Goran Pandev

At 41 years old, Goran Pandev has this physical status:

Goran Pandev (born 27 July 1983) is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Italian club Genoa.

He is the captain of the North Macedonia national football team and the country's all-time top scorer with 34 goals. Pandev, who remained at Lazio, migrated to Inter Milan in early 2010.

Pandev, a soccer fan, and the 2009–10 Coppa Italia competes as part of a treble for the club, and he has three children, Filipo Pandev, Ana Pandev, and Sofia Pandev. Pandev obtained Italian citizenship in Naples in 2019.

Personal life

Goran Pandev is married to Nada Pandeva, and they have three children, Filippo, Ana, and Sofia. Sashko, his younger brother, is also a footballer. Pandev obtained Italian citizenship in Naples in 2019. He auctioned the shirt he wore in the match in which he earned his 100th cap for Macedonia against the coronavirus pandemic.

Akademija Pandev, his native Macedonia, founded a football academy in 2010. Their senior squad now plays in the Macedonian First League, and is a one-time cup champion from 2010 to 2019.

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Club career

Pandev was born in Strumica, SR Macedonia, then a member of SFR Yugoslavia, and he began his football career with FK Belasica, the club with whom he progressed through the youth academy. He played in the local Prva Liga for one season before being signed by Inter Milan, the Serie A giants, in the summer of 2001, when he was just 18 years old.

Pandev was loaned by Inter to Spezia, a feeder club, where he was a regular in Serie C1. He was released on loan again next year, this time to Ancona, a newly promoted Serie A club. The team had the worst season of any team in Serie A history during Robert's time at Ancona.

In January 2004, Serbian footballer Dejan Stankovi was signed by Inter from Lazio and Pandev in exchange for a modest charge of €500, but he remained at Ancona until the end of the 2003–04 season. Pandev impressed in his first year at Lazio, scoring three goals, including a spectacular effort against Fabio Cannavaro, Lilian Thuram, and Gianluca Zambrotta before defeating Gianluigi Buffon with an angled shot. In July 2005, 55% of his player registration rights were transferred to Udinese in exchange for David Pizarro's move to Milanese.

Delio Rossi, the following season, was appointed manager of Lazio and Pandev, beginning to form a deadly strike partnership with Tommaso Rocchi. Lazio acquired the remaining 50% of his registration rights from Udinese in June 2006.

Pandev scored his first hat-trick in Serie A against Reggina on January 11, 2009.

Pandev was given the Medal for Service to the Country by then-President Branko Crvenkovski on March 24, 2009, in recognition of his sporting contributions and his contribution to Macedonia's growth and popular sport, as well as exporting the country to the region.

Pandev and Lazio chairman Claudio Lotito fought in the summer of 2009, resulting in a legal confrontation between Pandev and his team. The decision was released on December 23, 2009.

Pandev had argued that he wanted to leave Lazio in the summer of 2009. Lotito, the chairman, was apparently dissatisfied with Pandev's appointment, so he was ruled out of the team. Pandev spent the remaining four months training on his own, without making a single appearance for his team as a result. Several clubs had expressed an interest in purchasing Pandev, most notable Zenit Saint Petersburg, who made an offer of €13 million for the player during this time. Lotio, the Lazio chairman, turned down the bid and instead demanded €15 million. The contract eventually fell through after both sides struggled to reach an agreement on a price.

Pandev officially filed for a termination of his deal with Lazio on September 26th, having been frozen out of the team and labeled a "rebel" by the club. Pandev argued that by freezing him out of the team, Lazio had breached the terms of their deal with him. The Lega Nazional Professionisti ruled in Pandev's favour on Dec. 23, 2009, ordering Lazio to order Pandev from his employment and pay him €170,000 for emotional distress. Lotito announced his intention to appeal the decision.

Pandev's number 27 shirt was on display in Inter Milan on January 4, 2010. In the 1–0 away victory over Chievo on January 6, he made his Inter debut as a starter. His first two games for the Nerazzurri culminated in him being able to both champions, including Mario Balotelli against Chievo, and Walter Samuel against Siena, who was a last minute winner. In a scoreless draw at Bari, he started scoring for the club in his third appearance for the club, pulling a goal back for Inter. Pandev was the primary protagonist in the 2–0 win over Milan, where he first aided Diego Milito with an overhead cross and then scored a curling freekick to win the game. He continued his good results throughout the season, winning Inter's first treble in Italian football's history. Inter won the Coppa Italia for their fifth straight Serie A title by defeating Siena in the final match and also defeating Roma at Stadio Olimpico to win the Coppa Italia. Inter won the UEFA Champions League final against Bayern Munich on May 22, 2010, with Pandev playing for 79 minutes and becoming the third Macedonian football player to ever win this competition.

He began the new season on August 21 by winning the 2010 Supercoppa Italiana under Rafael Bentez's leadership, scoring the equalizer against Roma in an eventual 3–1 home victory for the first silverware of the season. He appeared as an emergency as Inter lost the 2010 UEFA Super Cup to Atlético Madrid six days later. Pandev was part of the squad that defeated the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup in December 2010. In the 3–0 victory over Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in the semi-final, he made his debut in the tournament by playing full-90 minutes. Inter defeated Congo's TP Mazembe in the final on December 18th, making it his first goal in a major final as Inter defeated 3–0. Pandev made it 3–2 for Inter on the second leg of the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie against Bayern Munich on March 15, 2011. Inter progressed to the quarter-finals on away goals rule, with Pandev referring to his goal as the "most significant" of his career. Pandev entered in the second half of the 2011 Coppa Italia Final match against Palermo on May 29th, 2011 and assisted Diego Milito's goal in the 92nd minute for a 3–1 win. This was his last game for the club after he was suspended during the summer transfer window.

Pandev joined Napoli on a season-long loan on August 26, 2011. Pandev made his Napoli debut against Cesena in the 66th minute on September 10th, ending with the score tied at 1-1. Despite Napoli's 2–1 lead right away, Pandev missed an open goal in the 85th minute after a square pass across the face of goal was played to him; Napoli defeated Napoli 3–1.

Pandev came back for an injured Edinson Cavani and opened a home game against rivals Juventus on November 29. He scored two goals, the first of which was his first for Napoli, and the second a volleyed goal. Napoli went 3–1, but Juventus came back to tie the game at 3–3, the final score. Pandev then scored his third Serie A goal for Napoli in their 6–1 humiliating of Genoa on December 21.

Pandev scored his team's first goal in a 1–3 win over Sicily over Palermo on January 8, 2012, following the winter break.

Pandev defeated Roma 2–0 on May 20, 2012, giving Marek Hamk's goal in a 2–0 victory over Juventus, indicating that he had been on the tournament's winning team for the past four years.

Pandev made a permanent switch from Inter to Napoli on June 6, 2012. Later, Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis revealed that Pandev took a salary cut to join the Neapolitans, with the President referring to this as a sign of loyalty to the team and fans.

Pandev scored both goals in Napoli's victory over Genoa on September 28, putting the Neapolitans to the top of the league table.

Pandev appeared in place of Gonzalo Higgins in the last 20 minutes of the 2014 Coppa Italia Final, which Napoli defeated Fiorentina 3–1.

Pandev signed a 1+1-year deal with Turkish club Galatasaray worth €2.4 million per year on September 1, 2014. Pandev had trouble getting game time at Galatasaray, and he was mainly used as a cup player.

Pandev signed a two-year deal with Genoa in 2015 after struggling to get playing time at Galatasaray. He intended on retiring at the end of the 2019-2021 season, but decided against it following the postponement of Euro 2020 to 2021.

Pandev scored 100 goals in his Serie A career against Benevento on April 21, 2021. He was one of the first Macedonian to reach the century mark in one of Europe's "Big 5" leagues. He finished the 2020–21 season with his most goals plus assists per 90 minutes since 2013–14.

Pandev signed a 2021 deal with Genoa that will keep him in Serie A until June 2022.

Pandev retired on January 31, 2022, after the 2022/2022 season, but he returned to Parma in Serie B on a permanent basis.

International career

In a FIFA World Cup qualification match against Turkey in June 2001, Pandev made his senior debut for Macedonia. He became the national team's all-time leading scorer after two goals against Spain on August 12, 2009, defeating Gjorgji Hristov.

He wanted to retire from international football in 2015 but was forbidden to continue playing by national manager Igor Angelovski. Pandev won 3–1 home victory over Latvia in UEFA Euro 2020 qualification in March 2019. In North Macedonia's 1–0 Euro 2020 play-off victory over Georgia, which saw his country qualify for the first time, he scored the team's only goal. He scored in a 3–1 loss to Austria in the country's first-ever goal at a major tournament, only second behind Ivica Vasili. In the last group stage match of the Euro 2020 season, he played his last match for his national team against the Netherlands on June 21-21.

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