Alexandros Tziolis ( el, Αλέξανδρος Τζιόλης; born 13 February 1985) 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 le ...

who played 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 ...

. He was a Greek international from 2005 until his international retirement in 2018. He won 75 caps, scoring twice. He appeared in two World Cups (2010, 2014) and

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

Club career

Panionios

Tziolis began his playing career as a teenager in a local team called Apollon

Litochoro Litochoro ( el, Λιτόχωρο, ''Litóchoro''; Katharevousa: Λιτόχωρον) is a town and a former municipality in the southern part of the Pieria regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it has been part of the Dio-O ...

u. He played there for about seven years and in 1995, a

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...

scouter spotted his talent and brought him to

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. He was an integral part of Panionios team for three seasons, playing 61 matches and scoring three goals. As a result,

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 ...

offered Panionios €650,000 and signed him.

Panathinaikos

Tziolis initially established himself as a first-team player for

ahead of Igor Biscan during the 2006–07 season. In April 2007, he scored a goal helping his club break

Skoda Xanthi Xanthi Football Club ( el, Α.Ο. Ξάνθη Π.Α.Ε.) is a Greek professional football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace and plays at Xanthi FC Arena. The club resigned from the Super League 2 due to financial issues. Founded in 1967, Xan ...

's unbeaten home run in the

Superleague Greece 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 ...

and secure a place in the

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 im ...

final against

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

. By the end of 2007–08 season Tziolis was close to his exit from Panathinaikos but new manager

Henk Ten Cate Hendrik Willem ten Cate (born 9 December 1954) is a Dutch football manager and former professional player. In the 2005–06 season, he was assistant to Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona when the team won the UEFA Champions League and La Liga titles. ...

chose to keep him. After being mostly left out of the starting lineup in the beginning of 2008–09 season, he was included in the team in November and was voted "Man of the Match" in a 3–0 win in Germany against

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 ...

in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, where he scored the third goal for Panathinaikos. He went on to again established himself, linking well with teammates

Gilberto Silva Gilberto Aparecido da Silva (; born 7 October 1976) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder most notably for English Premier League club Arsenal, Super League club Panathinaikos F.C., Clube Atlétic ...

and Simao Mate Junior. In his time at Panathinaikos, he made in all his competitions 113 appearances (six goals, eight assists) with the club.

Loan to Werder Bremen

On 7 January 2009, joined

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 ...

side

on a half-season loan, for a fee of €300,000. Werder Bremen secured the right to sign him permanently for a fee of €1.6 million. Tziolis played a regular role in Bremen's midfield and helped the club to make the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

final against Shaktar Donetsk, on 20 May 2009. In the final, he came on as a substitute for

Peter Niemeyer Peter Niemeyer (born 22 November 1983) is a German football manager, executive, and former player. He serves as the sporting director of Preußen Münster. During his playing career, he mainly featured as a defensive midfielder, he also operated ...

in the 103rd minute. After having nearly scored the equalizing goal when Bremen were a goal behind, the team lost the final of the last UEFA Cup edition to Shaktar with a final score of 2–1. Tziolis also featured in Bremen's 1–0 victory over

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 ...

in the

German Cup 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 considered ...

final the same season, where Tziolis won his first ever trophy in professional football.

AC Siena

On 29 January 2010,

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club

AC Siena Associazione Calcio Robur Siena 1904, commonly referred to as Siena, is an Italian football club based in Siena, Tuscany. The club was re-incorporated in 2020 after the bankruptcy of the previous legal entity Robur Siena, which itself was the r ...

, coached by former

coach

Alberto Malesani Alberto Malesani (; born 5 June 1954) is an Italian football manager and former player. As a manager, he is mostly remembered for his successful spell with Parma during the late 1990s, where he won the Coppa Italia, the UEFA Cup, and the Superc ...

, signed Tziolis for a fee of €1.4 million. He made his debut in the league on 7 February 2010 against

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

. Tziolis was a regular for Siena, while the team was relegated to the

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

Loan to Racing Santander

In August 2010, Tziolis moved to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

side

Racing Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league syste ...

on a one-year loan deal. In October 2010, he suffered a leg break in the 1–0 defeat of

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

announced that recuperation would be between four and six months. After a successful league campaign in the second half of the season Racing Santander signed him permanently from Siena for an undisclosed fee.

Monaco

In January 2012, Tziolis joined

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Fre ...

for a reported transfer fee of €200,000.

Loan to APOEL

On 31 August 2012, Tziolis joined Cypriot side

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

on a season-long loan deal from

. During his loan spell at APOEL, he became a league champion for the first time in his career, appearing in all but two of the league matches and helping his team to win the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

PAOK

On 25 June 2013, Tziolis signed a three-year contract with Greek Superleague side PAOK. On 17 August, he made his league debut in a 3–0 home win against

Xanthi Xanthi ( el, Ξάνθη, ''Xánthi'', ) is a city in the region of Western Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Xanthi (regional unit), Xanthi regional unit of the modern regions of Greece, region of East Macedonia and Thrace. A ...

. On 22 December 2013, he scored his first goal with the club in a home victory against

Levadiakos Levadiakos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Λεβαδειακός) is a Greek professional football club that plays in the Super League Greece. Based in Livadeia, Greece, the club was promoted to the Alpha Ethniki, forerunner of the Super League, afte ...

. He was among the key players of PAOK in the first half of the 2013–14 season. In the winter transfer window he signed with

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

team

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the Kadir Has Stadium in red and yellow kits. The team has won one Turkish Cup in 2008 and also fini ...

with the stated intention of securing his selection for the Greece national team for the 2014 World Cup. At the beginning of 2014–15 season, Tziolis returned to PAOK and played 34 games in all competitions scoring one goal for the

. On 27 November 2015, Tziolis in the

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 ...

match against

Gabala FK Gabala Football Club ( az, Qəbələ Futbol Klubu ), also spelled Qabala, is an Azerbaijani association football club representing Qabala in the Azerbaijan Premier League since 2006. Gabala has been the runner up in the Premier League three times ...

achieved 400 appearances with all his clubs for all competitions. Tziolis' contract with PAOK would expire at the end of 2015–16 season, with the stipulation that it would have been automatically renewed if that season he had played at least 70% of team's matches. In December 2015 the club stated it wanted to keep the international midfielder for many years and that Tziolis had a first meeting with technical director

Frank Arnesen Frank Arnesen (born 30 September 1956) is a former Danish footballer and sporting director at Dutch football club Feyenoord. Arnesen was the Director of Football at English football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and was Sporting Director a ...

, to speak about the terms of a contract extension. On 19 August 2016, PAOK officially announced the 2016–17 season did not include the international midfielder. On 28 January 2017, it was announced that his contract with PAOK had been terminated. He left the club having made 111 appearances (four goals, five assists) in all competitions.

Loan to Kayserispor

On 31 January 2014, Tziolis signed a six-month loan contract with

with Kayserispor being given the option to sign him permanently for a fee of €1.5 million, Nine days later, he made his debut in the

in an away loss against Elazigspor.

Heart of Midlothian

On 30 January 2017, Tziollis joined

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

club, Heart of Midlothian on a six-month deal running to the end of the 2016–17 season. and made his Hearts debut in the 4–1 win against

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

. On 4 February 2017, Tziolis scored his first goal as

Ian Cathro Ian Cathro (born 11 July 1986) is a Scottish football coach, who is a first team coach at Al-Ittihad. He was previously an assistant coach at Rio Ave, Valencia, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur, and was briefly the head coach at Scottish P ...

's side beat 10-man

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

3–0 at

Fir Park Fir Park Stadium is a football stadium situated in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Premiership club Motherwell and was the temporary home of Gretna for the 2007–08 SPL season. Mo ...

. At the end of the season, he was released by the club.

Al-Fayha

On 4 August 2017, Tziolis signed a two-year contract with newly promoted

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

club

Al-Fayha FC Al Fayha FC () is a professional football club based in Al Majma'ah, that plays in the Saudi Professional League, the first tier of Saudi Football. It was founded in 1953. Al Fayha's colors are orange and blue, hence the nickname "Al-Burtuqali. ...

. On 23 November 2017, he scored his debut goal with the club in a 3–1 home win game against Al-Shabab FC. On 2 July 2019, Tziolis departed Al-Fayha after a two-year stay with the Saudi club.

did not offer Tziolis a new contract. The 34-year-old joined Al-Fayha in 2017 and made 58 appearances across all competitions with three registered goals and assists. On 30 August 2019, he terminated his contract with the club.

International career

After representing his country 13 times for the U21 side, Tziolis made his international debut for Greece on 21 January 2006 in a

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

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. He was included in the team that defending their

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

European championship. He played once, when he came on as a substitute in a 2-1 loss to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in the group-stage. He made four appearances in qualifying, including as a substitute in the play-off win away with

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. He was included in the squad for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

. He played every minute of the tournament for his country, including their debut World Cup win over

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

on 17 June 2010. He would be included in the team for two major events, but Greece coach Fernando Santos dropped Tziolis from his final 23-player squad for the

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

. Tziolis had a poor season and would not get a regular spot in the Monaco team, in

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

, while his performance in the last friendlies did little to change Santos's mind. Two years later, Tziolis exceptional season year in PAOK and

was his passport to be called by Santos for the World Cup 30-man provisional team, and the final 23-man squad for

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

Style of play

Tziolis is a tall defensive midfielder, good in air, with powerful long shots. He plays a "silent" role in the game, and he tends to occupy the role of a deep-lying playmaker more than a defensive stopper.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Greece's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Tziolis goal''.

Honours

Werder Bremen *

: 2008–09 *

: runner-up 2008–09 Panathinaikos *

: runner-up 2006–07 APOEL *

Cypriot League The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

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 ...

Individual * Greek Young Footballer of the year:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

References

External links

PAOK official profile

APOEL official profile

Racing Santander official profile
*

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tziolis, Alexandros 1985 births Living people Footballers from Katerini Greek footballers Association football midfielders Super League Greece players Panionios F.C. players Panathinaikos F.C. players PAOK FC players Bundesliga players SV Werder Bremen players Serie A players A.C.N. Siena 1904 players La Liga players Racing de Santander players Ligue 2 players AS Monaco FC players APOEL FC players Kayserispor footballers Süper Lig players Cypriot First Division players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Al-Fayha FC players Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Saudi Professional League players Scottish Professional Football League players Greece international footballers Greece under-21 international footballers UEFA Euro 2008 players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Greek expatriate footballers Greek expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Monaco Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Greek expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Greek expatriate sportspeople in Spain Greek expatriate sportspeople in Germany Greek expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Expatriate footballers in Scotland Greek expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Greek expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia