar Donetsk emulated Bayern Munich by knocking down
numerous records on their way to the title.
Such a goalscoring ratio would be admirable for any striker, only
Mkhitaryan is a midfielder by trade. He nevertheless set a new
Ukrainian league record, scoring 25 goals last term from a similar
position to Gotze, attracting the interest of many top clubs throughout
Europe.
Football in the blood
Dortmund had already seen his talents first hand when they eliminated
Mkhitaryan's Donetsk from the UEFA Champions League in the first
knockout stage, bringing an end to his ever-present stint in Europe
in 2012/13.
More European football will come, though, for a player who was
predestined for a career as a professional footballer. His father
Hamlet shone at FC Ararat Yerevan in the 1980s before uprooting his
family to join French club Valence. He died tragically of a brain
tumour at the age of 33, when Henrikh was just seven, and the family
returned to Armenia, where Henrikh joined Pyunik Yerevan.
No language barrier
>From there, he moved to Metalurg Donetsk before earning a move across
the city after just one season, in which he scored 12 goals. A move
to Germany's top-flight, not only represents a new step in his career,
but also a fifth new language having already mastered French, Russian,
English and Portuguese alongside his mothertongue Armenian.
Football and linguistics are common demoninators in his family
too with his mother head of the national teams' department of the
Armenian Football Federation and his sister, Monica, working for UEFA,
interpreting for president Michel Platini ahead of EURO 2012.
However, Mkhitaryan's competitive debut is not eagerly-awaited due to
his lingusitic abilites, but the style and ease with which he plays
his football. Perfectly suited to play a leading role in Dortmund's
youthful frontline under Jurgen Klopp, the only way is up for Armenia's
most prominent professional.
http://www.bundesliga.com/en/liga/news/2012/0000260085.php
From: Baghdasarian