Giannis Maniatis ( el, Γιάννης Μανιάτης ; born 12 October 1986) 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
right back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
or 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 boundari ...
.
Club career
Panionios
Maniatis was first spotted as a 16-year-old playing for ''A.A. Arachova Parnassos'' in 2002. He quickly caught the eye of scouts while finishing his youth career while playing with
AO Thiva, and was then snapped up by
Panionios in late 2003. He made his debut for the 'Kyanerythri' in 2004 and has since become integral part of the first team. Made 27 league appearances − all but one in the starting lineup − in 2006/07, when the club finished fifth and qualified for Europe. Helped
Panionios into the group stage of the following season's
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 solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
after making his European debut in a 2–0 win at
FC Sochaux-Montbéliard in the first round. Scored his first Super League goal the following season, against
Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to:
People
* Aris (surname)
Given name
* Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer
* Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player
* Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano
* Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter
* Aris Howard, Former President of the Jama ...
on 18 October 2008, and held his place in the side for the next two years despite a succession of coaching changes.
He has attracted interest from the big Greek clubs,
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 Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...
,
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 ...
and
Panathinaikos. However, on 22 June 2009, Maniatis ended speculation over his future by signing a new four-year deal with Panionios.
Olympiacos
In January 2011, Olympiacos won the race for Maniatis' signature, ahead of AEK Athens who showed a strong interest in the player. Maniatis had been acquired as a right-back, where he would be a back-up to the first-choice in that position, team captain
Vasilis Torosidis
Vasilis Torosidis (Greek language, Greek: Βασίλης Τοροσίδης, born 10 June 1985) is a Greek former professional Association football, footballer who played as a right-back.
Club career
Skoda Xanthi
Torosidis made his senior debut ...
; however, later events would see Maniatis flourish in a new position. His versatility allowed him to play many games for Panionios as a defensive midfielder, a position he would cement himself in at Olympiacos. Olympiacos were plagued with injuries ahead of their
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 competi ...
encounter with
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
and coach
Ernesto Valverde
Ernesto Valverde Tejedor (born 9 February 1964) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of La Liga club Athletic Bilbao.
Over ten seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 264 games and 68 ...
decided to field Maniatis as a defensive midfielder in a tough away game of great importance. Maniatis put in a man-of-the-match performance and has since established himself as a key, first-choice player in midfield for Olympiacos. Maniatis has proven to be more effective in midfield than in what was thought to be his best position at right-back. He has proven to be a revelation at Olympiacos where he has shown great tackling skills, superb stamina and a surprisingly good passing range with impressive vision. Initially being moved into a defensive midfield position, Maniatis now plays as a box-to-box midfielder playing alongside a more established defensive midfielder. He began playing soccer for ''A.A. Arachova Parnassos'' in the lowest division of Greek professional soccer league. Maniatis has overcome a lot of obstacles during his professional career and once said: ''"I used to play in front of 10 people in the village of Arahova and a few years later I played in front of 40.000 fans in the Karaiskakis stadium".''
He scored his first goal at Olympiacos in a 4–0 home win against
Levadiakos. On 4 December 2012, he managed to score his first goal in the Champions League, in a 2–1 home win against
Arsenal.
In the 2014
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 ...
semi-final between
PAOK and
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 ...
, PAOK fans littering the Olympiacos substitutes' bench with anchovies, the match finished with three red cards and fighting between Olympiacos captain Giannis Maniatis and his teammate in 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 ...
,
Kostas Katsouranis
Kostas Katsouranis ( el, Κώστας Κατσουράνης; born 21 June 1979) is a Greek former international footballer. A versatile midfielder, who won the Super League Greek Footballer of the Year Award in 2005 and 2013, as well as the C ...
. The latter tried to prevent the former from taking a throw-in during the match (or something of the sort). The former, at the best of times, is a slightly ... volatile footballer. A month later in an interview for the 30-man provisional
2014 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 righ ...
squad
Kostas Katsouranis
Kostas Katsouranis ( el, Κώστας Κατσουράνης; born 21 June 1979) is a Greek former international footballer. A versatile midfielder, who won the Super League Greek Footballer of the Year Award in 2005 and 2013, as well as the C ...
admitted his mistake and said that the incident is in the past. ''"We talked too much about it. I think that was a mistake from many aspects. And as one of the captain, as second captain or at least one of the two older players in the team, since 2004, I think I have a great responsibility, I was wrong, I explained to Maniatis many times and he understood it and we'll continue as usual to reach our targets"'' he said.
It was one of the most stable and most valuable players of
Olympiakos during the last seasons, and in any case, the 27-year-old cashed his offer champions Greece with a new four-year contract which will tie him with the club till 2017. The 26-year-old has enjoyed a successful move to Piraeus, joining from
Panionios in 2011 and since then establishing himself as a key player and breaking into the national team. ''"I am proud that I am playing in this team, which is above all a family and I am happy that I will continue to wear red and white. I will give all of my strength to achieve the team's goals, to continue to achieve titles and success and especially to keep our fans proud and happy".'' Maniatis said.
Olympiakos's captain Giannis Maniatis on Friday extended his contract with the Greek champions by two years despite being ruled out for four months with a knee injury. The 28-year-old defensive midfielder's contract had been due to expire in the summer of 2017 but that has now been stretched to 2019 by the current
Super League leaders. Despite rumours which linked him with a move abroad in the past, Maniatis always had the desire to remain at
Olympiakos and he was more than happy to commit his future to the club for the next four years. Maniatis injured his knee in Olympiakos' midweek
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 ...
quarter-final second leg win over
AEK Athens which was abandoned in the 89th minute after a pitch invasion by AEK fans. He will be out of action for six months, according to the club's medical team. On 18 December 2015, almost nine months since his severe injury Maniatis, has fully recovered but he could not be able take playing time and according to Greek newspaper ''Fos'',
Olympiakos manager
Marco Silva
Marco Alexandre Saraiva da Silva (; born 12 July 1977) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a right-back, currently manager of club Fulham.
He played for a variety of Portuguese clubs, finishing his career with a six-year spell at ...
will possibly make roster cuts in January and he is in danger. The 29-year-old right back has attracted the interest of Italian and Russian clubs and that the Greek Champions want to let him go on loan until the summer 2016.
After a very difficult year for the midfielder absent through injury (302 days to be exact), Maniatis returned to action on 7 January 2016, in his first appearance in the
2015–16 season where he scored the last goal in a glorious 4–1 away win against
Chania
Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno and west of Heraklion.
The muni ...
for 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 ...
.
On the beginning of
2016–17 season, Maniatis has been informed that was not among the first priorities of the new manager
Paulo Bento
Paulo Jorge Gomes Bento (; born 20 June 1969) is a Portuguese football manager and former player.
A defensive midfielder with tackling ability and workrate as his main assets, he played for two of the major three teams in his country, amassin ...
plans. On 1 September 2016, Maniatis was excluded from Olympiakos's
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. ...
squad. On 21 September 2016, Maniatis returned to training however he is still not considered among
Paulo Bento
Paulo Jorge Gomes Bento (; born 20 June 1969) is a Portuguese football manager and former player.
A defensive midfielder with tackling ability and workrate as his main assets, he played for two of the major three teams in his country, amassin ...
's plans. Olympiakos tried to offload Maniatis over the summer but the Greek midfielder did not manage to find a club abroad. After a frustrating six months period for the
2016–17 season, the experienced defensive midfielder and captain of
Olympiakos is expected to leave the club in January, to continue his career elsewhere, as was not in the plans of
Paulo Bento
Paulo Jorge Gomes Bento (; born 20 June 1969) is a Portuguese football manager and former player.
A defensive midfielder with tackling ability and workrate as his main assets, he played for two of the major three teams in his country, amassin ...
. Still, the 30-year-old international does not seem so intended to join
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") ...
, which have expressed their interest in signing him on loan until the end of 2016–17 season. On 3 February 2017, after a frustrating first half season,
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 ...
officially announced the mutual termination of experienced central midfielder and captain of the club contract.
Loan to Standard Liège
On 1 February 2016, he signed a six months contract with
Standard Liège
Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège.
They are one of the most ...
on loan from
Olympiakos.
Olympiakos have put a minimum clause fee in the loan move of Maniatis to
Standard Liège
Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège.
They are one of the most ...
. Standard Liège completed the loan move of Olympiakos skipper on the transfer deadline day in a loan fee of €250,000. Olympiakos have included a clause Maniatis contract if the Belgian club wishes to make the move permanent over the summer. The clause is believed to be in the region of €2 million. On 7 February 2016, he made his debut in
Belgian Pro League
The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 tea ...
with a club as a starter in a 1–1 home draw against
Sint-Truidense V.V.
Koninklijke Sint-Truidense Voetbalvereniging (), commonly known as Sint-Truiden or STVV () or by their nickname De Kanaries (, is a Belgian professional football club located in the city of Sint-Truiden in Limburg. Sint-Truiden plays in the Belg ...
On 10 April 2016, he scored his first goal with the club in a 1–1 home draw against
Kortrijk
Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders.
It is the capital and large ...
.
Atromitos
Maniatis was not in Olympiakos' head coach
Paulo Bento
Paulo Jorge Gomes Bento (; born 20 June 1969) is a Portuguese football manager and former player.
A defensive midfielder with tackling ability and workrate as his main assets, he played for two of the major three teams in his country, amassin ...
's plans for the 2016–2017 season and after failing to make a single appearance throughout the first half, his contract was mutually terminated in February 2017. Shortly after he signed for the west Athenian club
Atromitos on a free transfer for the remainder of the season, with an optional extension clause until June 2018. On 12 May 2017, the experienced central midfielder will not continue his career at Atromitos.
Alanyaspor
On 29 June 2017, Maniatis signed a 2-year contract with Turkish
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 ...
club
Alanyaspor
Alanyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Alanya in Antalya Province. Formed in 1948, the club colours are orange and green. Home matches are played at Kırbıyık Holding Stadium. The most recent club ma ...
for an undisclosed fee. Maniatis argued, in his official club presentation, that he was happy to have come to Alanyaspor and he said, ''"I will do what is best in the direction of our goals, I hope that I will be useful to Alanyaspor"''. In the Turkish club, he will meet again with his teammate at
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 ...
,
Georgios Tzavellas
Georgios Tzavellas ( el, Γεώργιος Τζαβέλλας; born 26 November 1987) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Super League club AEK Athens and the Greece national team.
Club career Kerkyra
Tzavellas bega ...
. Since the beginning of January 2018, he was suffered an injury being unable to help his club in the effort to stay in
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 ...
. On 8 April 2018, he returned to the squad in a 3–1 home win game against
Akhisarspor. On 1 September 2018, he scored his first goal with the club after
Efecan Karaca's assist sealing a 1–0 home win game against
Göztepe S.K.
Göztepe Spor Kulübü (, Göztepe Sports Club), also known as Göztepe, is a Turkish sports club based in the Göztepe and Güzelyalı neighborhoods of İzmir. The "AŞ" refers to ''incorporated company'', as besides football, the club also ...
Return to Panionios
On 8 February 2019, after eight years away, Giannis Maniatis returned to Panionios, signing a contract with the Nea Smyrni club after being released from
Alanyaspor
Alanyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Alanya in Antalya Province. Formed in 1948, the club colours are orange and green. Home matches are played at Kırbıyık Holding Stadium. The most recent club ma ...
over the winter transfer window. On 29 June 2019, Panionios announced the renewal of the contract with Maniatis until the summer of 2021 with an undisclosed fee. On 13 November 2019, after a rather mediocre for the player season, in addition to an episode with team manager
Nikodimos Papavasiliou, resulted in mutual termination of his contract.
International career
After his impressive performances at
Panionios, Maniatis was called up to 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 11 August 2010 by
Fernando Santos to face
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
where he made his debut coming on as a substitute in Greece's 0–1 away win. Maniatis made his second cap for Greece in a
UEFA Euro 2012
The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...
qualifier against
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. Played all four games of Greece's
UEFA EURO 2012
The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...
campaign, which ended at the hands of Germany in the quarter-finals.
Maniatis exceptional season year with
Olympiakos was his passport not only to be called by Santos to the 30-man provisional World Cup squad, but also to the final 23-man squad for
2014 FIFA World Cup.
After the 3–0 defeat from
Colombia in the opening game of
FIFA World Cup 2014
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 righ ...
, Maniatis lashed out at fellow defender
Georgios Tzavellas
Georgios Tzavellas ( el, Γεώργιος Τζαβέλλας; born 26 November 1987) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Super League club AEK Athens and the Greece national team.
Club career Kerkyra
Tzavellas bega ...
over the quality of crosses the
PAOK defender was delivering at training, and the former reportedly booked a flight home to Greece after storming off the training pitch. There was a heated exchange between the pair. The Greece midfielder was so enraged after a training ground spat that he booked a himself on a flight back to Athens before being persuaded not to walk out on
Fernando Santos's squad.
Maniatis scored his debut international goal for Greece on 7 June 2016, with a spectacular 60-metre strike against
Australia in an eventual 2–1 win.
International goals
:''As of match played 7 June 2016. Greece score listed first, score column indicates score after each Maniatis goal.''
Career statistics
:A. Includes appearances 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 competi ...
,
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. ...
and
UEFA Intertoto Cup.
Honours
Olympiacos
*
Super League Greece:
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. ...
,
2011–12,
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 ...
,
2013–14,
2014–15,
2015–16
*
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 ...
:
2011–12,
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 ...
,
2014–15
Standard Liège
*
Belgian Cup
The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...
: 2015–16 Belgian Cup, 2015–16
References
External links
Official Panionios profileGuardian Football
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maniatis, Giannis
1986 births
Living people
Men's association football fullbacks
Greek footballers
Greek expatriate footballers
Footballers from Livadeia
Super League Greece players
Belgian Pro League players
Süper Lig players
Panionios F.C. players
Olympiacos F.C. players
Atromitos F.C. players
Standard Liège players
Alanyaspor footballers
Greece men's under-21 international footballers
Greece men's international footballers
UEFA Euro 2012 players
2014 FIFA World Cup players
Expatriate footballers in Belgium
Expatriate footballers in Turkey