Dimitris "Mimis" Domazos ( el, Δημήτρης "Μίμης" Δομάζος, born 22 January 1942) is a

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 ...

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 an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

. His nickname was ''"The General"'' ''( el, "Ο Στρατηγός")''. Domazos is considered to be one of the best footballers that Greece has ever produced. He was famed for his

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

ability, his creative playstyle, especially his through balls of pinpoint accuracy and his leadership skills. He was the

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

for over 15 years. The

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

chose him in the best XI of all time of Greek football in 2021.

Club career

Early career

Domazos was born on 22 January 1942 in Ampelokipoi, and grew up next to the

Leoforos Alexandras Stadium Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium ( el, Γήπεδο Απόστολος Νικολαΐδης), commonly known as Leoforos Alexandras Stadium or Leoforos Stadium, is a football stadium and multi-sport center in Athens, Greece. It was inaugurated in 19 ...

. His father was a health worker originally from

Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate ...

and his mother a nurse of

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

origin. From a young age he played ball in the fields of the area and at the age of 13 he took out a sport's card for the Amyna Ampelokipoi in 1953, declaring a false age in order to be able to compete. Soon his fame began to spread and he attracted the interest of

. In 1958, the then coach of the "greens",

Svetislav Glišović Svetislav Glišović (Serbian Cyrillic: Светислав Глишовић; 17 September 1913 – 10 March 1988) was a Serbian international football player and manager. Club career Glišović played in the youth team of SK Soko before becomin ...

, saw him play and impressed by his moves on the pitch, recommended his acquisition.

Panathinaikos

Domazos made his unofficial debut with Panathinaikos in a friendly match against

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 Greece, Greek multi-sport club based in Nea ...

for the

Christmas Cup Association football is the most popular sport in Tuvalu. Football in Tuvalu is governed by the Tuvalu National Football Association (TNFA). The TNFA became an associate member association of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) on 15 Novemb ...

, which was held on December 26, 1958 and ended in a 2–0 defeat. He played as a right winger and impressed spectators and experts of the sport with his football skills. In the summer of 1959, he officially joined Panathinaikos at the age of 17 "for a suit and an orange juice", as he had stated. Despite his small stature, Domazos gradually managed to impose himself on the players of that era. His terrific passing, incredible assists and leadership earned him the respect of teammates and opponents, as well as the admiration of the fans. Most of the team's attacks went through his feet. Like a "maestro", with his clever play he orchestrated an entire team. Soon, the people of Panathinaikos gave him the nickname "The General", which followed him throughout his football career. In his first three seasons, he won the same number of championships. He scored in the game that secured the last one in 4 June 1961 in a 3–3 draw against

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...

. On 26 November 1961 Mimis Domazos scored 4 goals in the 5–2 away win against

Proodeftiki Proodeftiki Football Club, also known as Proodeftiki Piraeus, simply as Proodeftiki, or with its full name as A.O. Proodeftiki Neolea ( el, Αθλητικός Όμιλος Προοδευτική Νεολαία, transliterated "Athlitikós Όmilo ...

and became the first player of the club to score a four goals in an official match. He became the captain of the "greens" for almost 15 years. He formed a great attacking duo with his teammate and best friend,

Antonis Antoniadis Antonis Antoniadis (Greek: Αντώνης Αντωνιάδης, born 25 May 1946) is a former Greek footballer. He scored 243 goals during his 22-years long career. He started his career in 1964 playing for Aspida Xanthi before moving to Pana ...

. In the

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, ...

final in 1969 he scored a free kick against

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 after the 1–1 at the extra time, at a flip of a coin, he chose correctly and his team was awarded the title. He led Panathinaikos, under

Ferenc Puskás Ferenc Puskás (, ; born Ferenc Purczeld; 1 April 1927 – 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian football player and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and the sport's first international superstar. A forward, ...

, to the

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the

European Cup 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 ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

against

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

on June 2, 1971 where they lost 2–0. In December of the same year, he also participated in the 2-legged

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the Intercontinental Cup against

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

where they lost 3–2 on aggregate. He was

Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French news magazine ''France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (fo ...

nominee in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

and

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

. Another remarkable moment of his career was in 1977 where Panathinaikos won the

Balkans Cup The Balkans Cup was an international football competition for clubs from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1961 and was very popular in the 1960s (the 1967 final attracted 42,000 spectators), being t ...

, even though he did not compete in the double final against

Slavia Sofia PFC Slavia Sofia ( bg, ПФК Славия София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system, the First League. Slavia's home ground ...

. On March 17 1974, in a decisive derby against Olympiacos, Domazos scored a stunning

bicycle kick In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick, scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before d ...

and equalized in the final 1–1. Domazos won at Panathinaikos an impressive 9 Championships, 3 Cups and 1 Balkan Cup, including 2 domestic doubles in 1969 and 1977. As a player with a strong personality on and off the field, he did not hesitate to clash with anyone within the team, as in 1978 the conflict with the administrative agent Antonis Mantzavelakis occurred. So after 498 games in Panathinaikos, 134 goals and 19 years in the team, he parted ways with the "greens", while he was called a "finished player".

AEK Athens

The owner of AEK Athens,

Loukas Barlos Loukas Barlos ( el, Λουκάς Μπάρλος; 1920 – 20 October 1999) was a Greek businessman who served as the twenty third president of AEK Athens F.C. from 1974 until 1981. Early life Barlos was born and raised in Thessaloniki, but his p ...

did not miss the golden opportunity and immediately approached Domazos. Barlos, before signing him, called the other legend of the Greek football and captain of the club,

Mimis Papaioannou Dimitrios "Mimis" Papaioannou ( el, Δημήτριος "Μίμης" Παπαϊωάννου; born 23 August 1942) is a Greek former professional football player, who played as a forward, mostly for AEK Athens and a former manager. His nickname wa ...

to his office to get the required "approval" for the huge transfer. Papaioannou didn't think twice about it and agreed. Domazos was what the club was missing to orchestrate the attack of Bajević-

Mavros Mavros ( el, Μαύρος, "black"), is an uninhabited Greek islet, in the Aegean Sea, close to the eastern coast of Crete. Administratively it lies within the Itanos municipality of Lasithi. See also *List of islands of Greece Greece has ...

. With all those stars gathered in the same roster the club played amazing football, while he also had the chance to work again under his former coach, Puskás. He had an amazing first season with 29 appearances and 5 goals and proved wrong the people who called him "finished", as in AEK he was a model of professionalism. He scored his first goals in a brace against PAOK, in 10 September 1978. In 8 April 1979 he faced his former club, in a 1–0 win and before the end of the first half, there was a fierce fight between the players, after a foul of Panathinakos and after a beating between the players as well as a red card for each side, Panathinakos player and former teammate,

Álvarez Álvarez or Álvares may refer to: People *Álvarez (surname), Spanish surname Places *Alvares (river), a river in northern Spain * Alvares (ski resort), in Iran *Alvares, Iran * Alvares, Portugal *Álvarez, Santa Fe, a town in the province of Sa ...

spoke out against Domazos, accusing him of spitting him while threatening, in which the "general" responded the following day accepting the charges and challenging him to a fight. At AEK he won yet another league title and despite his advanced age, offered to renew his contract for another year. In the January of the following season, as he realized the affection of his age to his body and after the call of the new Panathinaikos' president

Yiorgos Vardinogiannis Yiorgos Vardinogiannis ( el, Γιώργος Βαρδινογιάννης) is a Greek businessman and a shipping magnate, former owner and president of the Panathinaikos football club. He was born in Episkopi, Rethymno in 1936. He is the brothe ...

, he requested an audition from Barlos. Domazos told him he wanted to return to his beloved Panathinakos to finish his career and Barlos immediately accepted, respecting his wish.

Retirement

Domazos dressed in green again making his big return to the club he was cherished. He may not have scored in the 12 matches he played in, but he proved that no matter how many years had passed, he still had plenty of mental and physical strength, with his leading presence in the winning derby against Olympiacos at home, on 13 January of 1980. Ηe ended his glorious career in the summer of 1980 with a record of 536 appearances and 139 goals.

International career

Domazos made his debut with

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

on 2 December 1959 against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

in a 3–1 defeat at Leoforos. His last match was on 11 November 1980, at the same stadium in a friendly match against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, in a 3–3 draw, in which he was honored for his many years of contribution to the national team and the Greek football in general. In this specific match he scored his last goal, which makes him the oldest player to ever score for Greece, since in less than three months he would have turned 39. He was the National team captain during these years. In total he was capped 50 times and scored four goals.

Personal life

Domazos was married to the late

Vicky Moscholiou Vicky Moscholiou (Greek: Βίκυ Μοσχολιού, ; 23 May 1943 – 16 August 2005), born in Metaxourgeio in Athens, was a Greek singer. On 14 March 2010, Alpha TV ranked her the 13th top-certified female artist in the nation's phonographic er ...

, a popular singer from 1967 to 1978. The couple had two daughters. Since retirement he has been a businessman and often writes opinion columns for Greek sports newspapers. He owns a chain of

five-a-side football Five-a-side football is a version of minifootball, in which each team fields five players (four outfield players and a goalkeeper). Other differences from football include a smaller pitch, smaller goals, and a reduced game duration. Matches are ...

stadiums. His nephew, Christos Domazos, currently plays in Rethymno football club. Domazos was one of the final torchbearers for the

Opening Ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

Honours

Panathinaikos *

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 ...

: 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1976–77 *

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 ...

: 1966–67, 1968–69, 1976–77 *

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

AEK Athens *Alpha Ethniki: 1978–79

Records

*Most league appearances in Greece, with 536 official matches (502 with Panathinaikos and 34 with AEK Athens). *Longest-active footballer in the history of Greek football, having played for more than 21 years. (1959–1980) *He scored a total of 139 goals in his career (134 with

and 5 with AEK Athens), which were scored: **124 by shots **7 by free kicks **2 by header **6 by penalty kicks

Statistics

Club

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" , - !colspan=5, Club performance , - !Season!!Club!!League !Apps!!Goals , - , 1960–61 , rowspan=19,

, rowspan=22,

, 29, , 7 , - , 1960–61 , 30, , 8 , - , 1961–62 , 27, , 16 , - , 1962–63 , 28, , 7 , - , 1963–64 , 27, , 5 , - , 1964–65 , 19, , 5 , - , 1965–66 , 30, , 11 , - , 1966–67 , 19, , 6 , - , 1967–68 , 34, , 9 , - , 1968–69 , 32, , 5 , - , 1969–70 , 30, , 6 , - , 1970–71 , 32, , 20 , - , 1971–72 , 30, , 5 , - , 1972–73 , 21, , 6 , - , 1973–74 , 27, , 7 , - , 1974–75 , 29, , 6 , - , 1975–76 , 15, , 3 , - , 1976–77 , 26, , 2 , - , 1977–78 , 5, , 0 , - , 1978–79 , rowspan=2,

, 29, , 5 , - , 1979–80 , 5, , 0 , - , 1979–80 ,

, 12, , 0 , - ! colspan=3, Career total !536, , 139

References

External links

*
Sport Stories, ert.gr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Domazos, Mimis 1942 births Living people Footballers from Athens Greek footballers Association football midfielders Panathinaikos F.C. players AEK Athens F.C. players Panathinaikos F.C. non-playing staff Greece international footballers Super League Greece players