Alexandros Tabakis ( gr, Αλέξανδρος Ταμπάκης; born 8 December 1992), also known as Alex Tambakis, is a Greek professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for USL Championship side New Mexico United.

Career

He started playing football for Takis Oikonomopoulos's academy, in

Artemida, Attica Artemida ( el, Αρτέμιδα, until 1977 ''Loutsa'', el, Λούτσα) is an Eastern suburb of Athens. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Spata-Artemida, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit ha ...

, from there, he moved to

Paiania (training ground) The Paiania training ground is a training ground and Football academy, academy base, used by the Greece, Greek football (soccer), football club Panathinaikos FC. It was officially opened on June 19, 1981. Leoforos.gr Located in Paiania and c ...

to be a member of Panathinaikos's youth academies. He promoted to the first team on July 1, 2011 signing a contract which keeps him in Panathinaikos until 2016. He made his debut as a player of the first team on April 23, 2012 at a 4-0 win against

Panetolikos F.C. Panetolikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Παναιτωλικός), or with its full name Panetolikós Yimnastikós Filekpedeftikós Síllogos ( el, Παναιτωλικός Γυμναστικός Φιλεκπαιδευτικός Σύλλογος'' ...

, replacing Kotsolis on the 86th minute of the game. On February 2, 2015, Tabakis was loaned to

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

side

VVV-Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following ...

until the end of the season, but he did not make an appearance with the first team before returning. He made two appearances with the Under-21 side, and he was also named to the squad for Venlo's first-round

promotion playoff Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or ...

matches against

Oss OSS or Oss may refer to: Places * Oss, a city and municipality in the Netherlands * Osh Airport, IATA code OSS People with the name * Oss (surname), a surname Arts and entertainment * ''O.S.S.'' (film), a 1946 World War II spy film about ...

, ahead of Eric Verstappen. On January 25, 2016, Tambakis transferred from

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

to Atlanta United FC on a free transfer. He became the first player to be signed by the club, who were set to make their debut in the 2017 season. He was immediately sent on loan to third division with

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are one of the oldest continuously operating professiona ...

. Tambakis made 19 appearances for the Battery in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, as well as 2 in the postseason, keeping 6 clean sheets. Tambakis was loaned back out to Charleston ahead of the 2017 season, and was recalled multiple times by Atlanta throughout the season. Tambakis made his first teamsheet with Atlanta on March 18, listed ahead of Kyle Reynish as the reserve goalkeeper. On October 3, 2017, Tambakis made his MLS debut, coming on as a substitute for Reynish, who was sent off for denying

Minnesota United Minnesota United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that plays in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The club began play in 2017 as the league's 22nd club, and replaced the North American So ...

forward Abu Danladi a clear goal-scoring opportunity. Entering the game at a 1–0 deficit, Atlanta would score two goals before conceding two more in the 3–2 defeat. Tambakis was in the squad because first-choice goalkeeper Brad Guzan was away at international duty, and second-choice Alec Kann was out injured. After his option was declined following the 2017 season, Tambakis' rights were traded by Atlanta on December 10, 2017 to

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

along with Kenwyne Jones' rights and a 2021

MLS SuperDraft The MLS SuperDraft is an annual college draft for teams of Major League Soccer in the United States and Canada. It takes place in January and is used by teams to select players who have graduated from college or otherwise been signed by the le ...

pick in exchange for a second-round pick in the

2018 MLS SuperDraft The 2018 MLS SuperDraft was the nineteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. As customary, the SuperDraft was held in conjunction with the annual United Soccer Coaches convention. The 2018 UCS was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania be ...

, Kevin Oliveira, and Tyler Pasher. On March 2, 2018, Tambakis joined

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

side North Carolina FC. On March 11, 2021, Tambakis joined New Mexico United.

Career statistics

Honours

;Panathinaikos * Greek Cup:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

References

External links

*
Profile and statistics at Myplayer.grProfile at leoforos.gr (Greek)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabakis, Alexandros 1992 births Living people Greek expatriate men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Atlanta United FC players Charleston Battery players Niki Volos F.C. players Panathinaikos F.C. players VVV-Venlo players North Carolina FC players Super League Greece players Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States USL Championship players Major League Soccer players New Mexico United players Footballers from Athens Greek men's footballers