Michalis Kritikopoulos ( el, Μιχάλης Κρητικόπουλος; 3 January 1946 – 20 July 2002) was a Greek 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 striker.

Career

Born in

Kaisariani Kaisariani ( el, Καισαριανή) is a suburb and a municipality in the eastern part of the Athens agglomeration in Greece. Geography Kaisariani is located about southeast of Athens city centre, and of the Acropolis of Athens. The munic ...

, Kritikopoulosa began playing football as a striker for local side G.S. Kaisariani in 1962. In 1964, he joined

Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. Ethnikos Piraeus 1923 Football Club ( el, Εθνικός Πειραιώς 1923) is a Greek football club based in Piraeus and its parent sports club is Ethnikos OFPF. The club was officially formed in 1923 as ''Keravnos'' ( en, Lightning), but ...

, where he would play for nine seasons. In 1973, Kritikopoulosa joined

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 played until 1980, winning three

Alpha Ethniki 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 ...

and one

Greek Football 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 ...

titles. He finished his career with Apollon Athens F.C., retiring in 1981 at age 35. All told, Kritikopoulos scored 175 league goals making him one of the league's all-time leading goal-scorers. Kritikopoulos made 28 appearances and scored three goals for the Greece national team from 1969 to 1977. He made his debut in a friendly against Australia on 19 July 1969.

Personal life

In 2002, Kritikopoulos died from a cardiac arrest whilst playing in a friendly match for Olympiacos' veterans in

Andros Andros ( el, Άνδρος, ) is the northernmost island of the Greek Cyclades archipelago, about southeast of Euboea, and about north of Tinos. It is nearly long, and its greatest breadth is . It is for the most part mountainous, with many fr ...

. Ethnikos Asteras has since named its football stadium after Kritikopoulosa.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kritikopoulosa, Michalis 1946 births 2002 deaths Footballers from Athens Greek footballers Men's association football forwards Greece men's international footballers Panegialios F.C. players Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. players Olympiacos F.C. players Apollon Smyrnis F.C. players Super League Greece players