Nikos Liberopoulos

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Nikos Liberopoulos ( Greek: Νίκος Λυμπερόπουλος, born on August 4, 1975 in Filiatra) is a Greek international football player currently playing as a striker for AEK Athens F.C. in the Greek Super League.

[edit] Club career

He is one of the most popular footballers to come out of Peloponnesus. Liberopoulos started off his career with Erani Filiatron, he then moved to Kalamata F.C. in 1994. After impressing scouters, Panathinaikos snap'd him up in 1996, while playing for Panathinaikos he reached the semifinal stage of the UEFA Champions League. Italian clubs, mainly Juventus and Verona showed interest in hiring him, but his loyalty to Panathinaikos kept him in Athens. In 2003 Liberopoulos clashed with Panathinaikos' management over contractual extensions, which eventually led to him leaving the club. He had offers from arch rivals Olympiacos and Olympique de Marseille from France, but he finally chose AEK Athens, where he became a formidable offensive player and inspirational leader.

On June 2007, Liberopoulos was offered a lucrative contract with 1. FC Nuremberg worth 4 million euros, which he declined to remain with AEK Athens. Club president Demis Nikolaidis has publicly announced his intent to retain Liberopoulos at all costs in an effort to bolster AEK Athens chances at achieving dominance in the Greek Super League. Since August 18, 2007 he is the Greek player that has the most appearances in European competitions. ^[1]

At the end of the 2007-2008 season, Nikos is in negotiations with Italian club Lazio for a possible 2 year deal, as the player would like to play in Europe as his career is reaching its peak.

[edit] International career

Liberopoulos has appeared 59 times for Greece scoring 13 goals in the proccess. Liberopoulos is currently active as a forward in the national team, who are currently defending their title as European Champions at Euro 2008. His most notable performance in the Euro 2008 qualifiers to date was a last-second goal 5 minutes into stoppage time to grant Greece a 2-1 victory over Moldova on June 6, 2007, which placed Greece at the top of their qualifying division. Liberopoulos has been known on the international scene as a "super sub", coming off the bench many times in the final quarter of games and scoring the decisive goal. He is a member of the 22-man lineup formed by Coach Otto Rehhagel for Euro 2008.

[edit] Honours

Erani Filiatron

• Greek Fourth Division: 1993

Kalamata

• Greek Second Division: 1995

Individual

• Greek Championship best Greek player: 2000, 2006, 2007
• Greek Championship Top Goalscorer: 2003, 2007

[edit] References

v • d • e Greece squad - UEFA Euro 2008 1 Nikopolidis • 2 Seitaridis • 3 Patsatzoglou • 4 Spiropoulos • 5 Dellas • 6 Basinas • 7 Samaras • 8 Giannakopoulos • 9 Charisteas • 10 Karagounis • 11 Vyntra • 12 Chalkias • 13 Tzorvas • 14 Salpigidis • 15 Torosidis • 16 Kyrgiakos • 17 Gekas • 18 Goumas • 19 Antzas • 20 Amanatidis • 21 Katsouranis • 22 Tziolis • 23 Liberopoulos • Coach: Rehhagel