Marinos Ouzounidis ( el, Μαρίνος Ουζουνίδης, born 10 October 1968) is a Greek

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 professional player.

Playing career

Ouzounidis started his professional career playing for Greek club

Skoda Xanthi Xanthi Football Club ( el, Α.Ο. Ξάνθη Π.Α.Ε.) is a Greek professional football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace and plays at Xanthi FC Arena. The club resigned from the Super League 2 due to financial issues. Founded in 1967, Xan ...

as a defender from 1987 until

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

. He then transferred to

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 ...

where he developed excellent skills as a libero defender, becoming an essential member of the brilliant team that conquered

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

and

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

Greek league championships. During this last period, the "Green Shamrocks" reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League. Good performances eventually resulted in a two-year term transfer to Le Havre AC in France. Ouzounidis returned to the Greek league in 1999, where he played with

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 Pyrg ...

until

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

. Ouzounidis finally left for

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

in Cyprus and after winning the championship and the

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the prev ...

in 2002, he retired there after the 2002–03 season.

International career

Ouzounidis' international career comprises forty-nine games with the "Ethniki", and was even the team captain during

Vassilis Daniil Vasilios Daniil ( el, Βασίλειος Δανιήλ; born 3 August 1938) is a Greece, Greek association football, football manager of national reputation. He managed Kavala F.C., Kavala, Kastoria F.C., Kastoria, Apollon Pontus F.C., Apollon Kal ...

management, making a remarkable couple with

Nikos Dabizas Nikos Dabizas ( el, Νίκος Νταμπίζας, born 3 August 1973) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a defender for Newcastle United, Leicester City, Olympiacos and AEL. He was also in Greece's 2004 European Football ...

, before

Traianos Dellas Traianos Dellas ( el, Τραϊανός Δέλλας; born 31 January 1976) is a Greek football manager and former professional footballer, who played as a centre back. He was an integral part of Greece's Euro 2004 winning squad, during which ...

' appearance.

International stats

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

Managerial career

When he finished his career as a football player, Ouzounidis managed the team of Kappadokes Alexandoupolis (

Greek Fourth Division 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 ...

) as head coach. Later, in the 2005–06 season, he served as an assistant manager in

Xanthi Xanthi ( el, Ξάνθη, ''Xánthi'', ) is a city in the region of Western Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Xanthi (regional unit), Xanthi regional unit of the modern regions of Greece, region of East Macedonia and Thrace. A ...

. In May 2006 he became the manager at

. His first season was a very good one finishing first and winning the Championship three games before the end of the season. His team also reached the semi-finals of the

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup () is the main cup competition in Cypriot football, run by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). It began in 1934, the same season with the Cypriot Championship. It is the second most important competition for Cypriot club team ...

. He resigned from APOEL during the second season, after four draws and three defeats in the first 15 games. He accepted an offer from AEL on 9 May 2008. In his first season at AEL he was very successful driving the team in to the playoffs and securing a spot in the next Europa League. His record in the first year seemed to confirm AEL chairman Piladakis' idea on using young Greek coaches to lead the team to success. Unfortunately his second year at AEL began badly as the team was knocked out in the first qualifying round of the Europa League and on 22 February 2010 the young coach was sacked because

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

had found themselves just above the relegation zone. On 9 August, Ouzounidis signed a contract with

Iraklis Gymnasticos Syllogos Iraklis ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Ηρακλής, en, Gymnastics Club Heracles), commonly referred to as Iraklis, is a Greek multi-sports club based in Thessaloniki. The club was founded in 1908 as "Mace ...

. On 31 January 2011, with the club being only three points above relegation he resigned from his position as manager. In May 2011, Ouzounidis returned to

, where he stayed until September 2012, resigning his post after suffering a 3−0 home loss vs. PAOK. In the summer of 2013, Ouzounidis took over management of Superleague side

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 ...

, but left the club toward the end of 2013. In January 2014, he was appointed manager of fellow Cretan top tier club

Ergotelis The Gymnastics Club «Ergotelis» Heraklion Crete ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος «O Εργοτέλης» Ηρακλείου Κρήτης, Γ.Σ. Εργοτέλης), commonly known simply as Ergotelis ( el, Εργοτέλης), ...

, replacing

Giannis Petrakis Giannis Petrakis ( gr, Γιάννης Πετράκης; born 20 May 1959) is a Greek professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Super League club Levadiakos. Playing career Petrakis began his football career w ...

in mid season. He led the club to a 7th-place finish, the best in club history, accumulating a record 44 points (tied with 6th place local rival OFI). He left the club after the end of the 2013−14 season. In December 2014, Ouzounidis was appointed as manager of

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 which he had a high rate of success over two domestic campaigns, having recorded 28 wins and 20 draws over 70 games he was in charge for. On 10 August 2016, his contract with the club was terminated unilaterally, mainly because of disloyalty issues raised by the board, due to Ouzounidis simultaneously being in talks with

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 ...

over a potential career move. On 1 December 2016, Ouzounidis agreed upon a one-and-a-half-year contract with

to take over the vacant managerial role at the club, right after the departure of former manager Andrea Stramaccioni. His first game in charge was a 1–0 victory over PAOK at Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium three days later. He was credited with being eager to manage the team despite the chairman Giannis Alafouzos halting the club's funding and imposing radical budget cuts as a means of reducing Panathinaikos' debt. On 7 May 2018, Ouzounidis announced that he would leave the club on expiration of his contract, expressing his openness to return to Panathinaikos in the future under different financial and administrative circumstances. On 25 May 2018, Ouzounidis was appointed as manager of 2017–18 Greek Superleague champions AEK Athens, on a biennial contract, only hours after the departure of Manolo Jiménez from the club. After the first half of the

2018–19 Super League Greece The 2018–19 Super League Greece, or ''Super League Souroti'' for sponsorship reasons, was the 83rd season of the highest tier in league of Greek football and the 13th under its current name. The season started on 25 August 2018 and concluded ...

season, AEK were performing very poorly in the league and expectations were very high after they won the league the season before. They also were the team with the worst performance stats in the

2018–19 UEFA Champions League The 2018–19 UEFA Champions League was the 64th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 27th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. For the first tim ...

group stage, being eliminated after losing all six group matches, scoring only two goals, conceding 13 goals, for and against record of -11 and winning 0 points in their group. Ouzounidis was sacked after a home 1–1 derby draw with title favorites PAOK in February 2019. After over a year break from the game, in February 2020, he returned for a second-stint in the Cypriot First Division as manager of Apoel. Just like his first stint, he failed to help the team enter the group stages either of the champions league or the europa league, and combined with a poor form in the domestic league, he was subsequently dismissed as manager on 28 October 2020. On 23 July 2021, Ouzounidis was fired as Universitatea Craiova head coach following a 0-1 loss against

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

underdogs Laçi in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League second qualifying round. On 27 February 2022, Ouzounidis was appointed as manager of Saudi Arabian club Al Faisaly. On 21 January 2023, Ouzounidis was once again appointed as the manager of Al-Faisaly. He was sacked on 16 March 2023.

Managerial statistics

Honours

As a player

Skoda Xanthi *

Beta Ethniki The Football League ( el, Φούτμπολ Λιγκ) was the second highest professional football league in Greece since its inception in 1962 as ''Beta Ethniki'' and until 2019. It then served as a third tier after the creation of the Super Lea ...

: 1988–89 Panathinaikos * Alpha Ethniki: 1994–95, 1995–96 * Greek Cup:

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...

, 1993–94, 1994–95 *

Greek Super Cup The Greek Super Cup ( el, Σούπερ Καπ Ελλάδος), officially known as the Cup of Friendship and Solidarity ( el, Κύπελλο Φιλίας και Αλληλεγγύης) was a Greek Football (soccer), association football one-match ...

: 1993, 1994 APOEL Nicosia * Cypriot First Division: 2001–02 * Cypriot Super Cup: 2002

As a manager

APOEL Nicosia * Cypriot First Division: 2006–07 Universitatea Craiova *

Cupa României The Cupa României ( en, Romanian Cup) is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. I ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

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, ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Individual * Super League Greece Manager of the Season: 2015–16

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ouzounidis, Marinos 1968 births Living people Greek footballers Footballers from Alexandroupolis APOEL FC players Greek football managers Le Havre AC players Apollon Pontou FC players Panathinaikos F.C. players Xanthi F.C. players Paniliakos F.C. players Super League Greece players Super League Greece managers Saudi Professional League managers Saudi First Division League managers Cypriot First Division players Ligue 1 players Greece international footballers Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. managers Iraklis Thessaloniki F.C. managers APOEL FC managers Xanthi F.C. managers Ergotelis F.C. managers CS Universitatea Craiova managers Al-Faisaly FC managers Association football defenders Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Greece Mediterranean Games medalists in football Competitors at the 1991 Mediterranean Games Greek expatriate footballers Greek expatriate football managers Greek expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in France Greek expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Expatriate football managers in Romania Greek expatriate sportspeople in Romania Greek expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia