Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos (

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 ...

: Δημήτριος Ελευθερόπουλος; born 7 August 1976) is a Greek professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and former player, who is the current manager of

Super League 2 Stones Bitter Super League II was the official name for the year 1997's Super League championship season, the 103rd season of top-level professional rugby league football in Britain, and the second to be played in summer. Teams Twelve teams were ...

club

Niki Volos Niki Volou Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Νίκη Βόλου) is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Volos, in the region of Magnesia, Greece. The club currently competes in the Super League 2, the second tier of Greek football ...

Club career

Greece

Eleftheropoulos was born in

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

, and was an ardent supporter of major Greek 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 ...

, where he started playing as a goalkeeper at a very young age. Except for 1996, when he was loaned to

Proodeftiki Proodeftiki Football Club, also known as Proodeftiki Piraeus, simply as Proodeftiki, or with its full name as A.O. Proodeftiki Neolea ( el, Αθλητικός Όμιλος Προοδευτική Νεολαία, transliterated "Athlitikós Όmilo ...

, he played for Olympiakos from

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

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 ...

, winning seven championships in a row. He was the young third goalkeeper in 1997's Olympiacos roster behind

Foto Strakosha Fotaq "Foto" Strakosha (born 29 March 1965) is an Albanian retired goalkeeper and current goalkeeping coach of Lazio Youth. Strakosha is regarded as one of Albania's most popular and greatest goalkeepers. In his 20-years playing career he pla ...

and

Alekos Rantos Alekos Rantos ( el, Αλέκος Ράντος; born on 29 October 1966) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and he is currently the goalkeeping coach of Aris. Career Rantos won the Greek Superleague with Olympiak ...

but injuries and bad games from the previous two made coach

Dusan Bajevic Dusan may refer to: * Dušan, a Slavic given name * Dusan, a son of Ra's al Ghul * Stefan Dušan (1308–1355), emperor of Serbia See also *Doosan Group Doosan Group () is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation. In 2009, the cor ...

give him a chance. His astonishing performances, which included impossible saves and penalty stops eventually lifted Eleftheropoulos to the level of an idol earning the nickname of "The Eagle", being one of the masterpieces for Olympiakos championship after ten years of disappointments. He lost nearly all the 1998 season due to a severe knee injury, which was worsened by a badly treated

arthrosis Osteoarthritis (OA) is a type of degenerative joint disease that results from breakdown of joint cartilage and underlying bone which affects 1 in 7 adults in the United States. It is believed to be the fourth leading cause of disability in the w ...

that also affected his shoulder. This did not prevent a glorious comeback in the 1999

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 ...

, with Olympiacos advancing to the quarterfinals for the first time and being chosen as the best goalkeeper in the competition. On 23 October 2001, Eleftheropoulos made a sensational penalty save to

Ruud van Nistelrooy Rutgerus Johannes Martinus van Nistelrooij (anglicised to Van Nistelrooy; born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. He is currently the coach of PSV Eindhoven. A former footballer, Van Nistelrooy is often consi ...

in the 65th minute between

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and

for Champions League, in

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

. It was the only penalty missed by the Dutch international striker for that season. He is also remembered by some for being the goalkeeper present during the worst loss of any Greek team in the Champions League, when on 10 December 2003 Olympiakos lost to Juventus 7–0.

Italy

In 2004, Eleftheropoulos transferred to newly promoted

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 ...

side

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

, where, despite some great performances, he could not unseat

Marco Storari Marco Storari (born 7 January 1977) is an Italian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. After a lengthy spell in Italy's lower leagues, he arrived in Serie A aged 27. Steady performances for Messina prompted his signing by A.C. Milan i ...

in the starting eleven. In 2005, he was signed by

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. Even though, due to a series of subpar performances in friendlies against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

and Chicago Fire during a summer tour in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, coupled with Milan's heavy surplus of goalkeepers, he was sold to

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

where he remained game-less for the entire season. Eleftheropoulos signed for

Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region **Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...

for the '06–07 Championship and on 25 February 2007 he played his first Serie A match for Ascoli against

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

. On 11 June 2007, he was signed by A.C. Siena on free transfer, for a 2-year deal, where although beginning the season in the starting eleven, he finished as the substitute goalkeeper behind

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n international

Alex Manninger Alexander Manninger (born 4 June 1977) is an Austrian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played internationally for the Austria national team on 33 occasions, including at UEFA Euro 2008, and has represented football ...

. According to Siena's official website, on 28 May 2009, Eleftheropoulos decided to leave the club for family reasons.

Return to Greece

On 30 May 2009, Eleftheropoulos signed with

PAS Giannina PAS Giannina Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΣ Γιάννινα 1966), or with its full name Panepirotikos Athlitikos Syllogos Giannina ( el, Πανηπειρωτικός Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Γιάννινα, ''Panepirotic Athleti ...

br>
a team locally known as "Ajax of Epirus" which in the past had formed players like

Giourkas Seitaridis Georgios "Giourkas" Seitaridis ( ; born 4 June 1981) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a right-back and occasionally as a centre-back. He has last played in 2013 for Greek Superleague side Panathinaikos, having played previ ...

, that has promoted to the First Division. He started his new season becoming the most experienced player for his new club. Great saves during matches against

Kavala Kavala ( el, Καβάλα, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the Egnat ...

, his former team

and

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club based in Nea ...

contributed to achieve victory for

and himself to be elected as

Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

. Eleftheropoulos after 5 years reached again the semi-final of 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 ...

with his new club against

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 ...

. On 3 August 2010, Eleftheropoulos signed a contract with

Iraklis Gymnasticos Syllogos Iraklis ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Ηρακλής, en, Gymnastics Club Heracles), commonly referred to as Iraklis, is a Greek multi-sports club based in Thessaloniki. The club was founded in 1908 as "Mace ...

In the summer 2011, signed with

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'') ...

. He announced the end of his career on 21 December 2011.

International career

Eleftheropoulos got his first of twelve senior international caps for Greece in a friendly against Belgium in 1999. From these caps, three were in the

2002 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America ...

rounds for the European zone; where although having brilliant performances in both games against Germany, he was left aside from the national team after a strong cross with coach

Vassilis Daniil Vasilios Daniil ( el, Βασίλειος Δανιήλ; born 3 August 1938) is a Greece, Greek association football, football manager of national reputation. He managed Kavala F.C., Kavala, Kastoria F.C., Kastoria, Apollon Pontus F.C., Apollon Kal ...

. For the

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 ...

, coach

Otto Rehhagel Otto Rehhagel (; born 9 August 1938) is a German former football coach and player. Rehhagel is one of only two people who, as player and manager combined, has participated in over 1,000 Bundesliga matches (the other being Jupp Heynckes). In t ...

chose

Antonis Nikopolidis Antonis Nikopolidis ( el, Αντώνης Νικοπολίδης; born 14 January 1971) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and former manager of the Greece under-21 national team. He is regarded among the best ...

as his starting keeper and

Konstantinos Chalkias Konstantinos "Kostas" Chalkias ( el, Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Χαλκιάς; born 30 May 1974) is a retired Greek footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Previously he had played for Panathinaikos, Apollon Smyrni, Iraklis, Ports ...

and

Fanis Katergiannakis Fanis Katergiannakis ( el, Φάνης Κατεργιαννάκης, born 16 February 1974) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Ethnikos Pylaias Katergiannakis started his career in the young team f ...

as substitutes, leaving Eleftheropoulos out of the roster.

Style of play

In his prime, Eleftheropoulos was an agile and athletic goalkeeper with quick reflexes and tremendous shot-stopping skills, both in short and long-range shots. Furthermore, he was known for his brave and risky style, which he used effectively while rushing off his line in one on one situations. What is more, he was a skilled penalty-stopper, making crucial saves, especially in European matches (notably, against

in an

match in 2001). Despite being effective while playing in the goal, though, he faced several problems while handling crosses and his performances were negatively affected from time to time due to serious injuries.

Managerial career

Eleftheropoulos started his managerial career at Panionios. He most recently managed

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

side

Asteras Tripolis Asteras Tripolis Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Αστέρας Τρίπολης), commonly referred to as Asteras Tripolis (meaning "Star of Tripoli"), is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Tripoli in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greec ...

, as he was appointed to replace

Makis Chavos Makis Chavos ( el, Μάκης Χάβος; born 5 September 1969) is a Greek professional football manager and former player. Chavos is best remembered for his four-and-a-half-year spell with PAOK. During the later stages of his career, he pla ...

on 27 September 2016. For the third consecutive time he teamed up with his former club teammate

Stylianos Venetidis Stelios Venetidis ( el, Στέλιος Βενετίδης; born 19 November 1976 in Orestiada) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a defender. He used to play in the left-back position, but could be also used on the left sid ...

who served as assistant manager. His contract was terminated on 17 February 2017 by mutual consent, on grounds of successive poor results culminating to a 0-5 heavy home defeat against

Managerial statistics

Honours

Club

;

Greek Superleague 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 ...

: 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03 *

: 1998-1999 , Runner-up 2000-2001, 2001-2002

International

; Greece U21 *

UEFA Euro U21 The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

: Runner-up

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

References

;Notes ;Bibliography
Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos signed for Pas Giannina F.C.Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos signed for Pas Giannina F.C.Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos decided to leave A.C. SienaDimitrios Eleftheropoulos leave A.C. Siena

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eleftheropoulos, Dimitrios 1976 births Living people Footballers from Piraeus Greece international footballers Greece under-21 international footballers Olympiacos F.C. players A.C.R. Messina players A.C. Milan players A.S. Roma players Ascoli Calcio 1898 F.C. players A.C.N. Siena 1904 players Serie A players Expatriate footballers in Italy Association football goalkeepers Proodeftiki F.C. players PAS Giannina F.C. players Iraklis Thessaloniki F.C. players Greek expatriate footballers Greek expatriate sportspeople in Italy Super League Greece players Greek football managers Greek expatriate football managers Panionios F.C. managers AEK Larnaca FC managers Olympiacos Volos F.C. managers Veria F.C. managers Panserraikos F.C. managers Super League Greece managers Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Greek footballers