Giannis Kyrastas ( el, Γιάννης Κυράστας; 25 October 1952 – 1 April 2004) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

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 ...

and

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game bega ...

Club career

Born in

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saron ...

, Kyrastas started his football career in

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 ...

, where he played his first game on 10 December 1972 against Kavala. With Olympiacos he played 223 games, 16 of them in European competitions, and won five Greek Championships and three Greek Cups. In 1981, he went, together with

Mike Galakos Ilias "Maik" Galakos ( el, Μάικ Γαλάκος) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a striker and was active during the 1970s and 1980s. Galakos was born on 23 November 1951 in Kalogreza, Greece and his family emigrated ...

, to archrival Panathinaikos, where he played in 145 games, 14 of them in European competitions, and won two Greek Championships and three Greek Cups. He retired in 1986 after playing his last game against Aris in November. Kyrastas made 46 appearances for the Greece national team, from 15 November 1974 to 19 May 1985. He also played in the

1980 UEFA European Championship The 1980 UEFA European Football Championship finals tournament was held in Italy. This was the sixth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. It was the first European Championship to feature eight teams i ...

Coaching career

After retiring, he became a coach. Starting in the 1987–88 season and until 2001 he successfully coached many teams, including

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 ...

Paniliakos Paniliakos Football Club ( el, Πανηλειακός Α.Ο. Πύργου) is a Greek association football club based in Pyrgos, Elis, Greece. The club plays in Gamma Ethniki, the third tier of Greek football. It plays its home matches at the Pyr ...

(twice), Panionios FC, Iraklis and finally Panathinaikos. After his second time as coach of Panathinaikos, he retired from coaching.

Death

Kyrastas was admitted on 5 March 2004 to hospital with

septicaemia Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...

, after being infected with the rare

Fournier gangrene Fournier gangrene is a type of necrotizing fasciitis or gangrene affecting the external genitalia or perineum. It commonly occurs in older men, but it can also occur in women and children. It is more likely to occur in diabetics, alcoholics, or th ...

. His condition was said to be improving, but on, 30 March he went into a decline from which he was not to recover. He died on 1 April 2004 at the age of 51. The football players and staff of Panathinaikos, devoted the Double of 2004 in his memory.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kyrastas, Giannis 1952 births 2004 deaths Deaths from sepsis Association football midfielders Greece international footballers Greek football managers Panathinaikos F.C. players Panathinaikos F.C. managers Olympiacos F.C. players Footballers from Athens Greek footballers Iraklis Thessaloniki F.C. managers UEFA Euro 1980 players Infectious disease deaths in Greece Super League Greece players Super League Greece managers Panionios F.C. managers Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. managers Deaths from gangrene