Christos "Chris" Kalantzis (born 27 July 1967) is an Australian former soccer player who played at the highest level of domestic football in Greece and Australia. He played at international level for Australia.

Playing career

Club career

Born in Sydney to

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

immigrants. His father came from the village of Loukas in

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

region of the Peloponnese, Greece and his mother came from the village of Managouli in

Aetolia-Acarnania Aetolia-Acarnania ( el, Αιτωλοακαρνανία, ''Aitoloakarnanía'', ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the geographic region of Central Greece and the administrative region of West Greece. A combination of the histor ...

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 ...

, he began his career with Sydney Olympic, First Grade, at the age of 15. He was then signed by the

team

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 ...

, where he played for five years.

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 ...

, a rival Greek club, then signed him. On his debut against his former team he scored with his famous bicycle kick from outside the box. He played for Olympiacos another five years before returning to Sydney Olympic to finish his career, playing two years before retiring.

International career

Kalantzis played seven matches in full international matches for Australia.

Post-football career

In February 2011,

announced the establishment of its first Olympiacos Academy outside of Greece in Sydney, Australia.Olympiakos keen on local talent
neokosmos.com. 13 February 2011. The Australian academy is managed by Kalantzis and Kyriakos Tohouroglou, both former Olympiacos players.

Honours

*National Soccer League Cup Winners: 1983, 1985 * A' Ethniki: 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 ...

, 1996–97 *

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 ...

: 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993

References

External links

Chris Kalantzis Interview

1967 births Living people Australian soccer players Australian people of Greek descent Australian expatriate soccer players Australia international soccer players Australia B international soccer players Super League Greece players Olympiacos F.C. players Panathinaikos F.C. players Sydney Olympic FC players National Soccer League (Australia) players Association football midfielders Naturalized citizens of Greece Soccer players from Sydney {{Australia-footy-midfielder-stub