Marinos Ouzounidis

Marinos Ouzounidis (Greek: Μαρίνος Ουζουνίδης, born 10 October 1968) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is the current manager of Romanian club Universitatea Craiova.

Marinos Ouzounidis
Personal information
Date of birth (1968-10-10) 10 October 1968
Place of birth Alexandroupoli, Greece
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 Universitatea Craiova (manager)
Youth career
1983–1986 Ethnikos Alexandroupolis
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1986–1987 Apollon Kalamarias 3 (0)
1987–1992 Skoda Xanthi 140 (16)
1992–1997 Panathinaikos 132 (6)
1997–1999 Le Havre AC 36 (0)
1999–2001 Paniliakos 58 (1)
2001–2003 APOEL 49 (5)
Total 418 (28)
National team
1992–2001 Greece 50 (4)
Teams managed
2004–2005 Kappadokes Alexandroupolis
2005–2006 Skoda Xanthi (assistant)
2006–2008 APOEL
2008–2010 AEL
2010–2011 Iraklis
2011–2013 Skoda Xanthi
2013–2014 Platanias
2014 Ergotelis
2014–2016 Panionios
2016–2018 Panathinaikos
2018–2019 AEK Athens
2020–2021 APOEL
2021– Universitatea Craiova
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Ouzounidis started his professional career playing for Greek club Skoda Xanthi as a defender from 1987 until 1992.

He then transferred to Panathinaikos where he developed excellent skills as a libero defender, becoming an essential member of the brilliant team that conquered 1995 and 1996 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 until 2001.

Ouzounidis finally left for APOEL in Cyprus and after winning the championship and the Super Cup in 2002, he retired there after the 2002–03 season.

Ouzounidis' international career comprises fifty games with the "Ethniki",[1] and was even the team captain during Vassilis Daniil management, making a remarkable couple with Nikos Dabizas, before Traianos Dellas' appearance.

Managerial career

When he finished his career as a football player, Ouzounidis managed the team of Kappadokes Alexandoupolis (4th division) as head coach. Later, in the 2005–06 season, he served as an assistant manager in Xanthi. In May 2006 he became the manager at APOEL. His first season was a very good one finishing first and winning the Championship 3 games before the end of the season. His team also reached the semi-finals of the Cypriot Cup. 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 had found themselves just above the relegation zone.[2] On 9 August, Ouzounidis signed a contract with Iraklis.[3] On 31 January 2011, with the club being only three points above relegation he resigned from his position as manager.[4] In May 2011, Ouzounidis returned to Skoda Xanthi, where he stayed until September 2012, resigning his post after suffering a 0−3 home loss vs. PAOK.

In the summer of 2013, Ouzounidis took over management of Superleague side Platanias, but left the club toward the end of 2013. In January 2014, he was appointed manager of fellow Cretan top tier club Ergotelis, replacing Giannis Petrakis in mid season.[5] 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, 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.[6] 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 over a potential career move.[7]

On 1 December 2016, Ouzounidis agreed upon a one-and-a-half-year contract with Panathinaikos to take over the vacant managerial role at the club, right after the departure of former manager Andrea Stramaccioni.[8] His first game in charge was a 1–0 victory over PAOK at Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium three days later.[9] 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.[10]

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.[11] After the first half of the 2018–19 Super League Greece 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 group stage, being eliminated after losing all six group matches, scoring only 2 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.

Managerial statistics
As of 18 October 2020
Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
APOEL 1 July 2006 7 January 2008 57 37 10 10 064.91
AEL 1 July 2008 22 February 2010 63 18 21 24 028.57
Iraklis 9 August 2010 31 January 2011 23 6 9 8 026.09
Skoda Xanthi* 1 July 2011 21 April 2013 59 21 15 23 035.59
Platanias 28 May 2013 4 November 2013 11 1 5 5 009.09
Ergotelis 20 January 2014 14 May 2014 14 7 2 5 050.00
Panionios 9 December 2014 8 August 2016 70 28 20 22 040.00
Panathinaikos 1 December 2016 7 May 2018 71 35 18 18 049.30
AEK Athens 25 May 2018 5 February 2019 34 18 7 9 052.94
APOEL 12 February 2020 28 October 2020 16 5 5 6 031.25
Career totals 418 176 112 130 042.11
  • with a break between 22 September 2012 till 3 December 2012

Honours

As a player

Panathinaikos

APOEL

As a manager

APOEL

Individual

References
  1. Mamrud, Roberto (21 December 2009). "Greece – Record International Players". RSSSF.
  2. "Ο Γιάννης Παπακώστας νέος προπονητής στη Λάρισα" (in Greek). enet.gr. 22 February 2010. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  3. "Επισήμως στον Ηρακλή ο Ουζουνίδης" (in Greek). kathimerini.gr. 9 August 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  4. Πήδηξε από το καράβι (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 31 January 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  5. Ανέλαβε τον Εργοτέλη ο Ουζουνίδης
  6. "Τέλος ο Ουζουνίδης από τον Πανιώνιο". Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  7. "Τέλος ο Ουζουνίδης από τον Πανιώνιο". Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  8. "Ανέλαβε τον Παναθηναϊκό ο Ουζουνίδης". Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  9. "Τον άφησε... άγαλμα!". Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  10. team, Onsports (7 May 2018). "Ανακοίνωσε το τέλος του από τον Παναθηναϊκό ο Ουζουνίδης". Onsports.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  11. "Συμφωνία ΑΕΚ με Ουζουνίδη για δύο χρόνια". Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  12. "Griezmann named La Liga player of year, Diego Simeone top coach". ESPN FC. Associated Press. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Nikos Machlas		 Greece captain
1999–2001		 Succeeded by
Theodoros Zagorakis
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