Ilias Poursanidis ( el, Ηλίας Πουρσανίδης; born 13 April 1972) 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 ...

. Poursanidis began his career with Athens-based club Chaidari F.C. His quality as a

made him a hot prospect across Greece, and he was eventually signed by Greek first division club

OFI Crete OFI may refer to: * Overseas Filipino Investors, Filipino expatriates who contribute to the economy of the Philippines through remittances, buying property, and creating businesses * OFI Crete, a Greek association football club based on the island ...

. At only 20, Poursanidis soon became a first team regular for the Cretan club, making over 100 appearances in the black and white shirt until he was eventually picked up by Greek champions

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 ...

. It would be with the red and whites where Poursanidis would experience the peak of his career. A key part in their long running Championship winning squad, Poursanidis won 6 championships as well as 1

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 ...

. Also experiencing

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 ...

football, Poursanidis became a fan favourite 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 ...

for his determination and love for the badge which he showed in over 100 appearances spanning 6 years at the club. Eventually making way for the younger

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian superstar Ze Elias, Poursanidis finished his career with a five-year spell at

Iraklis FC Gymnastic Club Iraklis Thessaloniki Football Club ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Ηρακλής Θεσσαλονίκης) is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece. As of 2022, t ...

. His final match took place on Sunday, 20 April 2008 against his former club Olympiacos at

Karaiskaki Stadium The Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium ( el, Στάδιο Γεώργιος Καραϊσκάκης), commonly referred to as the Karaiskakis Stadium ( el, Στάδιο Καραϊσκάκη, ), is a football stadium in Piraeus, Attica, Greece, and the h ...

. Subbed off near the end of the second half, Poursanidis left the field in tears as over 30,000 Olympiacos fans chanted his name along with a

standing ovation A standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim. In Ancient Rome returning military commanders (such as Marcus Licinius Crassus a ...

. Poursanidis earned his first call up to the Greece national team during his time at OFI Crete. He would eventually earn himself 22 caps, and become a key part of the

UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying Qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2000 final tournament, took place throughout 1998 and 1999. Forty-nine teams were divided into nine groups. All teams played against each other, within their groups, on a home-and-away basis. The winner of each group ...

squad that barely missed out on the final tournament.

Honours

Greek Championship 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 ...

: 1997–1998, 1998–1999, 1999–2000, 2000–2001, 2001–2002, 2002–2003 *

: 1998–1999

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poursanidis, Ilias 1972 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Greece men's international footballers Super League Greece players Olympiacos F.C. players OFI Crete F.C. players Iraklis F.C. (Thessaloniki) players Footballers from Athens Greek men's footballers