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Dimitris Salpigidis

 

Dimitris Salpigidis (GreekΔημήτρης Σαλπιγγίδης, (born 18 August 1981,Thessaloniki) is a Greek football striker. He plays for PAOK FC and the Greek national team.

Salpigidis started his career through the youth ranks of PAOK FC, the team he supported as a child. Acknowledging his potential and in order to gain much needed experience, the team soon loaned him for two successive seasons to Kavala FC where he finished top scorer of the Second Division. His plea for a return to PAOK FC was granted by his mentor, Angelos Anastasiadis and he became an integral part of the team.

Despite playing out of position as a right midfielder he managed to earn a place in the starting line-up, just a few months after returning from loan. Plagued with financial problems, the next season saw the club experiencing an exodus of its top players such as striker Ioannis Okkas and ex-Newcastle United forward Giorgos Georgiadis, Salpigidis, at the age of 21, then became first-choice striker and captain of the team. The 2003?2004 season proved to be the best in many years, as the club finished an unexpected 3rd, qualifying for the Champions league, despite running on a very low budget. His significance for PAOK FC was such that in the summer 2004 he was given permission to miss a match with the Greek Olympic team so that he could participate in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers against Maccabi Tel Aviv. The elimination at the hands of the Israeli team, followed by the sack of coach Anastasiadis and subsequent financial turmoil hit the team badly, resulting in his exodus less than 2 years later. He went onto score 50 goals in 103 games for PAOK FC becoming the league's top scorer in his final season.

In the summer of 2006, as the club's president Giannis Goumenos was desperate to cash in, he was openly chased by OlympiakosAEK and Panathinaikos. Salpigidis publicly refused the offer of bitter rivals Olympiakos despite being the most profiting one among the three. On August 16, after a lengthy negotiation period, he finally agreed to sign a 4-year contract to Panathinaikos. He transferred for a fee of ?1.8 million, with PAOK additionally receiving 3 players (Sandor TorghelleKostas Chalarambidis andAthanasios Tsigas). This was the third most expensive transfer between Greek teams at that time, estimated at ?5 million. Although it was an important financial boost to the then-heavily debted club, this transfer caused heavy turmoil amid PAOK fans, branding Salpingidis a traitor and ungrateful to the pains they had taken to keep him in the club. This tense situation brought about the demise of Goumenos' troubled presidency soon after.

After four very successful seasons with Panathinaikos (including a double-winning 2009?2010 season), in the summer of 2010 Salpigidis refused what was said to be a very lucrative contract, to join his boyhood club once again. On 16 June 2010, it was officially announced that he signed a four-year contract with PAOK FC, after his contract with Panathinaikos had expired. On 9 January 2011, he scored his 100th goal in the Greek Superleague against Asteras Tripolis with a header. On 3 November 2011, Salpigidis became the Greek player with the most goals in Europe. On November 30 he scored a header, beating Heurelho Gomes, in a 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur F.C. at White Hart Lane, after a cross from Giorgios Georgiadis, in the Europa League

 

 

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Georgios Fotakis

 

Georgios Fotakis (born 29 October 1981) is a Greek international footballer. He plays professionally as an attacking midfielder for PAOK. Club career

Fotakis spent his early career in his native Greece, playing for PAOK, Kallithea and Egaleo. He moved to Scotland in January 2006 to sign for Kilmarnock,[1] but he never made a league appearance for them.[2] He then returned to Greece in 2006 with Larissa, before moving to PAOK in the summer of 2009.

[edit] International career

Fotakis has played for the Greek under-21 side, and also made three appearances in the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Fotakis was called to the Greek senior team in September 2009.[citation needed]

Fotakis made his international debut on 14 October 2009 in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg.[citation needed]. On 17 November 2010, Fotakis scored his first goal for Greece in a friendly match against Austria, helping his team to a 2?1 away victory

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Georgios Samaras

 

Georgios Samaras (born 21 February 1985) is a Greek footballer who plays for Scottish Premier League club Celtic and the Greek national football team. He is predominantly a striker, but can also play as a winger.

Samaras started his career at Crete, before moving on to Eredivisie side Heerenveen in 2001. He made his first team debut two years later and after a further three seasons with the club he moved to English Premier League side Manchester City for a fee of £6 million in 2006. He struggled to break into the first team in England and was loaned out to Scottish Premier League team Celtic in January 2008, during this time he helped the club win the title for a third season in a row. Celtic signed him at the end of the loan spell and since moving to Glasgow he has won the 2008?09 Scottish League Cup as well as the 2010?11 Scottish Cup. Samaras also won the SPL Player of the Month award in September 2008.

 Although eligible to play for Australia. Samaras chose to represent his country of birth, Greece, and made his debut in 2006. He has become a regular in the Greek side since then, earning over 50 caps and representing his country at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup.

 

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