Giannis Anastasiou ( gr, Γιάννης Αναστασίου; born 5 March 1973) is a Greek professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and former player, who is the current manager of

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

club

Panetolikos Panetolikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Παναιτωλικός), or with its full name Panetolikós Yimnastikós Filekpedeftikós Síllogos ( el, Παναιτωλικός Γυμναστικός Φιλεκπαιδευτικός Σύλλογος'' ...

. As a player, Anastasiou played as a striker, and was active professionally in Greece, Belgium and the Netherlands. He also represented the Greece national team at senior international level.

Playing career

Born in Arta, Anastasiou played professionally in

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 ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

for PAS Preveza,

Ethnikos Piraeus Ethnikos Piraeus (Greek: Εθνικός Πειραιώς) is a Greek multisport club based in Piraeus. It was founded in 1923. The full name of the club is Ethnikos Omilos Filathlon Pireos/Phalirou or Ethnikos OFPF (Greek: Εθνικός Όμιλ ...

OFI Crete OFI may refer to: * Overseas Filipino Investors, Filipino expatriates who contribute to the economy of the Philippines through remittances, buying property, and creating businesses * OFI Crete, a Greek association football club based on the island ...

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. ...

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently compete in the Eredivisie, the top flight ...

and Omniworld. He also earned five caps for the Greece national team between 1998 and 1999.

Managerial career

After his retirement from football in 2008, Anastasiou joined

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

as an assistant to manager

Henk ten Cate Hendrik Willem ten Cate (born 9 December 1954) is a Dutch football manager and former professional player. In the 2005–06 season, he was assistant to Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona when the team won the UEFA Champions League and La Liga titles. ...

. In 2011, he left Greece for the Netherlands as assistant coach for

Jong Ajax Jong Ajax () (''English: Young Ajax''), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2 is a Dutch association football team, the reserve team of Ajax. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. History Jong Ajax (''formerly more ...

, the reserve team of

. After two years, Anastasiou joined English club

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in January 2013 as a first team coach; he had first met their manager Brian McDermott in June 2012 while completing his

UEFA Pro License UEFA, the governing body for football in Europe, mandates several coaching licences for professional managers, each valid for coaching at a certain level. These include the UEFA Pro Licence, the UEFA A Licence, and the UEFA B Licence. They are is ...

. His stay at Reading lasted just two months, and he left the club following the departure of McDermott on 11 March 2013.

Panathinaikos

Anastasiou was named manager of

in May 2013. In his first year, the team won the

Greek Football 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 ...

with a 4–1 victory against PAOK in the final. During that year, he also led the team in a 3–0 victory against

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 ...

, a record away victory in the

derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

. In the

Superleague Greece 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 ...

, the team finished fourth in the regular season and first in the play-offs, qualifying for next year's

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

third qualifying round. In February 2015, he was named

Manager of the Year Manager of the Year may refer to: * Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award * League Managers Association Manager of the Year * Premier League Manager of the Season The Premier League Manager of the Season is an annual association footba ...

for 2014. In the 2014–15 season,

, was eliminated in the Champions League third qualifying round by

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

with an aggregate score of 1–2. The team succeeded in entering the

UEFA 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 ...

group stage, finishing last in Group E, against

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (russian: МГО ВФСО «Динамо»), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first ...

, PSV and

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. In the domestic league, Panathinaikos finished second behind Olympiacos in the league and first in the play-offs. On 24 May 2015, Anastasiou managed his 100th game at the side of Panathinaikos, against

Atromitos Atromitos (Greek: Ατρόμητος, "fearless") may refer to: * Atromitos F.C., a football team based in Peristeri, Athens, Greece * Atromitos Piraeus, a football team based in Piraeus, Athens, Greece * Atromitos Yeroskipou, a football team curr ...

. In the beginning of the 2015–16 season, the team failed to qualify in 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 ...

group stage, getting eliminated by Gabala in the play-offs. On 2 November 2015, Panathinaikos announced the termination of his contract on terms of mutual consent.

Roda

On 18 June 2016, Anastasiou signed a one-year contract as manager of Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

side

, for whom he was also active as a player from 2000 until 2004. On 24 April 2017, Belgian side KV Kortrijk announced the signing of Anastasiou as their head coach, moving from Roda to Kortrijk at the end of the 2016-17 season. Anastasiou led Roda to a 17th-place finish in the

, which meant that Roda had to play promotion/relegation play-offs. However, on 23 May 2017, midway through the play-offs, Anastasiou was sacked as manager of Roda.

Kortrijk

At Kortijk, Anastasiou was sacked on 8 November 2017 with the team in penultimate position in the league, just one point above last place.

Omonia

He became manager of Omonia in November 2018.

Atromitos

On 23 May 2019, Anastasiou has become the new head coach of

, penning a one-year deal with the Peristeri club. On 16 November 2019,

announced the termination of Anastasiou's contract as coach.

Panetolikos

In July 2021 he signed a contract with

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Anderlecht *

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

: 1999–2000 *

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( nl, Belgische Supercup, ; french: Supercoupe de Belgique; german: Belgischer Fußball-Super Cup), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian First Division A champion ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Ajax *

: 2003–04

Manager

;Panathinaikos *

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 ...

: 2013–14

Individual

* Greek Super League Manager of the Year: 2013–14

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anastasiou, Giannis 1973 births Living people Footballers from Arta, Greece Greek footballers Greece international footballers Greek football managers Preveza F.C. players Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. players OFI Crete F.C. players R.S.C. Anderlecht players Roda JC Kerkrade players AFC Ajax players Sparta Rotterdam players Almere City FC players Super League Greece players Belgian First Division A players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Reading F.C. non-playing staff Greek expatriate footballers Greek expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belgium Greek expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Greek expatriate sportspeople in England K.V. Kortrijk managers AC Omonia managers Greek expatriate football managers Association football forwards Atromitos F.C. managers Panetolikos F.C. managers