Goalden Bhoy

As Georgios Samaras retires from football, we celebrate hisCeltic highlights

- Joe Sullivan

LAST week, Georgios Samaras announced that he was finally hanging up his boots and calling time on his impressive playing career.

The Greek internationalist spent over six years with Celtic, initially joining on a six-month loan from Manchester City in January 2008 before making the move a permanent one that summer.

During his time with the Hoops, he made 253 appearances, scoring 74 goals, winning four league titles, two Scottish Cups and one League Cup. He was also capped 81 times for his country.

Now 33, Samaras’ involvement in football will continue as he takes up a boardroom position with OFI Crete, the club where he began his career as a youth back in 1994.

This week’s Celtic View looks back at just a few of Georgios Samaras’ Celtic highlights…

FIRST GOAL, SCOTTISH CUP FEBRUARY 2, 2008 KILMARNOCK 1-5 CELTIC

Greek Manchester City striker, Georgios Samaras signed a loan deal on January 29, 2008 and made his Celtic debut a few days later against Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup. The cup holders had raced to a 3-0 lead thanks to goals by Scott McDonald, Gary Caldwell and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink before Jamie Hamill pulled one back for the home side in the 66th minute. Almost immediately, McDonald scored his second to put Celtic 4-1 ahead and the scorer then made way for Samaras to make his debut from the bench. Coming on in the 67th minute, it took him only 18 minutes to make his mark when he cut in from the right wing and reached the centre of the box before firing in a left-foot shot into the bottom corner.

LAST GOAL, LEAGUE MAY 11, 2014 CELTIC 3-1 DUNDEE UNITED