Antonis Nikopolidis ( el, Αντώνης Νικοπολίδης; born 14 January 1971) is a Greek former 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 ...
who played 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 ...
, and former manager of the
Greece under-21 national team.
He is regarded among the best Greek goalkeepers of all time having been awarded the most caps in the
Greece national team and playing an integral part in the
UEFA Euro 2004
The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...
triumph.
Club career
Anagennisi Arta
Nikopolidis made his first steps at his local team of
Anagennisi Arta, from which he was transferred to
Panathinaikos in the summer of 1989.
Panathinaikos
He made his debut during the 1990–91 season in a match against his future club,
Olympiacos
Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...
. In his first years as a Panathinaikos player he was a back-up for
Józef Wandzik. In 1995, he played five games as Panathinaikos won the
championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
and three as they retained it the
following year. However, it wasn't until the 1997–98 season that he established himself as a regular goalkeeper at the age of 26. In the
2002 Champions league, he helped the club reach the quarter-finals but, in the
2003–04 season, he lost his place to
Konstantinos Chalkias when his contract negotiations broke down.
Panathinaikos offered him
€
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...
400K per year which, although a pay-rise, he thought was not in line with his contributions to the team over the past 15 years nor with his current market value. As he did not immediately accept the offer the management became suspicious and decided to relegate him to the bench for the rest of the 2003–04 season. The Greek sports media and Panathinaikos fans at first took his side in the conflict and criticised president Vardinogiannis.
Just before
UEFA Euro 2004
The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...
, rumours were circulating that Nikopolidis had been approached by arch-rivals Olympiacos. It was discovered later that he had signed an agreement just before the tournament begun earning him
€
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...
600K per year for three years. After that, the fans' disappointment in him was displayed during the celebrations following the team's 2003–04 season double when Nikopolidis, while raising the trophy, was booed by the majority of the crowd.
Olympiacos
Soon after being instrumental in
UEFA Euro 2004
The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...
helping
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
to lift the trophy, Nikopolidis joined Olympiacos, making an immediate impact for his once rival team. Keeping a clean sheet in the first derby against his former club in the process, he went on to win two
Doubles in a row, making him the only Greek player to win three consecutive doubles with two different clubs.
At his new team, Nikopolidis also earned a reputation for making game-winning saves in the most important games. Displaying his
penalty
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
Sports
* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
A p ...
-saving abilities, Nikopolidis saved three penalty kicks against
Roma,
Real Madrid, and
Rosenborg BK, making him undefeated from the penalty spot in UEFA Champions League football in the Olympiacos shirt. In the
2007–08 season, he also equaled the Greek league record for the most penalty kicks saved in one season, which included saves against
PAOK and former club Panathinaikos. Nikopolidis announced his plans to retire at the end of the 2009–10 season.
However, he took back his decision to stop his career after
Sokratis Kokkalis
Sokratis Kokkalis (Greek: Σωκράτης Κόκκαλης; 1939) is a Greek businessman. His father, Petros Kokkalis, was a communist politician and Greek Resistance member, living in exile in East Germany after the end of the Greek Civil W ...
's insistence. The veteran goalkeeper stated that he would delay his retirement for one more year, to retire as champion. He signed an extension on 16 June that would keep him at Olympiacos for the 2010–11 season.
He also took part in the international match "8th Match Against Poverty", on 14 December 2010, in
Karaiskakis Stadium
The Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium ( el, Στάδιο Γεώργιος Καραϊσκάκης), commonly referred to as the Karaiskakis Stadium ( el, Στάδιο Καραϊσκάκη, ), is a football stadium in Piraeus, Attica, Greece, and the ...
in Greece, as the UNDP team's goalkeeper.
In January 2011, IFFHS released a list with the best goalkeepers of the first decade, and Nikopolidis was in. He was also listed as one of the best goalkeepers of the years 1987 to 2011.
On 20 March 2011, Olympiacos won the championship in a 6–0 win against rivals
AEK Athens F.C.
AEK FC ( el, ΠΑΕ A.E.K. ; Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; ''Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos'', meaning ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a Greek professional football club based in Nea Filade ...
, in Karaiskakis Stadium.
He made his final appearance on 17 April 2011 in a home 6–0 victory against
Larissa F.C. in Karaiskakis Stadium. As a final curtain call, he was replaced by
Balázs Megyeri in the last minutes, so he could wave goodbye to the Olympiacos fans.
As the Olympiacos captain, he was the player to accept the championship trophy, after the match.
International career
Nikopolidis made his debut for the
Greece national football team
The Greece national football team ( el, Εθνική Ελλάδας, ) represents Greece in men's international football matches and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. Greece play most ...
on 18 August 1999 against
El Salvador.
He played in the qualifying rounds of the
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...
and Euro 2004 where he excelled as Greece qualified for the finals. Nikopolidis was one of the cornerstones of the Greek win in Portugal, where he kept three clean sheets in the knockout stages. He was also voted goalkeeper of the Euro 2004 All Star team.
On 15 June 2008, Nikopolidis announced his retirement from international football after Euro 2008, claiming that he had made this decision before the tournament started, and also stating that it is about time for a major change in the Greek national squad.
Managerial career
After retirement, Nikopolidis became the assistant manager of
Olympiacos
Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...
in 2012.
He was promoted to manager in January 2013 on an interim basis following the dismissal of
Leonardo Jardim
José Leonardo Nunes Alves Sousa Jardim (; born 1 August 1974) is a Portuguese football manager, currently in charge of Emirati club Shabab Al Ahli.
He started working at the professional level at the age of 35, initially with Camacha and Cha ...
. After the arrival of
Míchel, he remained in the team as his assistant.
After the end of
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
season, Nikopolidis left Olympiacos in order to start his career as a head coach.
On 1 October 2015, he was named as manager of the
Greece national under-21 football team
The Greece national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Greece and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. The team competes in the European Under-21 Football Ch ...
.
Style of play
Despite not being particularly tall or agile, his excellent positional sense made him an effective shot-stopper and his ability to read and understand the game helped him rush quickly off his line in order to face one on one situations or act as a
sweeper-keeper.
Career statistics
Club
International
Managerial statistics
Honours
Player
Panathinaikos
*
Super League Greece:
1989–90,
1990–91
Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...
,
1994–95,
1995–96,
2003–04
*
Greek Cup
The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation.
The Greek Cup is the second most ...
:
1990–91
Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...
,
1992–93
Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...
,
1993–94,
1994–95,
2003–04
*
Greek Super Cup
The Greek Super Cup ( el, Σούπερ Καπ Ελλάδος), officially known as the Cup of Friendship and Solidarity ( el, Κύπελλο Φιλίας και Αλληλεγγύης) was a Greek association football one-match competition which w ...
: 1993, 1994
Olympiacos
*Super League Greece:
2004–05,
2005–06,
2006–07,
2007–08,
2008–09,
2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...
*Greek Cup:
2004–05,
2005–06,
2007–08,
2008–09
*Greek Super Cup: 2007
Greece
*
UEFA European Football Championship
The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...
:
2004
Individual
*
Greek Best Goalkeeper (8): 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008–09 (Record)
*
UEFA European Football Championship Team of the Tournament Member:
2004
Managerial
As assistant coach
*
Greek Championship
The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...
: 2013
*
Greek Cup
The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation.
The Greek Cup is the second most ...
: 2013
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikopolidis, Antonios
1971 births
Living people
Footballers from Arta, Greece
Association football goalkeepers
Anagennisi Arta F.C. players
Greek footballers
Olympiacos F.C. players
Panathinaikos F.C. players
UEFA Euro 2004 players
2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players
UEFA Euro 2008 players
UEFA European Championship-winning players
Greece international footballers
Super League Greece players