Nikos Liberopoulos

Nikos Liberopoulos

Liberopoulos in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Nikolaos Liberopoulos
Date of birth	(1975-08-04) 4 August 1975
Place of birth	Filiatra, Greece
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Striker / Attacking midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1991–1994	Erani Filiatrion	53	(33)
1994–1996	Kalamata	78	(20)
1996–2003	Panathinaikos	186	(103)
2003–2008	AEK Athens	141	(67)
2008–2010	Eintracht Frankfurt	57	(13)
2010–2012	AEK Athens	53	(33)
Total		568	(259)
National team‡
1996–2012	Greece	76	(13)
Honours UEFA European U-21 Championship 1998 Greek Cup 2011
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 May 2012. † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:18, 22 June 2012 (UTC)

Nikolaos "Nikos" Liberopoulos (Greek: Νίκος Λυμπερόπουλος; born on 4 August 1975) is a retired Greek international footballer who played as a striker. He is famous for his aim-to-goal shot, his innate in-play instincts, and his technical attacking skills. Liberopoulos is a unique player in Greek domestic football, as he is equally adored by fans of both AEK Athens and Panathinaikos. Due to the tense rivalry between the Greek clubs, this happens very rarely. He is the only player to be recorded in the top ten scorers of all time for both these teams. Indeed, after seven seasons at Panathinaikos Liberopoulos scored 103 goals. On 10 May 2012, he reached a milestone 100 goals for AEK Athens after a brace against Atromitos, making him the only player in history to score a century of goals for both Athens clubs.

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 an impressive debut season in Greece's top division, AEK Athens and Olympiakos F.C. tried to sign him during the summer of 1996 yet Panathinaikos managed to snap him up.

Panathinaikos F.C.

In summer 1996, he signed for Panathinaikos. With them he reached the semi-final stage of the UEFA Champions League. Italian clubs, mainly Juventus and Hellas Verona showed interest in hiring him, but his loyalty to Panathinaikos kept him in Athens. In 2003, Liberopoulos clashed with Panathinaikos' board which eventually led to him leaving the club.

AEK Athens

Following his departure from Panathinaikos he was ready to join Sochaux but he finally chose his childhood club AEK Athens where he became a formidable offensive player and inspirational leader. He went to score several times against his former team but never celebrated earning the fans' applause and a standing ovation for his action. He helped AEK Athens scoring 79 times in his 195 appearances and earning a top scorer award during the 2006–07 season. His most important goals originated from two long range shots, the one against Lille OSC (AEK Athens won 1–0) and the other against Olympiakos F.C. (AEK Athens won 4–0). During 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 had publicly announced his intent to retain Lymperopoulos at all costs in an effort to bolster AEK Athens' chances at achieving dominance in the Greek Super League. On 7 July 2008, Liberopoulos was released by AEK.^[1] German team Eintracht Frankfurt announced his signing on 13 July 2008.

Eintracht Frankfurt

Liberopoulos signed a two-year deal and received the number 10 shirt. He made his German Bundesliga debut for Eintracht Frankfurt, playing the full 90 minutes against Hertha BSC on 17 August 2008 at the Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt. Liberopoulos scored his first goal against Mainz 05. He won 55 caps scoring 13 goals in all competitions.

AEK Athens

Liberopoulos again signed for AEK Athens in the summer of 2010 and put in an impressive display in AEK's 5–3 win against Australian A-League club Sydney FC on 25 July 2010, scoring one goal and setting up two others. Liberopoulos also scored against Blackburn three days later. He made his Superleague Greece debut against Kerkyra and scored his first official goal in a UEFA Europa League match against Hajduk Split. On 19 January 2010, in a Greek Cup match against Panathinaikos he scored two goals leading his team to victory. Liberopoulos was applauded during his substitution later in that game by some of Panathinaikos' fans despite their team's defeat. After the match Liberopoulos said "I have spent seven nice years in Panathinaikos in which I matured as a player. I keep only the positive things, but now for me AEK is my family and I will do everything for the team." and about the Panathinaikos' fans ovation "It means a lot to me. It's a great feeling to be applauded during your substitution. There were some hoots also but even if the whole stadium was hooting at me that would not have changed what I have said earlier about my feelings for Panathinaikos".^[2] On 30 May 11, Liberopulos won his first trophy in his career with AEK winning the Greek Cup 2010–11 against Atromitos 0–3 while also scoring the first goal and was awarded MVP of the match.

On 16 June 2011, Liberopoulos signed a new one-year deal keeping him at the club until 2012.^[3] Also, his teammate Traianos Dellas decided to stay for one year in AEK in order to stop his professional career with his best friend, Nikos Liberopoulos.

On 20 May 2012, he had his last match with AEK against Panathinaikos. A lot of Panathinaikos and AEK fans respected him with a standing ovation when he was exiting the stadium.

International career

Liberopoulos appeared 76 times in total for Greece scoring 13 goals in the process. His most notable performance in the Euro 2008 qualifiers to date was a last-second goal five minutes into stoppage time to grant Greece a 2–1 victory over Moldova on 6 June 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 was a member of the 23-man squad formed by coach Otto Rehhagel for UEFA Euro 2008.

On 11 September 2009, Liberopoulos announced his retirement from international football,^[4] But he returned to the national squad about a year later when he was recalled by the new coach Fernando Santos.

He was also called for UEFA Euro 2012 by the coach Fernando Santos. Liberopoulos announced his retirement from international football after Greece lost to German 4–2 in the Euro 2012 quarter finals on 22 June 2012.^[5]

Records

• He had a total 88 appearances in European competitions which was a record for a Greek striker, till the end of his career.

Statistics

Club

International

Nikos Liberopoulos: International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
01	14 October 1998	Athens Olympic Sports Complex, Athens, Greece	Georgia	2–0	3–0	2000 UEQ
02	18 August 1999	Kavala Stadium, Kavala, Greece	El Salvador	1–0	3–1	Friendly
03	18 August 1999	Kavala Stadium, Kavala, Greece	El Salvador	2–1	3–1	Friendly
04	20 August 1999	Kavala Stadium, Kavala, Greece	El Salvador	2–0	3–0	Friendly
05	18 December 1999	Trikala Stadium, Trikala, Greece	Estonia	2–2	2–2	Friendly
06	3 June 2000	Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania	Romania	2–1	2–1	Friendly
07	7 October 2000	Athens Olympic Sports Complex, Athens, Greece	Finland	1–0	1–0	2002 WCQ
08	14 November 2001	Athens, Greece	Cyprus	1–1	1–2	Friendly
09	7 September 2005	Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan	1–2	1–2	2006 WCQ
10	2 September 2006	Zimbru Stadium, Chişinău, Moldova	Moldova	0–1	0–1	2008 UEQ
11	6 June 2007	Pankritio Stadium, Heraklion, Greece	Moldova	2–1	2–1	2008 UEQ
12	13 October 2007	Athens Olympic Sports Complex, Athens, Greece	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3–1	3–2	2008 UEQ
13	24 May 2008	Stadium Puskás Ferenc, Budapest, Hungary	Hungary	3–2	3–2	Friendly

Honours

AEK Athens

• Greek Cup: 1

2011

Greece

• UEFA Euro U21: Runner-up 1998

Individual

• Greek Young Footballer of the year: 1

1996

• Greek Footballer of the year: 3

2000, 2006, 2007

• Greek Super League top scorer: 2

2003, 2007

References

Greece squads Greece squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Nikopolidis 2 Seitaridis 3 Patsatzoglou 4 Spyropoulos 5 Dellas 6 Basinas (c) 7 Samaras 8 Giannakopoulos 9 Charisteas 10 Karagounis 11 Vyntra 12 Chalkias 13 Tzorvas 14 Salpingidis 15 Torosidis 16 Kyrgiakos 17 Gekas 18 Goumas 19 Antzas 20 Amanatidis 21 Katsouranis 22 Tziolis 23 Liberopoulos Coach: Rehhagel Greece squad – UEFA Euro 2012 1 Chalkias 2 Maniatis 3 Tzavellas 4 Malezas 5 K. Papadopoulos 6 Makos 7 Samaras 8 A. Papadopoulos 9 Liberopoulos 10 Karagounis (c) 11 Mitroglou 12 Tzorvas 13 Sifakis 14 Salpingidis 15 Torosidis 16 Fotakis 17 Gekas 18 Ninis 19 Papastathopoulos 20 Holebas 21 Katsouranis 22 Fortounis 23 Fetfatzidis Coach: Santos