Michalis Konstantinou

Michalis Konstantinou (Greek: Μιχάλης Κωνσταντίνου; born 19 February 1978) is a retired Cypriot football striker. He played for the Cyprus national football team, and he is the all-time leading scorer with 32 goals in 85 appearances. He also played for Iraklis, Panathinaikos and Olympiacos in Greece.

Michalis Konstantinou
Personal information
Full name Michalis Konstantinou
Date of birth (1978-02-19) 19 February 1978
Place of birth Deryneia, Cyprus
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Paralimni
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1997 Paralimni 68 (31)
1997–2001 Iraklis 119 (60)
2001–2005 Panathinaikos 94 (34)
2005–2008 Olympiacos 57 (17)
2008–2009 Iraklis 13 (3)
2009–2011 Omonia 59 (34)
2011–2012 Anorthosis Famagusta 15 (3)
2012–2013 AEL Limassol 19 (6)
Total 444 (188)
National team‡
1998–2012 Cyprus[1] 85 (32)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 May 2013
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 September 2012

Club career

Early

Born in Paralimni, he got his start in professional football playing for hometown side Enosis Neon Paralimni, for whom he scored 17 goals in 25 games in the 1996/97 season and became top goal scorer of Cypriot Championship.

Iraklis Thessaloniki

Picked up by Iraklis Thessaloniki in Greece in 1997, his four seasons produced a total of 61 goals in 119 appearances as he also played in the UEFA Cup.

Panathinaikos

In 2001, in a deal which took three Panathinaikos players to Iraklis, Konstantinou transferred to Panathinaikos for €15 million. It was a successful purchase, but many believed that the young Cypriot striker was worth less than the expenditure of €15 million made by Panathinaikos – the highest figure ever paid for a player in the Greek Superleague. With Panathinaikos, he had the opportunity to play in the Champions League, earning praise for his performances in attack. There he found with the Portuguese players Paulo Sousa and later Robert Jarni, taking Panathinakos a long way in the competition. He scored a beautiful 45m goal in the Nou Camp return in the quarter-final against Barcelona in the Champions 2001/02. Panathinaikos seemed to ensure its marking the semi-finals, as they were needed 3 goals to go to the Spaniards. Barça, however, came back and won 3–1, qualifying for the semi-finals.

In 2004/05 he had 15 goals. Konstantinou scored against the champions in a 1–0 home win, at the end of the season Konstantinou did not renew with Panathinaikos, because he stated that he was going to continue his footballing career in a league of higher value to gain better experience.

That summer though, he was not signed by a club overseas and was signed by Olympiacos.

Olympiakos

As an Olympiacos player he won with his team the double for 2005/06 and made it two in his career. At the Greek Cup final in 2005/06, where Olympiacos beat AEK Athens 3–0, Konstantinou scored Olympiacos' first goal. He also notably scored a late strike to make it 1–2 in the early season league victory of Olympiacos against AEK Athens (final score 1–3) and a crowd-pleaser against his former team, Panathinaikos, to make it 3–1 (match ended 3–2). He became for the second consecutive time champion again with Olympiakos in 2007, even though the season was full of personal injuries and bad luck, he still managed to perform well on some important matches, most notably scoring on the away Champions League match at Shakhtar Donetsk. During the 2007–2008 season, he has suffered from injuries and has lost his starting position to Darko Kovacevic. It was the last season at Olympiakos.

Iraklis Thessaloniki

Konstantinou started the 2008–09 season in Greece at Iraklis where he started his career in Greece in 1997. He spent some seasons at Iraklis before going to Panathinaikos back in 1997. Here he played 13 matches of which he scored three goals.

Omonoia Nicosia

Halfway through the 2008–2009 season, Konstantinou was transferred to Cyprus to play for Omonia. During the 2009–2010 season, he scored several goals for the club, including in derbies against rivals APOEL, Anorthosis, and Apollon. After taking a leadership and mentor role with the team in his first full season in 2010, Konstantinou helped Omonoia to win its 20th Cypriot Championship and in the club he found his couch Takis Lemonis that was also his coach in Olympiacos.

Anorthosis Famagusta

In Summer 2011, Konstantinou signed a contract with Anorthosis Famagusta.

AEL Limasssol

In Summer 2012, Konstantinou signed a one-year contract with AEL Limassol.

Retirement

In January 2014, he announced his retirement from football as a player.[2]

International career

He made his international debut against Albania in August 1998 and subsequently averaged almost a goal every other game in his first 35 caps. His first two goals came 10 February 1999 against San Marino at Tsirion Stadium (final score 4–0).

International goals
Michalis Konstantinou: International goals
GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
110 February 1999Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus San Marino2–04–0Euro 2000 qualifying
210 February 1999Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus San Marino3–04–0Euro 2000 qualifying
32 February 2000Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus Lithuania1–02–1Cyprus International Tournament
42 February 2000Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus Lithuania2–12–1Cyprus International Tournament
52 September 2000Estadi Comunal d'Andorra la Vella, Andorra la Vella, Andorra Andorra0–12–32002 World Cup qualifying
62 September 2000Estadi Comunal d'Andorra la Vella, Andorra la Vella, Andorra Andorra2–32–32002 World Cup qualifying
728 March 2001Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus Estonia1–02–22002 World Cup qualifying
815 August 2001A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia Estonia0–12–22002 World Cup qualifying
915 August 2001A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia Estonia1–22–22002 World Cup qualifying
105 September 2001Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus Portugal1–01–32002 World Cup qualifying
1112 February 2002GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus  Switzerland1–01–1Cyprus International Tournament
1213 February 2002GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus Czech Republic3–33–4Cyprus International Tournament
1329 January 2003GSZ Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus Greece1–01–2Friendly
142 April 2003Bežigrad Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia Slovenia1–14–1Euro 2004 qualifying
157 June 2003Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta Malta0–11–2Euro 2004 qualifying
167 June 2003Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta Malta0–21–2Euro 2004 qualifying
1718 August 2004GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus Albania1–02–1Friendly
1818 August 2004GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus Albania2–02–1Friendly
198 September 2004Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel Israel0–12–12006 World Cup qualifying
209 October 2004GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus Faroe Islands1–02–22006 World Cup qualifying
2117 August 2005Svangaskarð, Toftir, Faroe Islands Faroe Islands0–10–32006 World Cup qualifying
2217 August 2005Svangaskarð, Toftir, Faroe Islands Faroe Islands0–20–32006 World Cup qualifying
237 October 2006GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus Republic of Ireland1–15–2Euro 2008 qualifying
247 October 2006GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus Republic of Ireland3–25–2Euro 2008 qualifying
258 September 2007Dasaki Stadium, Achna, Cyprus Armenia3–13–1Friendly
2611 October 2008Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi, Georgia Georgia0–11–12010 World Cup qualifying
2728 March 2009Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus Georgia1–02–12010 World Cup qualifying
286 June 2009Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus Montenegro1–02–22010 World Cup qualifying
2910 October 2009Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus Bulgaria3–14–12010 World Cup qualifying
3011 August 2010Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus Andorra1–01–0Friendly
313 September 2010Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimarães, Portugal Portugal1–24–4Euro 2012 qualifying
329 February 2011Paralimni Stadium, Paralimni, Cyprus Romania1–11–1Cyprus International Tournament

Honours

Panathinaikos

Olympiacos

Omonia

Individual

1996–97 – Paralimni

References
  1. "Cyprus – Record International Players". rssf.com. 9 May 2008. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
  2. uefa.com (16 January 2014). "Member associations - Cyprus - News". UEFA.com.
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