Georgios Efrem

Georgios Efrem (Greek: Γεώργιος Εφραίμ, born 5 July 1989) is a Cypriot professional footballer who plays as a winger for Cypriot First Division club APOEL and the Cyprus national team.

Georgios Efrem
Efrem with Cyprus
Personal information
Full name Giorgos Efrem
Date of birth (1989-07-05) 5 July 1989
Place of birth Limassol, Cyprus
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 APOEL
Number 7
Youth career
2004–2007 Arsenal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2009 Rangers 0 (0)
2009 → Dundee (loan) 8 (2)
2009–2014 Omonia 134 (25)
2014– APOEL 174 (35)
International career‡
2008–2011 Cyprus U19 11 (4)
2008–2011 Cyprus U21 4 (2)
2009– Cyprus 48 (5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12 June 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 2019-19-11

Club career

Early career

Efrem was born in Limassol and began his career as a 15-year-old with Arsenal in 2004; he was a regular in their reserve and youth sides. However, he was unable to break into the first team, and so moved to Rangers in May 2007.[1] He soon became a regular in the reserve team and was loaned out to Scottish First Division side Dundee to gain some first team experience on 1 February 2009.[2] Efrem scored on his debut against Livingston a week later.[3] He was released on 1 June 2009 by Rangers and signed with Omonia.[4]

Omonia

Efrem had an excellent start with his new club in season 2009–10, leading Omonia to its 20th championship. In the same year, Cyprus Football Association awarded Efrem the Best Youth Player Award for the 2009–10 season. During his five-year spell with Omonia, he managed to win one championship, two Cups and two Super Cups. He also appeared in 134 league matches and scored 25 goals.

APOEL

On 6 June 2014, Efrem signed a three-year contract with APOEL.[5] He made his APOEL debut against HJK Helsinki at Sonera Stadium on 30 July 2014, in a 2–2 first leg draw for the third qualifying round of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League.[6] He scored his first official goal with APOEL on 30 November 2014, netting the only goal in APOEL's 1–0 win against his former team Omonia for the Cypriot First Division.[7] Efrem also appeared in five group stage matches in APOEL's 2014–15 UEFA Champions League campaign.[8] On 20 May 2015, Efrem scored two goals in APOEL's 4–2 Cypriot Cup final triumph over AEL Limassol to win his first trophy with APOEL.[9][10] Four days later, Efrem celebrated the double with APOEL, as his team beat 4–2 Ermis Aradippou and secured their third consecutive championship title.[11]

Efrem received the best player of the 2015–16 Cypriot First Division Award by Cyprus Football Association,[12] as he appeared in 24 league matches and scored 11 goals during 2015–16 season, breaking his previous personal scoring record in a single season.

The next season, he scored three times in APOEL's impressive run to the last 16 of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, opening the score in the away matches against Young Boys and FC Astana for the group stage and against Athletic Bilbao at San Mamés for the round of 32 of the competition.

On 17 January 2017, Efrem signed a four-year contract extension with APOEL, running until 31 May 2021.[13]

International career

He has represented Cyprus at all youth levels and captained the Cyprus under-21 team. In March 2009, he was called up to the Cyprus national team squad and in September 2009, he made his first two appearances.

On 16 November 2014, Efrem scored a hat-trick against Andorra in his team's 5–0 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying home victory and made history by becoming Cyprus' first ever international player to score three goals in a single game.[14]

International goals
Scores and results list Cyprus' goal tally first.[15]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.16 November 2014GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus Andorra2–05–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
2.3–0
3.4–0
4.21 March 2019 San Marino4–05–0UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
5. 16 November 2019  Scotland 1–1 1–2

Honours

Club

Omonia

APOEL

Individual

References
  1. "Walter backs Murray on cash charge". Evening Times. 30 May 2007. Archived from the original on 10 June 2008.
  2. "Rangers' Efrem on loan to Dundee". BBC Sport. 1 February 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  3. "Livingston 1–2 Dundee". BBC Sport. 7 February 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  4. "Rangers ace Pedro Mendes: I'm not going anywhere". Evening Times. 2 June 2009. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  5. Σύναψη συμφωνίας με Γιώργο Εφραίμ [Agreement with Giorgos Efrem] (in Greek). APOEL FC. 6 June 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  6. "APOEL comeback halts ten-man HJK". UEFA. 30 July 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  7. ΑΠΟΕΛ 1-0 ΟΜΟΝΟΙΑ [APOEL 1-0 OMONIA] (in Greek). APOEL FC. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  8. "APOEL FC Squad". UEFA. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  9. ΑΠΟΕΛ 4-2 ΑΕΛ [APOEL 4-2 AEL] (in Greek). APOEL FC. 20 May 2015. Archived from the original on 21 May 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  10. "APOEL on track for double after cup triumph". uefa.com. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  11. "APOEL secure league to wrap up Cypriot double". UEFA.com. 24 May 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  12. "Christiansen, Efrem and Michael voted as the league's best". sigmalive.com. 11 May 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  13. "Ανανέωση συνεργασίας με Γιώργο Εφραίμ". APOEL FC. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  14. "Efrem powers Cyprus to Andorra triumph". uefa.com. 16 November 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  15. "Efrem, Giorgos". National Football Teams. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
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