Thanos Petsos ( el, Θάνος Πέτσος; born 5 June 1991) 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

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

Early career

Petsos started his football career at the age of eight for Düsseldorf 99 SC. In 2001, he was lured away to professional club

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, th ...

. He progressed through the youth system and was part of the team that finished runner-up in the

Under 19 Bundesliga The Under 19 Bundesliga (German: ''A-Junioren Bundesliga'') is the highest level in German Under 19 football. It was created in 2003 and is divided in three divisions (Nord/Nordost, West und Süd/Südwest) with 14 teams each. The winner of each d ...

in 2010. He made his debut for the Leverkusen reserve team in March 2010. He made seven more appearances in the 2009–10 season while continuing to play for the under-19 team. He made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

debut on 24 April 2010 against

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betwe ...

. With a Leverkusen contract running until 2014, Petsos was loaned out to 1. FC Kaiserslautern for one season in 2010. He made his full

debut for the club on 13 November 2010 against

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB Stu ...

being played as a right back. In April 2011, it was announced his loan to Kaiserslautern would be extended for the following 2011–2012 season. He made a total of 42 appearances for the club.

Greuther Fürth

In 2012, Petsos signed for newly promoted

SpVgg Greuther Fürth Spielvereinigung Greuther Fürth (), commonly known as Greuther Fürth (), is a German football club based in Fürth, Bavaria. They play in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of the German football league system, following relegation from the B ...

on a three-year deal. He made his debut for the club on 18 August 2012 in a

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

match against

Kickers Offenbach Offenbacher Kickers, also known as Kickers Offenbach, is a German association football club in Offenbach am Main, Hesse. The club was founded on 27 May 1901 in the Rheinischer Hof restaurant by footballers who had left established local clubs in ...

, he then went on to make his

debut on 31 August 2012 against

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

. He went on to make a total of 15 appearances for the club.

Rapid Wien

On 15 July 2013, Petsos joined

Austrian Bundesliga The Austrian Football Bundesliga (german: Österreichische Fußball-Bundesliga, italic=no , "Austrian Football Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Austrian football league system. Th ...

club

Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid Wien (), commonly known as Rapid Vienna, is an Austrian football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the first title in the season 1911–12, ...

on a three-year agreement. He made his debut for the club on 27 July 2013 against

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; ; Central Bavarian: ''Weana Neistod'') is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land Distr ...

. On 3 May 2015, in a 2–2 draw away to

SK Sturm Graz Sportklub Sturm Graz is an Austrian association football club, based in Graz, Styria, playing in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The club was founded in 1909. Its colours are black and white. In its history, Sturm Graz has won the Austria ...

he scored for 2–1 with a hard long-range shot. On 4 August 2015, he greatly contributed to 3–2 away win with a strong performance in the third qualifying round of the

2015–16 UEFA Champions League The 2015–16 UEFA Champions League was the 61st season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 24th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Barcelona were t ...

against

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

. In early September, he suffered an injury during training with the Greece national team keeping him out of action for several weeks. Rapid in October stated their intention to extend Petsos' contract after he had been one of the team's best players during its strong start to the season. On 18 October 2015 he returned to the team, starting in an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

championship game against

Wolfsberger AC Wolfsberger AC, commonly referred to as Wolfsberg or simply WAC, is an Austrian association football club from Wolfsberg, Carinthia, who currently play in the Austrian Bundesliga. Between the 2007–08 and 2011–12 seasons, Wolfsberger AC enter ...

, but suffered an injury in the first quarter of the match. On 22 October 2015 in a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

3–2 home game against

Plzeň Plzeň (; German and English: Pilsen, in German ) is a city in the Czech Republic. About west of Prague in western Bohemia, it is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 169,000 inhabita ...

, he scored a long-range goal, giving his club a lead of two goals. In January 2016, he announced he would not accept Rapid's offer to renew his contract which was set to expire in summer 2016 and would instead leave the Austrian club after three years. He left the club having 101 appearances (7 goals, 6 assists) in all competitions.

Werder Bremen

A few days later Petsos signed a contract until summer 2019 with German club

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...

. On 11 September 2016, he made his debut with the club as a substitute in a 2–1 home loss against

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

. On 2 January 2017, besides his new contract,

announced that Petsos and

Janek Sternberg Janek Sternberg (born 19 October 1992) is a German professional footballer who most recently played as a left-back for Hallescher FC. Club career Sternberg joined Werder Bremen in 2013 from Hamburger SV. After initially playing matches with We ...

would be able to train in the U23. ''"With the commitment of

Thomas Delaney Thomas Joseph Delaney (born 3 September 1991) is a Danish professional footballer, who plays as a defensive midfielder for German club 1899 Hoffenheim, on loan from the La Liga club Sevilla, and the Denmark national team. Delaney began his c ...

and the return of

Florian Grillitsch Florian Grillitsch (born 7 August 1995) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or centre back for Bundesliga club TSG Hoffenheim and the Austria national team. Career Early career Born in Neunkirchen, Austria ...

, the competition for Thanos has become even bigger,"'' said Managing Director Frank Baumann. ''"And Janek had a very limited amount of play in the preliminary round, and his situation is unlikely to change in the previous round, so they are now on the right track at U-23."'' Petsos fell out of favor with

Alexander Nouri Alexander Nouri ( fa, آلکساندر نوری, ; born 20 August 1979) is a German former footballer and manager. He played professionally for 14 years with Werder Bremen, Seattle Sounders, KFC Uerdingen, VfL Osnabrück, Holstein Kiel and VfB Ol ...

, not least because of his critical comments about the coach. Nouri had announced that he would like to take up a maximum of 25 field players to work intensively. Having returned from his loan to Rapid Wien in summer 2018, Petsos spent the last year of his contract outside of the squad.

Loan to Fulham

Petsos joined

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

on loan until the end of the 2016–17 season on 26 January 2017. Three days later, he made his Fulham debut as a substitute in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

tie against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

Loan to Rapid Wien

On 30 August 2017, Petsos returned to former club

, joining on loan for the 2017–18 season. Rapid Wien secured an option to sign him permanently from Werder Bremen.

WSG Swarovski Tirol

In January 2020, after being out of contract for half a year, Petsos joined

WSG Swarovski Tirol Wattener Sportgemeinschaft Tirol (), commonly known as WSG Tirol, is a professional association football club based in the town of Wattens, Tyrol, Austria, that competes in the Austrian Football Bundesliga, the top tier of the Austrian footba ...

, last in the

table.

Riga

In February 2022, despite his contract with Tirol, Petsos will continue his career in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, for an undisclosed fee.

International career

Petsos decided to represent the country of his origin Greece from youth level. He has played for the under-17 team, the under-19 team and the under-21 team. On 5 August 2011, he was called up to the senior team for the first time by manager Fernando Santos for the

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, and three days later he made his international debut. After almost four years, on 3 September 2015, he was called up from manager

Kostas Tsanas Kostas Tsanas ( el, Κώστας Τσάνας; born 22 August 1967) is a Greek former professional football (soccer), footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the current technical director of the Hellenic Football Federation. Career He began ...

for the Euro 2016 qualifier matches against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, but was injured in a training session of the national team. Following examination at the hospital, it was found he had suffered a partial rupture of the medial collateral ligament forcing him to be out of action for a month and to miss two matches of the national team, according to the Greek medical team.

Style of play

Petsos is both an elegant, and technically strong player and on the other hand a real fighter. The Düsseldorf-born player feels more secured in the field on the position of the central defensive midfielder, but in Germany he played sometimes even as a right-back or even a centre-back. The most striking feature in Petsos' game is his excellent shooting technique.

Honours

Riga FC *

Latvian Higher League Latvian Higher League or Virslīga is a professional football league and the top tier of association football in Latvia. Organised by the Latvian Football Federation, the Higher League is contested by 10 clubs. The full name of the league is Op ...

: Runner-up

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Bayer 04 Leverkusen *

: Runner-up

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. I ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Petsos, Athanasios 1991 births Living people Footballers from Düsseldorf German people of Greek descent Sportspeople of Greek descent Men's association football midfielders Greek men's footballers Greek expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Greece men's international footballers Bayer 04 Leverkusen II players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players 1. FC Kaiserslautern II players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players SpVgg Greuther Fürth players SK Rapid Wien players SV Werder Bremen players Fulham F.C. players WSG Tirol players Bundesliga players English Football League players German men's footballers Riga FC players Latvian Higher League players Expatriate men's footballers in Latvia Greek expatriate sportspeople in Latvia