Lampros Choutos (sometimes Lambros; born 7 December 1979) 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
striker.
During his career, he played equal periods of time in his country and Italy.
Club career
Early years
Born in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, Choutos started his career with Asteras Polygonou, being discovered by scouts of
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 ...
. After only two years, he moved to Italy to finish his football grooming with
A.S. Roma
' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...
.
Professionals
Choutos' first stop as a senior was back in his country, loaned by Roma to
Olympiacos F.C.
Olympiacos Club of Fans of Piraeus ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σ.Φ.Π. ), known simply as Olympiacos or Olympiacos Piraeus, is a Greek professional football club based in Piraeus, Attica. Part of the major multi-sport club Olympiacos CFP ('' ...
after stellar performances during
the qualifying stages for the
2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
The 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 12th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Slovakia from 27 May to 4 June 2000. The tournament had 47 entrants. Northern Ireland competed for the f ...
, as he netted 15 goals in only ten matches. He gradually made his way into the first team under the direction of
Alberto Bigon
Alberto "Albertino" Bigon (born 31 October 1947) is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a midfielder or forward.
Playing career
Born in Padua, Bigon started his playing career for his native city team Padova. He made ...
, forming a productive attacking trio with
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
's
Zlatko Zahovič
Zlatko Zahovič (; born 1 February 1971) is a Slovenian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.
After making a name for himself in Europe in Portugal, most notably with Porto and Benfica where he amassed Primeira L ...
and
Giovanni Giovanni may refer to:
* Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname
* Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data
* ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...
from Brazil.
Although he suffered from an injured knee, Choutos managed to score decisive goals. He helped the
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 ...
club win the
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
,
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
and
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
Superleague championships before returning to Italy, with
Inter Milan
Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...
.
Choutos signed a three-year contract with Inter in summer 2004, but could never settle there, being constantly loaned to other minor sides in both the country and abroad (Spain's
RCD Mallorca
Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...
, where he quickly fell out of favour with manager
Héctor Cúper
Héctor Raúl Cúper (; born 16 November 1955) is an Argentine football manager and former player.
As a player, he was a defender who spent most of his career at Club Ferro Carril Oeste, where played 463 games. His nickname was "Cabezón" ("Big ...
). He made his competitive debut for the ''Nerazzurri'' on 9 November 2006, coming on as a 78th-minute
substitute for
Mariano González
Mariano Nicolás González (born 5 May 1981) is a retired Argentine professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or as a winger.
Club career
Born in Tandil, Buenos Aires Province, González started his career at Racing Club d ...
in a
Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...
clash against
F.C. Messina Peloro, which
took place more than two years after his arrival; he left at the end of
the campaign.
Choutos returned to his country in the 2007 off-season after signing with
Panionios FC, but was only eligible to start playing in the following January. He again began experiencing first-team football, and notably scored two of three at
Athens Olympic Sports Complex
The Olympic Athletic Center of Athens Spiros Louis ( el, Ολυμπιακό Αθλητικό Κέντρο Αθηνών "Σπύρος Λούης", ''Olympiakó Athlitikó Kéntro Athinón "Spýros Loúis"'') or OACA ()), is a sport facilities c ...
to help defeat hosts
AEK Athens F.C.
AEK FC ( el, ΠΑΕ A.E.K. ; Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; ''Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos'', meaning ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a Greek professional football club based in Nea Filade ...
and collect the ''
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 ...
'' award; he finished his half
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
with 12 goals, as his team finished in sixth position and participated in the second stage.
Choutos started
his second year in scoring fashion, netting twice against
OFK Beograd
OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club'') is a Serbian professional football club based in Belgrade, more precisely in Karaburma, ...
in the
UEFA Intertoto Cup
The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...
(
3–1 home win, 3–2 on aggregate). After a run-in with the club's assistant coach that supposedly turned physical, however, the player was forced to leave.
On 2 February 2009, Choutos signed a six-month contract with
PAOK FC
P.A.O.K. FC ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΟΚ, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινουπολιτών, '' Panthessaloníkios Athlitikós Ómilos Konstadinoupolitón'', "Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of ...
, appearing in eight scoreless matches. On 25 August he returned to Italy once again, joining lowly
A.S. Pescina Valle del Giovenco for two years; his contract was cancelled in July 2010, after the club was excluded from the
Italian football league system
The Italian football league system, also known as the Italian football pyramid, refers to the hierarchically interconnected league system for association football in Italy. It consists of nine national and regional tournaments, the first three b ...
due to financial issues.
International career
Courtesy of his solid
under-21 performances, Choutos soon made his debut for the
Greek full side, going on to win ten
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 Java ...
in four years. He was overlooked for the squads that appeared at both
UEFA 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 association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...
and
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
.
Personal life
Choutos origin is from the village Agioi Thedoroi,
Trikala
Trikala ( el, Τρίκαλα; rup, Trikolj) is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios. According to the Greek National Stati ...
.
Το σπίτι του Λάμπρου Χούτου στα Τρίκαλα larissanet.gr
/ref>
Honours
Olympiacos
*Superleague Greece
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 ...
: 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03
Inter
*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 ...
: 2006–07
*Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...
: 2004–05
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choutos, Lampros
1979 births
Living people
Footballers from Athens
Greek footballers
Association football forwards
Serie A players
Serie C players
A.S. Roma players
Inter Milan players
Atalanta B.C. players
Reggina 1914 players
Super League Greece players
Olympiacos F.C. players
Panionios F.C. players
PAOK FC players
La Liga players
RCD Mallorca players
Greece under-21 international footballers
Greece international footballers
Greek expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Greek expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Greek expatriate sportspeople in Spain