Papastathopoulos playing for Milan in July 2010 |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sokratis Papastathopoulos | ||
| Date of birth | 9 June 1988 | ||
| Place of birth | Kalamata, Greece | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Playing position | Centre back / Right back | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Werder Bremen (on loan from Genoa) | ||
| Number | 22 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Apollon Petalidiou | |||
| AEK Athens | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2005–2008 | AEK Athens | 38 | (1) |
| 2006 | → Niki Volou (loan) | 11 | (0) |
| 2008–2010 | Genoa | 51 | (2) |
| 2010–2011 | Milan | 5 | (0) |
| 2011– | Genoa | 0 | (0) |
| 2011– | → Werder Bremen (loan) | 14 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2003–2005 | Greece U-17 | 11 | (2) |
| 2005–2007 | Greece U-19 | 13 | (2) |
| 2007–2010 | Greece U-21 | 7 | (2) |
| 2008– | Greece | 25 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10 December 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Greek: Σωκράτης Παπασταθόπουλος) (born 9 June 1988) is a Greek professional footballer who plays for Werder Bremen on loan from Genoa and the Greek national team, as a defender. Since the surname Papastathopoulos cannot fit on his club shirt, his first name Sokratis is usually displayed instead; however, a common nickname for him is Papa.[1] He is often compared to the likes of Stelios Manolas and Tony Adams by fans and is the youngest player ever to captain AEK Athens.
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Papastathopoulos joined AEK Athens from Apollon Petalidiou. On 26 October 2005 he made his debut for AEK Athens in a Greek Cup match against PAS Giannina scoring in the 7th minute of the game leading AEK Athens to a 3–0 win.
In January 2006 he was loaned to Greek Second Division club Niki Volou for six months in order to gain first team football and gather valuable experience. He made a total of 15 appearances for Niki Volou.
During the 2006–07 Greek Super League, Papastathopoulos managed to make 14 appearances whilst competing against the likes of Bruno Cirillo, Traianos Dellas and Vangelis Moras. In AEK Athens' 2006–07 UEFA Champions League campaign, Papastathopoulos managed to play in 3 out of the 6 group games. In these 3 games AEK Athens managed 1 win (the famous 1–0 victory over Milan), 1 draw (the 2–2 away draw with Anderlecht) and one loss (the 3–1 away defeat to Lille). During the 2007–08 Greek Super League, he has been a mainstay in AEK's defence, keeping out competition from Geraldo Alves.
On 1 August 2008, Papastathopoulos agreed to transfer to Genoa, a Serie A team, for undisclosed fee.[2] He also played a club friendly against Genoa on the same day.[3]
He made his debut for Genoa on 27 September 2008 against Fiorentina, followed by a start against Ravenna Calcio in the Coppa Italia a few days later. His first goal for Genoa came on the 5 October 2008 at home against Napoli. Genoa won the game 3–2, but Papastathopoulos was sent off in the 89th minute [4] During the 2009–10 season he has managed to play in most games and has become somewhat of a fan favorite.
On 20 July 2010, it was confirmed in Milan's website that Papastathopoulos has joined the team, after Genoa and Milan had reached an agreement to transfer Papastathopoulos to the club for €14 million, with the following payment schedule: Gianmarco Zigoni (half of registration rights valued €3.75M), Nnamdi Oduamadi (half rights valued €3.5M) and Rodney Strasser (half rights €2.25M) in co-ownership deal, plus €4.5 million cash.[5][6][7]
On 24 May 2011, Adriano Galliani and Enrico Preziosi formed a verbal agreement to solve the players ownership (subject to player agreements) including Kevin-Prince Boateng, Alberto Paloschi, Marco Amelia and Giacomo Beretta. The deal included Milan bought back Gianmarco Zigoni, Rodney Strasser and Nnamdi Oduamadi, while Genoa bought back Papastathopoulos.[8]
At the 2007 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship in Austria, Papastathopoulos was captain of the Greece national team but controversially missed out on the final against Spain due to a suspension. Papastathopoulos picked up his second yellow card of the tournament against Germany in the semi-final, following up on his first yellow card against Austria in the group stage. The Hellenic Football Federation tried to appeal the yellow card to UEFA but were rejected. The match referee of the Germany game, Kevin Blom, apologized to Papastathopoulos for giving him the yellow, as it was later shown on video that it was not a booking. Papastathopoulos was a key figure of Greece's defensive line and was sorely missed the final.
He was called up on 1 February 2008[9] and made his debut on 5 February 2008 in the 1–0 friendly victory against Czech Republic. The Greece squad for Euro 2008 was announced by Otto Rehhagel on 27 May 2008, and Papastathopoulos was the unfortunate player to be cut from the provisional squad of 24 to the final 23-man selection.[10]
He was recalled for a friendly against Slovakia on 10 August 2008, about a month after Euro 2008. From then, he has been a regular squad member for Greece. He featured in 4 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches and helped his country to qualify for the final tournament.
| Team | Season | Domestic League |
Domestic Cup |
Continental Competition1 |
Other Tournaments2 |
Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| AEK Athens | 2005–06 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 2 | 1 | |
| Niki Volou | 2006 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 11 | 0 | ||
| AEK Athens | 2006–07 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | 19 | 0 | |
| 2007–08 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 37 | 1 | |
| Total[11] | 38 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 58 | 2 | |
| Genoa | 2008–09 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 23 | 2 | ||
| 2009–10 | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | 36 | 0 | ||
| Total | 51 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 2 | |
| Milan | 2010–11 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 7 | 0 | |
| Werder Bremen | 2011–12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 12 | 0 | |
| Career Total | 113 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 146 | 4 | |
1Continental competitions include the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup.
2Other tournaments include Greek Superleague playoffs.
| National team | Season | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greece | 2008 | 6 | 0 |
| 2009 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 20 | 0 | |
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