Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos
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| Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos | |
| Date of birth | August 7, 1976 | |
| Place of birth | Piraeus, Greece | |
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | |
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | A.C. Siena | |
| Number | 1 | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1994-2004 1995-1996 2004-2005 2005-2006 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007- |
Olympiacos FC → Proodeftiki (loan) Messina AC Milan → A.S. Roma (loan) Ascoli A.C. Siena |
152 (0) 30 (0) 10 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 14 (0) 12 (0) |
| National team | ||
| 1999-2001 | Greece | 12 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos (born August 7, 1976 in Piraeus) is a Greek goalkeeper who is currently playing for A.C. Siena. In the past he played for the Greek National team.
Contents |
[edit] Football career
[edit] Greece
Born in Piraeus, he is a fanatic of major Greek club Olympiakos FC, where he started playing as a goalie at very early age. Except for 1996, when he was loaned to Proodeftiki FC, he played for the Red and Whites from 1997 to 2003, winning seven championships in a row.
He was the young third goalkeeper in 1997's Olympiakos roster behind Foto Strakosha and Alekos Rantos but injuries and bad games from the previous two made coach Dusan Bajevic to give him a chance. His astonishing performances, which included impossible saves and penalty stops eventually lifted Dimitris to the level of an idol earning the nickname of "The Eagle", being one of the masterpieces for Olympiakos championship after ten years of disappointments.
He lost nearly all the 1998 season due to a severe knee injury, which was worsened by a badly treated arthrosis that also affected his shoulder. This did not prevent a glorious comeback in the 1999 UEFA Champions League, with Olympiakos advancing to quarterfinals for the first time and being chosen as the best goalkeeper in the competition.
Even though, the injuries he suffered left a big "black hole" in his playing abilities, making Dimitris not to be fit enough so as to face cross-threats, conceding some silly goals in decissive games which are still in the mind of the Greek supporters.
[edit] Italy
After several bad games in 2003, he was accused of spoiling his career with nightlife and top models. This criticism eventually led to his decision to leave Greece, and he was transferred to newly-promoted Serie A side Messina, where, despite some great performances, he could not unseat Marco Storari for the #1 jersey.
In the summer of 2005. he was signed by A.C. Milan, but due to a series of subpar performances in friendlies against Chelsea FC and the MLS's Chicago Fire during a summer tour of the United States, coupled with Milan's heavy surplus of goalkeepers, he was loaned to A.S. Roma before being shipped to Ascoli for the '06-07 season.
On February 25, 2007 he played his first Serie A match for Ascoli against Livorno. [1] Despite the black & white's relegation, Dimitris performances were really good, good enough to make his coach to leave former Italian superstar Gianluca Pagliuca on the bench.
On 11 June 2007, he was signed by A.C. Siena on free transfer, for 2 year deal, where despite beginning the season in the starting eleven, he has finished as the substitute goalkeeper behind Austrian international Alex Manninger.[2]
[edit] International career
Dimitrios got his first of twelve senior international caps for Greece in a friendly against Belgium in 1999. From his twelve caps, three were in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the European zone where although having brilliant performances in both games against Germany, he was left aside from the national team after a strong cross with coach Vassilis Daniil, who accused him of bringing women to the concentration hotel.
After Daniil's resignation, everyone though that Otto Rehhagel would "indult" Dimitris. In fact his last game for Greece in 2001 against Finland was Otto Rehhagel's first match in charge of the Greek National Team.
For the Euro 2004 coach Otto chose Antonios Nikopolidis as his starting keeper and Konstantinos Chalkias and Fanis Katergiannakis as substitutes, leaving Dimitris out of the roster.
However, although not being included again in the squad for Euro 2008 he might be recalled for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers where he is expected to compete for the starting keeper position again with Kostas Chalkias,Chrisostomos Michailidis and youngsters Stefanos Kotsolis, Michalis Sifakis or Alexandros Tzorvas, since Nikopolidis decided to put an end to his international career.
[edit] References
- ^ "Tactical Formation". Football-Lineups.com. Retrieved on March 1, 2007.
- ^ 4-3-1-2 Football Formation
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