Nikos Anastopoulos ( el, Νίκος Αναστόπουλος; born 22 January 1958) 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 was one the most prolific strikers in the Greek league during the 1980s and widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the history of Greek football. With 29 goals he is the all-time top scorer for the

Greece national football team The Greece national football team ( el, Εθνική Ελλάδας, ) represents Greece in men's international football matches and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. Greece play most ...

. He is considered one of the greatest players in

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 ...

history, where he scored 159 goals in 291 official games for the Greek powerhouse and won the Bronze Boot as the third scorer in Europe in the 1982–83 season. Since retiring as a player he has become a football manager. The most recent club that he worked a manager is

Super League 2 Stones Bitter Super League II was the official name for the year 1997's Super League championship season, the 103rd season of top-level professional rugby league football in Britain, and the second to be played in summer. Teams Twelve teams were ...

club

Kalamata Kalamáta ( el, Καλαμάτα ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula, after Patras, in southern Greece and the largest city of the homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia reg ...

. FC

Club career

Anastopoulos was born on 22 January 1958. He started his career at Dafni before transferring to

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'') ...

with whom he debuted in the

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 ...

in the 1977–78 season. Thanks to Anastopoulos, Panionios won the

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 ...

in 1979 upsetting

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 Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...

3–1. His debut in European competition was also impressive as he scored twice against

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese Bo ...

and once against

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...

in the Cup-winners' Cup. His performance brought an immediate transfer offer from Twente as well as other Greek and foreign clubs. Finally, in 1980, he went to

. As an Olympiacos player, Anastopoulos, also known as "Moustakias" (the moustachioed one), won top scorer honours in 1982–83 season (29 goals), 1983–84 season (18 goals), 1985–86 season (19 goals) and 1986–87 season (16 goals). His goal-scoring exploits in 1982–83 won him the Bronze Boot as third scorer across Europe. Ahead of the 1987–88 season, Anastopoulos left Greece to play for

Avellino Avellino () is a town and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

in Italy. Though he performed well in the

Italian Cup Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

, he failed to score a single goal in

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 ...

and returned to Greece the following season. After coming close to signing with AEK Athens, Anastopoulos chose to return to Panionios. He later played for Olympiacos, Ionikos and closed out his career with Olympiacos (once more) after the 1993–94 season.

International career

On 21 September 1977, Anastopoulos made his debut for the Greece national team and during his playing career he was capped 75 times scoring 29 goals – more than any other Greek international. He was a member of the Greek squad in the finals of

Euro 1980 The 1980 UEFA European Football Championship finals tournament was held in Italy. This was the sixth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. It was the first European Championship to feature eight teams i ...

and scored the only Greek goal of that competition with a header against

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Greece's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Anastopoulos goal''.

Managerial statistics

Honours

As player

Olympiacos *

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 ...

: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987 *

: 1990, 1992 *

Greek Super Cup The Greek Super Cup ( el, Σούπερ Καπ Ελλάδος), officially known as the Cup of Friendship and Solidarity ( el, Κύπελλο Φιλίας και Αλληλεγγύης) was a Greek Football (soccer), association football one-match ...

: 1992 Panionios *

: 1979

As coach

PAS Giannina * Greek Second Division: 2002 Kavala * Greek Second Division: 2009 Aris * Greek Third Division Group 1: 2016 Kalamata * Third Division: 2020–21 (South Group) OFI Crete * Greek Second Division, third place: 2011

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anastopoulos, Nikos 1958 births Living people Footballers from Athens Greek footballers Greece international footballers Greek football managers Greek expatriate footballers Greek expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy Olympiacos F.C. players U.S. Avellino 1912 players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. managers A.O. Kerkyra managers Panetolikos F.C. managers PAS Giannina F.C. managers Serie A players UEFA Euro 1980 players Panionios F.C. players Super League Greece players Super League Greece managers Ionikos F.C. players Ionikos F.C. managers Panserraikos F.C. managers Panachaiki F.C. managers OFI Crete F.C. managers Atromitos F.C. managers Kavala F.C. managers Association football forwards Panelefsiniakos F.C. managers