Vasilios Botinos ( el, Βασίλειος Μποτίνος; 19 October 1944 – 16 February 2022) was a Greek

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 a winger for

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 ...

as well as the Greece national team.

Career

Born in Volos, Botinos began playing football as a winger with

Olympiakos Volou F.C. Olympiacos Volos Football Club ( el, Π.Α.Ε. Α.Σ. Ολυμπιακός Βόλου 1937) is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Volos, Greece. They currently participating in the Gamma Ethniki. History In 1938 Olympiacos a ...

in 1958, until he joined Alpha Ethniki side

Olympiacos F.C. Olympiacos Club of Fans of Piraeus ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σ.Φ.Π. ), known simply as Olympiacos or Olympiacos Piraeus, is a Greek professional football club based in Piraeus, Attica. Part of the major multi-sport club Olympiacos CFP ('' ...

in July 1964. He spent most of his career with Olympiacos, where he suffered a serious leg injury in 1969. Botinos left Olympiacos for

Panegialios F.C. Panegialios ( el, Παναιγιάλειος Γ.Σ. (''Panegialios Gymnastics Club'', referring to Aigialeia, a subprefecture covering the northeastern part of Achaea) is a Association football, football club based in Aigio, Greece. Panegialios ha ...

in 1972, and finished his career in the Alpha Ethniki with

Panionios G.S.S. Panionios G.S.S. (Greek: Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis''), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'', is a Greek multi-sport club founded in 1890. Originally ...

, retiring at age 29 in 1974. Botinos made twelve appearances and scored three goals for the Greece national team from 1967 to 1969, scoring two goals in a 4–1

1970 FIFA World Cup The 1970 FIFA World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's senior national teams. Held from 31 May t ...

qualifying victory against Switzerland on 15 October 1969.

Personal life

Botinos died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Nikaia Nicaea, also known as Nicea or Nikaia (; ; grc-gre, Νίκαια, ) was an ancient Greek city in Bithynia, where located in northwestern Anatolia and is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seve ...

, on 16 February 2022, at the age of 77.Πέθανε ο Βασίλης Μποτίνος

References

1944 births 2022 deaths Footballers from Volos Greek men's footballers Men's association football wingers Greece men's international footballers Olympiacos Volos F.C. players Olympiacos F.C. players Panionios F.C. players Panegialios F.C. players Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in France {{Greece-footy-midfielder-stub