Sotirios Kyrgiakos

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Personal information
Sotirios Kyrgiakos
Date of birth	July 23, 1979 (1979-07-23) (age 28)
Place of birth	Trikala, Greece
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Eintracht Frankfurt
Number	27
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1998-2005 1999-2001 2005–2006 2006–	Panathinaikos → Agios Nikolaos (loan) Rangers Eintracht Frankfurt	59 (4) 53 (3) 43 (1) 51 (8)
National team²
2002–	Greece	37 (4)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 30, 2008. ² National team caps and goals correct as of May 30, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Sotirios Kyrgiakos (Σωτήριος Κυργιάκος; born 23 July 1979 in Trikala, Greece) is an association football player. He currently plays for Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt, after leaving Scottish Premier League club Rangers F.C. in May 2006. He also plays for the Greece national football team.

1 Career
2 International career
3 External links

[edit] Career

Kyrgiakos made his first football steps with a local team, Thyella Megalochoriou. It didn’t take long for him to be recognized. At the start of the 1996-97 season he became a member of the Panathinaikos soccer academy. He lived and played soccer at the Paiania athletic complex, the club’s training ground.

In the wake of the 1999-2000 season he became a member of Agios Nikolaos, a second division club and won the respect of president Lampros Maris whom Sotirios considers as his second father. He stayed with Agios Nikolaos for two years and in 2001 he took part in the pre-season camp at OFI Crete.

The centre-back injuries at his parent club, Panathinaikos, just before the 3rd Qualifying round matches with Slavia Prague for the 2000-2001 Champions League meant that he had to return to Paiania and become a regular member of the starting line-up.

In a crucial match against rivals Olympiacos, Kyrgiakos famously provoked opposing striker Giovanni to such an extent that the Brazilian star kicked him back and was consequently sent off, while the referee turned a blind eye on Kyrgiakos' behaviour. Panathinaikos went on to score and win that year's title. The following January, he joined Rangers on loan during season 2004-05 with a view to a permanent deal at the end of the season. With his new club he won a second consecutive championship and also the Scottish League Cup scoring two goals in the 5-1 win against Motherwell in the final. He initially failed to agree terms with Rangers and held talks with Everton, Portsmouth and Schalke before finally agreeing a one year deal with Rangers on 30 August 2005. He was released in May 2006 after the contract ran out.

[edit] International career

Kyrgiakos has been capped several times for the Greek national team and was unlucky to miss their Euro 2004 victory through injury. He scored two goals in their Euro 2008 qualifier against Norway in Oslo. The game ended 2-2.

[edit] External links

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