Savvas Kofidis ( el, Σάββας Κωφίδης; born 5 February 1961) is a Greek professional football

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 ...

and former player.

Career

Born in modern-day

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Pontic Pontic, from the Greek ''pontos'' (, ), or "sea", may refer to: The Black Sea Places * The Pontic colonies, on its northern shores * Pontus (region), a region on its southern shores * The Pontic–Caspian steppe, steppelands stretching from no ...

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 ...

parents, he started his career in Iraklis, debuting on 18 January 1981 when Iraklis was participating in the Beta Ethniki. In Iraklis's team he played seven seasons before heading to

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 ...

. In 1992, he joined

Aris Thessaloniki F.C. Aris FC ( el, ΠΑΕ Άρης), commonly known as Aris Thessaloniki FC, AFC or simply Aris, is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece. Created in 1914 as ''Aris Thessaloniki Football Club'', t ...

, the city rivals of Iraklis, where he played until rejoining Iraklis in the 1996–97 season.

International career

His three appearances at the

1994 World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

rounded off his

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

career, which lasted from 1982 to 1994, giving him 67 caps and 1 international goal (9 January 1985, against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

). He retired from professional football in 1999.

Coaching career

During the 2002–2003 period he was the assistant coach of Ivan Jovanovic in Iraklis, as well as the next period, assisting head coach Sergio Markarián. After Markarián resigned, Kofidis took in charge as the head coach. The next year, with Kofidis taking the reins, was hugely successful as "The Old One", against all expectations, finished 4th in the 2005–2006

Alpha Ethniki 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 ...

championship, and qualified for the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

. During the summer, however, many key players were sold as the team was in heavy debt, and the following year was anything but successful. After a string of 10 league matches without a win, and an early exit from the UEFA Cup against Polish team

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. It currently competes in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system. ...

, Kofidis resigned. In January 2007 he became head coach in

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, Xa ...

following Takis Lemonis's resignation, but soon left the job. On 30 October 2009

Iraklis F.C. Gymnastic Club Iraklis Thessaloniki Football Club ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Ηρακλής Θεσσαλονίκης) is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece. As of 2022, t ...

club officials have sacked coach

Oleg Protasov Oleh Valeriyovych Protasov ( uk, Олег Валерійович Протасов; born 4 February 1964) is a Ukrainian and Soviet former footballer who played as a striker. He was a key member of the Soviet Union national team throughout th ...

to replace him with Kofidis.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kofidis, Savvas 1961 births Living people Pontic Greeks Soviet people of Greek descent Greek footballers Greece international footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players Association football midfielders Iraklis Thessaloniki F.C. players Olympiacos F.C. players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players Super League Greece players Super League Greece managers Greek football managers Iraklis Thessaloniki F.C. managers Xanthi F.C. managers Anagennisi Giannitsa F.C. managers Sportspeople from Almaty Footballers from Thessaloniki