Antonios Nikopolidis

Antonis Nikopolidis (Greek: Αντώνης Νικοπολίδης; born 14 January 1971) is a Greek former footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and former manager of the Greece national under-21 football team.

Antonis Nikopolidis
Nikopolidis playing in a legends match in 2018
Personal information
Full name Antonios Nikopolidis
Date of birth (1971-01-14) 14 January 1971
Place of birth Arta, Greece
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1985–1989 Anagennisi Arta
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1989 Anagennisi Arta 49 (0)
1989–2004 Panathinaikos 189 (0)
2004–2011 Olympiacos 180 (0)
Total 418 (0)
National team
1999–2008 Greece 90 (0)
Teams managed
2012–2013 Olympiacos (assistant)
2013 Olympiacos (caretaker)
2014–2015 Olympiacos (assistant)
2015–2019 Greece U21
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He is regarded among the best Greek goalkeepers of all time having been awarded the most caps in the national team and playing an integral part in the UEFA Euro 2004 triumph.

Club career

Anagennisi Arta

Nikopolidis made his first steps at his local team of Anagennisi Arta, from which he was transferred to Panathinaikos in the summer of 1989.

Panathinaikos

He made his debut during the 1990–91 season in a match against his future club, Olympiacos. In his first years as a Panathinaikos player he was a back-up for Józef Wandzik. In 1995, he played five games as Panathinaikos won the championship and three as they retained it the following year. However, it wasn't until the 1997–98 season that he established himself as a regular goalkeeper at the age of 26. In the 2002 Champions league, he helped the club reach the quarter-finals but, in the 2003–04 season, he lost his place to Konstantinos Chalkias when his contract negotiations broke down.

Panathinaikos offered him €400K per year[1] which, although a pay-rise, he thought was not in line with his contributions to the team over the past 15 years nor with his current market value. As he did not immediately accept the offer the management became suspicious and decided to relegate him to the bench for the rest of the 2003–04 season. The Greek sports media and Panathinaikos fans at first took his side in the conflict and criticised president Vardinogiannis.[2]

Just before UEFA Euro 2004, rumours were circulating that Nikopolidis had been approached by arch-rivals Olympiacos. It was discovered later that he had signed an agreement just before the tournament begun earning him €600K per year for three years. After that, the fans' disappointment in him was displayed during the celebrations following the team's 2003–04 season double when Nikopolidis, while raising the trophy, was booed by the majority of the crowd.

Olympiacos
Nikopolidis with Olympiacos in 2008

Soon after being instrumental in UEFA Euro 2004 helping Greece to lift the trophy, Nikopolidis joined Olympiacos, making an immediate impact for his once rival team. Keeping a clean sheet in the first derby against his former club in the process, he went on to win two Doubles in a row, making him the only Greek player to win three consecutive doubles with two different clubs.

At his new team, Nikopolidis also earned a reputation for making game-winning saves in the most important games. Displaying his penalty-saving abilities, Nikopolidis saved three penalty kicks against Roma, Real Madrid, and Rosenborg BK, making him undefeated from the penalty spot in UEFA Champions League football in the Olympiacos shirt. In the 2007–08 season, he also equaled the Greek league record for the most penalty kicks saved in one season, which included saves against PAOK and former club Panathinaikos. Nikopolidis announced his plans to retire at the end of the 2009–10 season.

However, he took back his decision to stop his career after Sokratis Kokkalis's insistence. The veteran goalkeeper stated that he would delay his retirement for one more year, to retire as champion. He signed an extension on 16 June that would keep him at Olympiacos for the 2010–11 season.

He also took part in the international match "8th Match Against Poverty", on 14 December 2010, in Karaiskakis Stadium in Greece, as the UNDP team's goalkeeper.

In January 2011, IFFHS released a list with the best goalkeepers of the first decade, and Nikopolidis was in.[3] He was also listed as one of the best goalkeepers of the years 1987 to 2011.[4]

On 20 March 2011, Olympiacos won the championship in a 6–0 win against rivals AEK Athens F.C., in Karaiskakis Stadium.

He made his final appearance on 17 April 2011 in a home 6–0 victory against Larissa F.C. in Karaiskakis Stadium. As a final curtain call, he was replaced by Balázs Megyeri in the last minutes, so he could wave goodbye to the Olympiacos fans.

As the Olympiacos captain, he was the player to accept the championship trophy, after the match.

International career

Nikopolidis made his debut for the Greece national football team on 18 August 1999 against El Salvador.

He played in the qualifying rounds of the 2002 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2004 where he excelled as Greece qualified for the finals. Nikopolidis was one of the cornerstones of the Greek win in Portugal, where he kept three clean sheets in the knockout stages. He was also voted goalkeeper of the Euro 2004 All Star team.

On 15 June 2008, Nikopolidis announced his retirement from international football after Euro 2008, claiming that he had made this decision before the tournament started, and also stating that it is about time for a major change in the Greek national squad.[5]

Managerial career

After retirement, Nikopolidis became the assistant manager of Olympiacos in 2012.

He was promoted to manager in January 2013 on an interim basis following the dismissal of Leonardo Jardim.[6] After the arrival of Míchel, he remained in the team as his assistant.

After the end of 2012–13 season, Nikopolidis left Olympiacos[7] in order to start his career as a head coach.

On 1 October 2015, he was named as manager of the Greece national under-21 football team.

Style of play

Nikopolidis was known for the composure, cleverness and simplicity of his game. Despite not being very big, tall, agile, or athletic, his excellent positional sense made him an effective shot-stopper and his ability to read and understand the game helped him rush quickly off his line in order to face one on one situations or act as a sweeper-keeper. Furthermore, he was reliable with the ball at his feet and could control and kick it easily and safely. Despite these skills, though, he was quite ineffective while collecting crosses, a disadvantage that led him to some mistakes during his career.[8]

Career statistics

Club

[9]

Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Greece League Greek Cup Europe Total
1987–88Anagennisi ArtaFootball League 2 160
1988–89330
1989–90PanathinaikosSuper League 50
1990–91 00
1991–92 00
1992–93 00
1993–94 00
1994–95 50
1995–96 30
1996–97 7010
1997–98 25020
1998–99 19010
1999–00 2802060360
2000–01 2502090340
2001–02 26020160440
2002–03 28010100390
2003–04 1801050240
2004–05OlympiacosSuper League 29060100450
2005–06 2907050410
2006–07 2802060360
2007–08 2803080390
2008–09 28070100450
2009–10 32000120440
2010–11 603030120
Total Greece 418040010005580
Career total 418040010005580

International

[10]

Greece
YearAppsGoals
199950
200070
200150
2002100
2003110
2004160
2005130
200690
200770
200870
Total900

Managerial statistics
As of match played 6 June 2019.
Team From To Record
M W D L Win % Ref.
Greece U21 1 October 2015 6 June 2019 31 14 5 12 045.16 [11]
Total 31 14 5 12 045.16 —

Honours

Club

Panathinaikos

  • Greek Championship: 1989-1990, 1990-1991, 1994-1995, 1995-1996, 2003-2004
  • Greek Cup: 1990-1991, 1992-1993, 1993-1994, 1994-1995, 2003-2004 | runner-up (Silver Medal): 1996-1997, 1997-1998, 1998-1999
  • Greek Super Cup: 1993, 1994 | runner-up (Silver Medal): 1996

Olympiacos

International

Greece

Individual

Managerial

As assistant coach

References
  1. Ôï ÂÇÌÁ onLine – ÁÈËÇÔÉÓÌÏÓ
  2. kathimerini.gr | Archived 28 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  3. IFFHS. Iffhs.de. Retrieved on 19 December 2011.
  4. IFFHS. Iffhs.de. Retrieved on 19 December 2011.
  5. Greece stalwarts hand in their notice Archived 17 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Olympiacos F.C. Statement
  7. Announcement (Greek)
  8. "Saving grace: Europe's favourite goalkeepers". UEFA.com. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  9. "Antonis NIKOPOLIDIS(ƒAƒ"ƒgƒjƒX EƒjƒRƒ|ƒŠƒfƒBƒX) @ LEVEL-K". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  10. "Antonis Nikopolidis - International Appearances". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
  11. "GREECE UNDER 21". Retrieved 21 May 2017.
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