“OZBILIZ” SURNAME TELLS STORY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE SURVIVOR
14:17, 16 October, 2013
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 16, ARMENPRESS. The surname of the midfielder
of the Armenian National Football Team and FC Spartak Moscow Aras
Ozbiliz has an interesting and deep story. As reports “Armenpress”
citing Yerkir.am website, lecturer at the Armenian State Institute of
Physical Culture Araks Marutyan shared her discoveries regarding the
Armenian footballer’s surname. She had a meeting with Aras Ozbiliz and
his family members, who arrived in Armenia to watch Armenia-Bulgaria
football match.
Among other things the Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture
Araks Marutyan underscored: “I was lucky to meet the Ozbiliz family. I
had very interesting feelings. To see the man in the stadium and then
see him surrounded with his family members are two quite different
things. “Ozbiliz” means one, who preserves his identity. Aras’
great grandfather, who managed to survive the massacres, had to
live a basement. He used to stand in front of the mirror and speak
Armenian, in order not to forget the Armenian language. In future,
he had no documents, and he proved that he is an Armenian only due to
the language. That’s why he took surname “Ozbiliz” (one, who preserves
his identity).”
Aras Ozbiliz is an Armenian football player who currently plays
right-winger for the Armenian national team and for Russian Premier
League club Spartak Moscow.
Aras was born on 9 March 1990 in the Bakırköy district of Istanbul,
Turkey toArmenian parents. He was named after the Aras River, a body
of water in Armenia. His ancestors adopted the surname “Ozbiliz”.
Their family name was once Zbilizyan. In the early 1990s, his family
emigrated from Turkey to the Netherlands. Five years later, he started
playing football for the youth team of HVV Hollandia. When he was
eight years old, Aras joined the youth team of Ajax.
Aras Ozbiliz is a product of the Ajax youth academy. Prior to moving
to Ajax as a youth, he played for HVV Hollandia in his home town of
Hoorn where he grew up. At the age of 8, he participated in tryouts
for the Amsterdam side, and was chosen to play for Ajax, having
represented Ajax on every stage of the youth academy, before making
his debut for the A selection in 2010 under then coach Martin Jol.
On 24 July 2007, in a friendly match against Argentinean club
Independiente, Aras managed to score three goals within 7 minutes,
which turned out to be a personal record.
On 24 February 2012, in a Europa League match against Manchester
United, Aras became the first Ajax player to ever score a goal against
Manchester United in a European cup match at Old Trafford.
On 4 May 2012 press-service of Kuban Krasnodar announced that they
were in talks to acquire Ozbiliz. However, only on 8 August this
transfer was officially announced. Aras was transferred for a sum of
â~B¬1 million. The contract was signed for 4 years until 2016.
On Friday, 26 July 2013 it was announced that Ozbiliz had signed a
multi-year contract with Spartak Moscow, with Kuban Krasnodar earning
â~B¬10 million on the transfer fee.
In mid-May 2010, Aras Ozbiliz was invited by the Football Federation
of Armenia to take part in the formation of the youth national team
of Armenia.
In early October 2011, Aras was called to play the match against
Armenia and Macedonia, which was held on 7 October. On 4 October 2011,
on order of the President Serzh Sargsyan, Aras Ozbilis received
Armenian citizenship and became a player of theArmenia national
football team. Ozbiliz was given from the President of the Football
Federation of Armenia Ruben Hayrapetyan an Armenia team T-shirt with
the number 23.
On 29 February 2012, Aras debuted for the national team of Armenia
during a friendly match with Canada and scored a goal in that same
match.
From: A. Papazian
http://armenpress.am/eng/news/736762/%C3%B6zbiliz-surname-tells-story-of-armenian-genocide-survivor.html