Sotiris Balafas ( el, Σωτήρης Μπαλάφας; born 19 August 1986) is 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 plays as a

defensive 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 boundari ...

. He is a defensive midfielder known for his defensive awareness, his tackling and heading skills as well as his pace and strength.

Club career

Balafas started his career in

Anagennisi Artas Anagennisi Arta Football Club ( el, Π.Α.Ε. Γ.Α.Σ. Αναγέννηση Άρτας) is a Greek football club, based in Arta, in the North-West part of Greece. The emblem of the team depicts the historical bridge of Arta. The club was establi ...

and became an integral part of the team at very young age. He was mostly performing the duties of a centre back in his old club in contrast to his later role at PAOK. In the summer of 2005 he was picked up by PAOK for a transfer fee of 80,000 Euros. After a while he became a first-team option. In the 2007–2008 season he was the first choice defensive midfielder for most of the season and was cooperating well with newcomer Ricardo Matias Verón. Holding a secondary role in Fernando Santos's plans for the 2009–2010 season, Balafas agreed during the

pre-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

to move on loan to the newly promoted PAS Giannina for one year. It was reported that the main reason for his choice to play for a minor club, was the possibility to work again with his mentor

Georgios Paraschos Georgios Paraschos ( el, Γεώργιος Παράσχος; born 23 August 1952) is a Greek professional football manager and former player. Playing career As a football player, he began his career from the youth academy of PAOK in 1967. He ...

. During the 2011–12 season, after a lot of injuries among more senior players of the team, Balafas took his chances for the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

and after the winning goal against

FC Karpaty Lviv Football Club Karpaty Lviv ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Lviv. History Early years (1963–68) The team of Karpaty was founded on 18 January, 1963. In 1961 Silmash Lviv won the championship of Lviv Oblast but lost its p ...

became a fan favorite and his coach

László Bölöni László Bölöni ( ro, Ladislau Bölöni; born 11 March 1953) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Ligue 2 club Metz. He is best known for his time at Sporting CP as a manager where he introduced C ...

gave him more chances of playing time. In the 2012–13 season, he decided to play abroad for Hoverla. In May 2014 he was released from the club. On 10 September 2014, the Superleague club

Veria Veria ( el, Βέροια or Βέρροια), officially transliterated Veroia, historically also spelled Berea or Berœa, is a city in Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the regional unit of ...

signed Balafas on a free transfer. He made his official debut against

PAS Giannina PAS Giannina Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΣ Γιάννινα 1966), or with its full name Panepirotikos Athlitikos Syllogos Giannina ( el, Πανηπειρωτικός Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Γιάννινα, ''Panepirotic Athleti ...

during the fifth matchday of the Superleague. He scored his first goal for Veria in a 2–0 home win against Platanias as he opened the score. Balafas renewed his contract with Veria on 29 May 2015 for two more years. His new contract is due to expire on 31 June 2017. On 22 August 2015, Balafas was injured during training. He was diagnosed with clot rupture and the estimated time of his cure was about three to four months.

International career

He has been a basic part of the

Greece national under-21 football team The Greece national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Greece and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. The team competes in the European Under-21 Football Ch ...

along with former PAOK teammates Stelios Iliadis and

Lazaros Christodoulopoulos Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (Greek: Λάζαρος Χριστοδουλόπουλος, born 19 December 1986) is a Greek professional footballer who plays for Super League club Aris. He plays as a winger, a second striker or a attacking midfie ...

, being capped for more than 10 times.

Club statistics

"Statistics accurate as of 5 January 2012"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balafas, Sotiris Living people 1986 births Greek footballers Greece under-21 international footballers Greek expatriate footballers Anagennisi Arta F.C. players PAOK FC players PAS Giannina F.C. players Ergotelis F.C. players Veria F.C. players FC Hoverla Uzhhorod players Super League Greece players Football League (Greece) players Ukrainian Premier League players Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Greek expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Footballers from Arta, Greece Association football midfielders