Pantelis Kapetanos (; born 8 June 1983) is a former Greek professional

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 lea ...

who played as a striker and is known for his last minute goals and for his tendency to score them with his head, which he celebrates by covering his

forehead In human anatomy, the forehead is an area of the head bounded by three features, two of the skull and one of the scalp. The top of the forehead is marked by the hairline, the edge of the area where hair on the scalp grows. The bottom of the fo ...

with his

forearm The forearm is the region of the upper limb between the elbow and the wrist. The term forearm is used in anatomy to distinguish it from the arm, a word which is used to describe the entire appendage of the upper limb, but which in anatomy, techn ...

Club career

Kapetanos started his career in his native Greece, playing for

Kozani Kozani (, ) is a town in northern Greece, capital of Kozani (regional unit), Kozani regional unit and of Western Macedonia. It is located in the western part of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, in the northern part of the Aliakmonas, Aliakmonas riv ...

, Iraklis and

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

, with whom he competed in the

UEFA Champions' League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

Steaua București

In July 2008 he joined Steaua București on a free transfer, signing a one-year contract. In his first season at Steaua, Kapetanos was the club's top scorer with Bogdan Stancu, scoring 11 goals. The Steaua board extended his contract for two years, and he finished the 2009–10 season as the club's leading scorer in

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

, with 15 goals, and in all competitions, with 19 goals. In January 2011 his contract with Steaua was terminated, as the team did not want to pay his high salary.

CFR Cluj

Although Steaua allowed Kapetanos to leave on a free transfer, they did not want to allow him to sign for another

team. He joined

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ) or simply CFR, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I. Founded as ''Kolozsvári Vasut ...

in January 2011, signing a three years and a half contract. Due to the fact that he previously had to undergo surgery to fix a

meniscus tear A tear of a meniscus is a rupturing of one or more of the fibrocartilage strips in the knee called menisci. When doctors and patients refer to "torn cartilage" in the knee, they actually may be referring to an injury to a meniscus at the top of ...

, he was sidelined for his first months at

. Kapetanos had a much better 2011–12 season, scoring 12 goals to help

claim their third title in five years. On 14 July 2012, Kapetanos scored a late goal in

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

to help his team reach the

Penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

against

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

in the 2012 Romanian Supercup.

lost at the

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

s and the trophy went to Dinamo.

Second spell in Steaua București

On 3 September 2013, Steaua București announced that they have reached agreement with CFR Cluj for the transfer of Pantelis Kapetanos.

Skoda Xanthi

On 11 July 2014, after six years, Kapetanos returned to Greece by joining

Skoda Xanthi Xanthi Football Club () is a Greek Association football, football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace. They play their home matches at Skoda Xanthi Arena Founded in 1967, Xanthi is well set up in terms of their financial support and youth set ...

on a two-year contract, as a free agent. Kapetanos as a reserved for the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

final, pulled one goal back for

in the 87th minute from close range.

Veria

After being released on a free transfer from Xanthi, Kapetanos signed a one-year contract to

Veria Veria (; ), officially transliterated Veroia, historically also spelled Beroea or Berea, is a city in Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the regional unit of Imathia. It is located north-nor ...

. After Veria's relegation he left the club. After spending 6 months in Veria, Kapetanos left

in January 2017. In July 2018, there were rumors for his transfer to Iraklis .

International career

Kapetanos was called up by

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

for the first time ahead of its international friendly against

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

. He was included in the squad for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

, and made his World Cup debut in a group stage match against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Personal life

He is the elder brother of Kostas Kapetanos He is married to fellow Greek, Fotini Dougali and they have three children together. His older child, Giannis, plays football in Kozani, as a striker too.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

*Steaua București: ** Romanian League: 2013–14 **

Romanian Cup Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

*CFR Cluj: ** Romanian League: 2011–12

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kapetanos, Pantelis 1983 births Living people Greek men's footballers Greek expatriate men's footballers Men's association football forwards Greece men's under-21 international footballers Greece men's international footballers AEK Athens F.C. players Iraklis F.C. (Thessaloniki) players Kozani F.C. players FCSB players CFR Cluj players Xanthi F.C. players Veria F.C. players Liga I players Super League Greece players Expatriate men's footballers in Romania 2010 FIFA World Cup players Footballers from Ptolemaida Greek expatriate sportspeople in Romania 21st-century Greek sportsmen