Vasilios Pliatsikas ( el, Βασίλειος Πλιάτσικας; born 14 April 1988) 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 le ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

AEK Athens

Pliatsikas began his AEK career in 2005, making his way up from the reserve team, he ended up making 37 league appearances for AEK.

Schalke

On 30 June 2009, Pliatsikas signed a four-year contract with German club Schalke 04 for an undisclosed fee. The beginning of 2010 was not good as Pliatsikas tore his knee ligaments during a training session. This was a major blow as he was beginning to get consistent game time with his club and was in the reckoning for a starting place with his national team. He missed the rest of Schalke's season and also the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

with Greece. After a very difficult year for the defender marred by injury (149 days to be exact), Pliatsikas returned to action.

Loan to Duisburg

On 1 June 2011, it was announced that Pliatsikas will be loaned to

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jers ...

for the upcoming season. In 2010–11, he could play only one match for Schalke because of his injury problems and so he should gain playing experiences in the

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

. In 2011, he agreed to be loaned from Schalke for a year to the second division

. ''"I wanted to play. After the long period of injury, the season in Duisburg was a very good opportunity to stabilize and find myself playfully."'' Pliatsikas, was meanwhile converted by MSV coach Oliver Reck to a left-wing defender. He made his debut in the opening game against

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

on 17 August, being in the starting line-up in Duisburg's 2–3 defeat. After several fouls, he was forced to leave the field with a yellow-red card in the 76th minute. In his fourth league match for Duisburg against

St. Pauli St. Pauli (Sankt Pauli; ) is a quarter of the city of Hamburg belonging to the centrally located Hamburg-Mitte borough. Situated on the right bank of the Elbe river, the nearby Landungsbrücken is a northern part of the port of Hamburg. St. Paul ...

, he was sent off with a yellow-red card again.

Metalurh Donetsk

Pliatsikas participated in the preparation of the club in Turkey, leaving a positive impression and convinced the technical staff to offer him a contract. Pliatsikas, who had become free since last summer from Schalke 04, signed a contract until the end of the season 2013/14 with a renewal option for three more years.

Astra Giurgiu

On 23 July 2014, Pliatsikas signed a 2-year contract with

Astra Giurgiu Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spent th ...

. On 25 July 2014, he made his debut with a club in a 2–0 away win against

Concordia Chiajna Clubul Sportiv Concordia Chiajna, commonly known as Concordia Chiajna, is a Romanian professional football club based in Chiajna, Ilfov County, which competes in the Liga II. Founded in 1957, the team's best period was between 2011 and 2019, when ...

Second spell in Metalurh Donetsk

At the end of 2014 he returned to his former club

Metalurh Donetsk Football Club Metalurh Donetsk ( uk, Футбо́льний клуб «Металу́рг» Доне́цьк, ) was a Ukrainian professional football club based in Donetsk that went bankrupt in July 2015. History Club predecessor Football ...

. He released his contract at the end of 2014–15 season.

Slovan Bratislava

After six months as a free agent, on 26 January 2016, he signed a six months contract with Slovan Bratislava. He made his debut a month later in a 2–0 away win against

AS Trenčín AS Trenčín () is a Slovakia, Slovak sports club in the town of Trenčín, most known for its association football, football department. The first team currently plays in the Slovak Super Liga, Fortuna Liga after winning the 2010–11 Slovak Fi ...

Return to Greece

Following a troublesome departure from Slovan, Pliatsikas returned to Greece to play for

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 had been training in the previous 3 months. During this six months he played only one game with the club. On 17 June 2017

Platanias Platanias (Greek: Πλατανιάς) is a village and municipality on the Greek island of Crete. It is located about west from the city of Chania and east of Kissamos, on Chania Bay. The seat of the municipality is the village Gerani. Platania ...

announced the signing of Pliatsikas on a two-year contract. On 1 April 2018, due to imminent demotion to

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

experienced defensive midfielder is expected to be released from struggling Platanias, even before the end of 2017–18 Super League. On 4 June 2018, Lamia officially announced the signing of experienced right defender / defensive midfielder, until the summer of 2019.

International career

Greece U19

He was part of the Greek squad that reached the final of the

2007 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship The UEFA U-19 Championship 2007 Final Tournament was held in Austria with matches played from 16–27 July 2007. Players born after 1 January 1988 were eligible to participate in this competition. The draw was made on 13 June 2007. The venues were ...

and went on to captain the U19 team the following year which reached the final eight this time round in the

2008 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship The final tournament of the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 24th UEFA European Under-19 Championship, UEFA's premier competition for players under the age of 19. The tournament was held in the Czech Republic with matches played fro ...

Greece

He made his national team debut on 19 November 2008, coming on as an 87th-minute substitute against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in a 1–1 draw.

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 ...

's manager Otto Rehhagel called Pliatsikas for the three

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (O ...

matches against

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

where he played a pivotal role.

Honours

;Astra Giurgiu *

Supercupa României The Supercupa României ( en, Romanian Supercup) is a Romanian football championship contested by the winners of the Liga I and the Cupa României. It is usually played at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. The competition started off in 1994, ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

;Schalke 04 * DFB-Pokal:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pliatsikas, Vasilios 1988 births Living people Greece men's international footballers Greece men's under-21 international footballers Greek expatriate men's footballers Footballers from Athens Greek men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Slovakia Greek expatriate sportspeople in Germany Greek expatriate sportspeople in Romania Greek expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Greek expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders AEK Athens F.C. players FC Schalke 04 players FC Schalke 04 II players MSV Duisburg players FC Metalurh Donetsk players FC Astra Giurgiu players PAS Lamia 1964 players ŠK Slovan Bratislava players Slovak First Football League players Super League Greece players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Ukrainian Premier League players Liga I players Haidari F.C. players