Vasilis Torosidis

Vasilis Torosidis (Greek: Βασίλης Τοροσίδης, born 10 June 1985) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a right-back.

Club career

Skoda Xanthi

Torosidis made his senior debut for Skoda Xanthi on 19 April 2003 at the age of 17 and scored his first goal in the Super League against Iraklis on 17 October 2005. Having made 76 impressive appearances for the club during a five-year stint, Torosidis drew the attention of the top Greek clubs AEK Athens, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos. He eventually joined Olympiacos on a five-year deal on 1 January 2007.

Olympiacos

Torosidis moved to Olympiacos in January 2007 and scored his first goal with the team against PAOK on 21 January 2007. He scored his first European goal for Olympiacos in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup 1st round 5–0 home leg win against FC Nordsjælland and scored another one in the competition's Group Stage 4–0 home win against Hertha BSC.

Torosidis signed a renewal with Olympiacos in the summer of 2009 that will expire on 31 June 2013, which included a buy-out fee of €7 million.
He was monitored by such clubs as Newcastle United, Roma, Juventus, Atlético Madrid, and Bayern Munich.

On 24 February 2011, Olympiacos was forced to play one game behind closed doors after supporters invaded the pitch and attacked some of the Panathinaikos players at the end of their controversial home win in the Athens derby took place on 19 February. Torosidis was also given a five-game ban by the Super League Greece following his sending off for headbutting midfielder Sebastian Leto in the closing stages of the match. The punishments were handed down on Thursday after hundreds of fans invaded the pitch following the league leaders' tempestuous 2–1 win that took them ten points clear of their local rivals with just seven matches to play. Some Olympiakos supporters threw punches and kicks at the visiting players and battled with police.

In January 2013, Torosidis refused to sign a new deal with the Greek champions after moving to the Athens outfit in 2007. Martin Jol, manager of Fulham F.C. was linked with a move for the Torosidis, who was believed to be available for around £500,000. The Fulham boss snapped up Giorgos Karagounis on a free transfer in the summer – and Torosidis is desperate for a fresh challenge in a different European league. ''"I’m not going to sign a new deal,"'' Torosidis told the Sun newspaper. ''"I want to move abroad."'' On 22 January 2013, he moved from Olympiacos to Roma, signing a contract with the Roman club expiring on 31 June 2015.

Roma

On 23 January 2013, Torosidis moved to Italian Serie A side Roma for only €400,000 and signed a contract valid until 30 June 2015, with the option to stay for the 2015–16 season. The Italian club had beaten Fulham to the Greece international's signature, who had previously revealed he would not be renewing his contract with the Athens outfit. Olympiakos had been keen to sell the versatile defender this month in order to risk losing him for nothing at the end of the season. Roma's sporting director Sabatini in his introduction speech said: ''"He is an experienced player and has spent a long time playing for the best team in Greece, Olympiakos. He played over three hundred league matches for them as well as quite a few appearances in European competition and for Greece. I'm grateful to him for choosing Roma over the other offers he received. "What memories do I have of him? One above all else. When he made a major contribution to beating Lazio and eliminating them from the Champions League here in the Stadio Olimpico a few years back."''

He made his debut against Bologna in a 3–3 draw. He scored his first goal for Roma in a 2–3 away win over Atalanta. He also scored in the Coppa Italia semi-final match against Internazionale with a great strike right in Inter goalkeeper Handanovič's top corner. The match ended 2–3, with Roma securing a position in the 2013 Coppa Italia Final against Lazio, where they subsequently lost.

On 9 January 2014, with a very early Vasilis Torosidis goal, Roma labored to a 1–0 victory over Sampdoria in the Coppa Italia to help shake off the 3–0 league loss against Juventus last weekend. It was indubitably important for Roma to get over their first defeat of the season as quickly as possible, and to that end, Rudi Garcia sent out a side that was a mixture of first team players, fringe players, and youngsters.
On 17 March 2014, Torosidis scored as Roma beat Udinese Calcio to maintain their grip on second place from Juventus in Serie A and restored the two-goal margin before Dusan Basta of Udinese ensured a nervous final 10 minutes for Roma.

On 2 August 2014, Roma announced that Torosidis had signed a new contract with the ''Giallorossi'', keeping him at the club until 2017. The 29-year-old, who represented his country at this summer's World Cup in Brazil, explained his reasons for staying at Stadio Olimpico at a Press conference. ''"My future is at Roma, I signed for three years. I’m staying at Roma because they’re a big club with big targets and I want to win something with this team. We are a strong team with players of a great level. We want to win the Scudetto but it is not easy. It will be a season with a lot of matches. We need to be humble and ready for the season. All the fans are expecting a strong team and that's what we are. We want to win the Scudetto. There will be a lot of difficult matches, there are teams like Juventus, Napoli and Fiorentina. We will see."'' Torosidis told reporters. On 16 May 2015, in a game for Serie A against Udinese Calcio, the Giallorossi defeated the Zebrette 2–1, in which Torosidis got the winning goal to get the side three points, but the Greek international is not taking any credit for the win.

On 29 September 2015, he scored his first goal with his left-foot like a real poacher, for the 2015–16 season in a 3–2 away loss against FC BATE Borisov in the UEFA Champions League, when with 8 minutes left he netted the Italian side's second after converting from close range. Torosidis suffered a lot of injuries during the season and he was forced to cut training after he has been diagnosed with a Grade I tear of the left calf muscle, eventually losing his place in the starting XI. According to newspapers, La Liga side Málaga CF are interested in the Greek defender, who is not in the plans of Luciano Spalletti and consequently is in A.S. Roma summer transfer list. Roma have been searching for an alternative at right-back as it appears the Greek's place in the Giallorossi side has not been confirmed.

Bologna

On 31 August 2016, the last available day in the Italian summer transfer window, Torosidis moved to Bologna for €1 million and signed a contract valid until 30 June 2018, with the option to stay for the 2018–19 season, as two weeks earlier has turned down an offer by Torino. On 11 September 2016, he made his first appearance with the club as a substitute in a 2–1 home win against Cagliari Calcio.

On 11 October 2016, Torosidis added to the growing injury worries of the club after being substituted only 18 minutes into his country's 2–0 World Cup qualifying away win against Estonia. The international left-back and captain of the Greece national team, who has played as a starter in all of his side's competitive matches this season, now seems likely to miss the next 15 days after suffering an apparent muscle injury. On 23 October 2016, he returned to the squad as a starter in a 1–1 home win draw against U.S. Sassuolo Calcio.
On 14 January 2017, he replaced due to an injury only 27 minutes into his club 1–0 away win against F.C. Crotone. On 4 February 2017, he scored his first goal with the club in a disaster 7–1 home loss against Napoli. On 26 February 2017, in a 1–1 away draw against Genoa, made no attempt to play the ball when tripping Giovanni Simeone from behind on the edge of the box, facing a red card leaving his club to 10-men.

He started the 2017–18 season as a starter. In his second league game against Benevento Calcio he suffered a thigh injury and has been replaced. On 22 October 2017, in his fifth match in Serie A against Atalanta B.C. he suffered a muscle injury and has been replaced. On 25 November 2017, he faced two yellow cards in the last two minutes of the first half, leaving his team with ten players without luckily to create a problem as his club prevailed with 3–0 against Sampdoria. Since the beginning of 2018, Torosidis faced a numerous of hamstring injuries as well as a muscle fatigue that kept him out of the squad for almost 1.5 months. On 5 April 2018, he completed Bologna's training and seem ready to return in action. On 1 July 2018, he mutually solved his contract with the club.

Return to Olympiacos

On 28 July 2018, following a five-year spell in Italy, Torosidis has returned to his homeland, penning a contract with former club Olympiacos. The length of his Olympiacos contract was not stipulated.
On 25 October 2018, Kostas Fortounis stood over a corner kick, expertly sent a looping cross towards the area, and experienced defender was on hand to head into the right corner, giving the lead in a 2–0 away UEFA Europa League group stage against F91 Dudelange. After scoring the winning goal for Olympiacos against Dudelange, defender Vasilis Torosidis has been included in the UEFA Europa League team of the week. On 1 November 2018, he opened the score in a 2–0 away Greek Cup win against Panachaiki. It was his first goal with the club in the 2018–19 season.
A week later, he scored with a left footed shot from very close range to the bottom right corner, after an assist from Mady Camara following a corner in a hammering 5–1 win game against F91 Dudelange in the UEFA Europe League group stage.

Retirement

On 13 September 2020, Torosidis officially announced his retirement from professional football, after the end of the 2019–20 Greek Football Cup which he won 1-0 against AEK as the team leader.

International career

Greece

Torosidis made his international debut for the Greece national team in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier against Turkey. After Takis Fyssas' retirement, Torosidis became Greece's first-choice left-back, despite playing at right-back for his club. Following the qualifiers, Torosidis was selected in the Greek squad for Euro 2008. He scored his first international goal in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg.

On 18 June 2010, Nigeria midfielder Sani Kaita lashed out with a kick to his thigh, resulting with Kaita being shown a straight red card. Thereafter, he scored the crucial goal in Greece's World Cup Group Stage match against Nigeria which gave his country a 2–1 win, their first ever win at a World Cup.

Torosidis' own goal in a 1–1 draw with Romania, scored when a defensive clearance rebounded off him, did not prevent Greece securing qualification for the 2014 World Cup. It was just the third qualification of the Greece national team to a World Cup and the second consecutive of Torosidis. From his debut in the national team in 2007, Greece have never lost a rendezvous in a major competition (UEFA Euro 2008 and 2012, 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup) along with his teammates he wrote the described by many as the "Golden Era" of Greek football.

On 10 October 2017, he scored his 10th international goal at home clash against Gibraltar. The 32-year-old footballer became the first defender in the history of Greece national team to score ten international goals, five of which were headers.

Career statistics

Club

:A.  Includes appearances in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.

International

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

Honours

Olympiacos
*Super League Greece (6): 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2019–20
* Greek Cup: 2007–08, 2008–09, 2011–12, 2019–20
* Greek Super Cup: 2007

Individual
* Greek Football Player of the Year: 2009–10
*Super League Greece Team the Season: 2009–10

See also

* List of footballers with more than 100 international caps

References

External links

Official website

Official Roma profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torosidis, Vasilis
1985 births
Living people
Footballers from Xanthi
Association football defenders
Greek footballers
Greek expatriate footballers
Greece international footballers
UEFA Euro 2008 players
UEFA Euro 2012 players
Xanthi F.C. players
Olympiacos F.C. players
A.S. Roma players
Bologna F.C. 1909 players
Super League Greece players
Serie A players
2010 FIFA World Cup players
2014 FIFA World Cup players
Greek expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Expatriate footballers in Italy
FIFA Century Club