Giannis Samaras ( el, Γιάννης Σαμαράς; born 3 May 1961) is a Greek former

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

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 ...

during the 1980s and 1990s.

Club career

Samaras was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, 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 ...

parents who moved there at an early age. His father, Georgios, was a co-founder of

South Melbourne FC South Melbourne Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in suburb of Albert Park, in Melbourne, Victoria. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, with matches played at Lakeside Stadium ...

, an Australian soccer club with strong ties to the

community and is Australia's most successful Football side. He moved to Greece at the age of thirteen. His son, also named Georgios, recently retired from professional football. Ioannis began his football career in 1980 with

Vyzas F.C. Vyzas F.C. ( el, Α.Γ.Σ. Βύζας) is a Greek football club based in Megara, Greece. It was founded in 1928. History Vyzas Megaron was founded in 1928 by students and named after the ancient Megara hero Byzas. In 1960, the club was promote ...

, but before long he had attracted the attention of several bigger teams and he signed for

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 islan ...

in the summer of 1984. He went on to play over 100 matches for Crete before he left for

Panathinaikos FC Panathinaikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Παναθηναϊκός Α.Ο. ), known as Panathinaikos, or by its full name, and the name of its parent sports club, Panathinaikos A.O. or PAO (; ''Panathinaïkós Athlitikós Ómilos'', "All-Athenian ...

in January 1989. In 1991, Samaras returned to Crete, playing 103 games and retiring in 1996. In 1988, Samaras made a guest appearance for South Melbourne Hellas (30 years after his father helped establish the club) and scored a goal as South Melbourne defeated Sydney Olympic 2-1 at Middle Park. Samaras earned 16

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for the Greece national team between 1986 and 1990. He scored one goal, on his eighth cap, in a 4–2 friendly win over

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. Samaras was appointed on 26 July 2010 as the new Technical Manager for the

Panathinaikos F.C. Panathinaikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Παναθηναϊκός Α.Ο. ), known as Panathinaikos, or by its full name, and the name of its parent sports club, Panathinaikos A.O. or PAO (; ''Panathinaïkós Athlitikós Ómilos'', "All-Athenian ...

academies, replacing

Nikos Kovis Nikos Kovis (born 6 January 1953), known as Niko Kovi in Turkey, is a Turkish-Greek football player and manager. He was a central defender. He was born in Istanbul. Nikos Kovis was the Technical Director of the youth academies of Panathinaiko ...

. "Να ανέβουμε επίπεδο"
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International career

International goals

:''Scores and results list Greece's goal tally first.''

References

External links

*

at Aussie Footballers {{DEFAULTSORT:Samaras, Giannis 1961 births Living people Soccer players from Melbourne Australian people of Greek descent Greek footballers Greece international footballers OFI Crete F.C. players Panathinaikos F.C. players Vyzas F.C. players Super League Greece players Greek football managers OFI Crete F.C. managers AEK F.C. non-playing staff Panathinaikos F.C. non-playing staff Association football midfielders Naturalized citizens of Greece Australian soccer players Australian emigrants to Greece