Lazaros Christodoulopoulos
 Christodoulopoulos with Greece in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lazaros Christodoulopoulos | ||
| Date of birth | 19 December 1986 | ||
| Place of birth | Thessaloniki, Greece | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Winger Attacking midfielder Central midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Hellas Verona | ||
| Number | 20 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| PAOK | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2005–2008 | PAOK | 56 | (8) |
| 2008–2013 | Panathinaikos | 89 | (15) |
| 2013–2014 | Bologna | 39 | (3) |
| 2014– | Hellas Verona | 21 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2005–2006 | Greece U-19 | 7 | (2) |
| 2006–2008 | Greece U-21 | 13 | (7) |
| 2008– | Greece | 21 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of April 20, 2015. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (Greek: Λάζαρος Χριστοδουλόπουλος; born 19 December 1986) is a Greek footballer who plays for Serie A club Hellas Verona and the Greek national team. His main strengths are his technique, pace and acceleration with the ball. Like his Greek teammate Sokratis Papastathopoulos, his surname is too big to fit on his shirt, so his shirt says Lazaros instead.
Club career
PAOK
Christodoulopoulos started his career when he was picked up by Omonoia Sindos (in Thessaloniki) at a young age, and then Neapoli. His impressive performances caught the eye of a PAOK scout, and joined PAOK in the summer of 2004. He has been a mainstay in the PAOK first team proving to be a vital team player.
As of 2008 many European clubs were interested in signing him. He was contracted to P.A.O.K. until 2008 with minimum fee release clause of €6 million.
In the summer of 2006 he was given a trial by English giants Liverpool but PAOK was reluctant to sell him at the point. This started a dispute that prevented him from playing for more than half of the 2006–07 season. He was nicknamed the "The Builder" by the local media, because during his fall-out in relations with PAOK, he stated that he would be better off being a construction worker than playing for PAOK again.
Panathinaikos
On June 20, 2008, Christodoulopoulos agreed a deal in principle to join Panathinaikos FC for €3.8 million.[2] Christodoulopoulos signed a four-year contract with the club.[3] On February 18, 2010, Christodoulopoulos scored against A.S. Roma after coming on, for the UEFA Europa League round of 32.
The 2011–12 season didn't start well for him, as he faced a serious knee injury during pre-season which led him to surgery. The club doctors said that he would be expected to return after five months. After months of therapy and special treatment, he joined the rest of the team at training in December. On December 29, 2011, the club president announced that Christodoulopoulos had agreed to sign a new three-year contract until 2015 since his contract was going to expire during the end of the 2011–12 season. On January 7, Liverpool were apparently interested in signing Christodoulopoulos, the former trialist at the club, for £2,000,000 (€4,500,000).
Christodoulopoulos began 2012–13 by scoring in European and championship matches. He was given the number "10". He and Ibrahim Sissoko were the most important players for the season. In December, in order for Panathinaikos' president, Giannis Alafouzos, to save money for the team, he released players with high-paying contacts; as a result Christodoulopoulos was released alongside Nikos Spyropoulos, Loukas Vyntra, Antonis Petropoulos and Sebastian Leto.
Bologna
On 31 January 2013 Lazaros was transferred to Bologna F.C. on a free transfer. On 26 February 2013 Lazaros made his debut against Fiorentina coming as a substitute and scoring a goal in a 2-1 win.
The departure of Alessandro Diamanti in January has opened its doors as a starter for Lazaros Christodoulopoulos. The Greek attacking midfielder has proved ready and able to take advantage of the chances he had, becoming one of the linchpins of the team coached by Davide Ballardini.
On March 2014, Lazaros Christodoulopoulos netted a late consolation penalty in a 2-1 away loss against Livorno.[4] It was his first goal in the season. A week later, Lazaros Christodoulopoulos gave Bologna's survival hopes a massive boost with a crucial 1-0 win over Cagliari at the Dal’Ara. He was outstanding for the club and at the heart of the club's excellent attacking football so it was no surprise when he swept home the winner from the penalty spot. Lazaros curled a free kick over the top for Bologna before being denied by another brilliant save with 15 minutes to go after again jinking past defenders and letting loose. Two minutes afterwards, the man of the match involved in everything was at the centre of controversy when the referee adjudged Daniele Dessena to have pushed him to the ground inside the box. The spot kick was awarded and Lazaros stepped up to provide the cool conversion and give his side a priceless win.[5]
On 16 May 2014, was a tension in training at Bologna campus, a few days after the last challenge at the Olimpico against Lazio ending a disappointing season that led to relegation to Serie B. An entry of Cesare Natali's hard training on Lazaros Christodoulopoulos, sparked the reaction of the Greek midfielder. Lazaros is afraid to get hurt and jeopardize his participation at the 2014 World Cup.[6]
Bologna, after relegation, will proceed with the disposal of its most popular players. As reported TuttoSport, one of the starters will be the Greek midfielder Lazaros Christodoulopoulos. The player has become the object of desire in Italy especially for Torino, Palermo and Fiorentina.[7] The key element in his game is that the Greek midfielder knows how to take responsibility when the team is in trouble.[8]
Hellas Verona
Hellas Verona have officially signed a three-years' contract with Greek international Lazaros Christodoulopoulos from Bologna for €1,3 million. The deal had been in the works over the last few days and hit problems when Verona's player Domenico Maietta refused a move the other way. On 30 June 2014, Hellas Verona released a statement confirming Christodoulopoulos has been bought outright without the need for an exchange.[9][10]
International career
After impressing Greece coach Otto Rehhagel, he was called to the Greek national football team for the first time on February 1, 2008[11] and made his debut in the win over the Czech Republic on February 5. Fernando Santos's team went ahead in the 20th minute through Christodoulopoulos's strike who headed the only goal as Greece secured a well-deserved 1-0 victory over Lithuania in the 2014 World Cup qualifier which kept them in touch with Group G leaders Bosnia-Herzegovina. [12]
International goals
- Scores and results list Greece's goal tally first.
| No | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | June 7, 2013 | LFF Stadium, Vilnius, Lithuania |  Lithuania | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Honours
Panathinaikos
- Super League Greece: 2009–10
- Greek Football Cup: 2010
Career statistics
Club
- As of April 20, 2015
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental[A] | Others[B] | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| PAOK | 2004–05 | 1 | 0 | – | – | - | - | – | – | 1 | 0 |
| 2005–06 | 24 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | – | – | 25 | 3 | |
| 2006–07 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 8 | 2 | |
| 2007–08 | 25 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | – | – | 27 | 4 | |
| Total | 57 | 8 | 4 | 1 | - | - | – | – | 61 | 9 | |
| Panathinaikos | 2008–09 | 19 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 0 | – | – | 28 | 6 |
| 2009–10 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | – | – | 27 | 2 | |
| 2010–11 | 26 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | - | - | 34 | 7 | |
| 2011–12 | 17 | 3 | - | - | - | - | – | – | 17 | 3 | |
| 2012–13 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | – | – | 21 | 5 | |
| Total | 89 | 15 | 11 | 5 | 27 | 3 | - | - | 127 | 23 | |
| Bologna | 2012–13 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | – | – | 12 | 1 |
| 2013–14 | 27 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | – | – | 29 | 2 | |
| Total | 39 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | – | – | 41 | 3 | |
| Verona | 2014–15 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | – | – | 23 | 2 |
| Total | 21 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | – | – | 23 | 2 | |
| Career total | 205 | 27 | 19 | 7 | 27 | 3 | - | - | 251 | 37 | |
Notes
- A. ^ Includes appearances in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
- B. ^ Includes appearances in the Superleague Greece play-offs.
References
- ↑ "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 11 June 2014. p. 18. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
- ↑ SPORTACTION – Παναθηναϊκός
- ↑ Christodoulopoulos signed for Panathinaikos FC
- ↑ Livorno - Bologna 2-1
- ↑ "Bologna 1-0 Cagliari: Outstanding Lazaros fires Felsinei to massive win". forzaitalianfootball.com.
- ↑ "Tensione Bologna: lite fra Natali e Lazaros". corrieredellosport.it.
- ↑ "Mercato, anche la Fiorentina interessata a Lazaros Christodoulopoulos del Bologna".
- ↑ "Mercato Bologna: Lazaros Christodoulopoulos osservato speciale di due club italiani". forzaitalianfootball.com. 23 April 2014.
- ↑ "Christodoulopoulos to Verona". football-italia.net. 1 July 2014.
- ↑ "Επίσημα στην Βερόνα ο Χριστοδουλόπουλος!". sentragoal.gr. 1 July 2014.
- ↑ Greece bearing gifts for Stoltidis
- ↑ Christodoulopoulos strikes earns Greece victory over Lithuania
External links
- Lazaros Christodoulopoulos – FIFA competition record
- Lazaros Christodoulopoulos – UEFA competition record
- ESPN FC profile
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