Terry Antonis

Terry Antonis (born 26 November 1993) is an Australian football (soccer) player who plays for the VVV-Venlo as a midfielder.

Born in Sydney, Antonis played youth football at the Australian Institute of Sport before making his professional debut for Sydney FC, aged sixteen.

Antonis has played for Australia on three occasions and was a member of the squad which won the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. He previously represented Australia frequently at youth level, including at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Early life

Antonis was born in the suburb of Bankstown, Sydney of Greek descent.

He first received media attention in Australia when he was 10 years old when he won a football talent competition on Channel 7 television show, Today Tonight, winning a trip to Madrid to make a training skills DVD with David Beckham.^[2] Frank Farina, former Socceroos coach and judge of the Channel 7 competition said: "His juggling is very good, he pulled out a squash ball and started juggling that and didn't drop it once, he is very impressive."^[3] He also obtained a sponsorship from Adidas because of his exceptional juggling skills.^[4]

Former Australian international Alex Tobin described him as "one of the most outstanding young players that I have seen" and "of immense talent without a doubt."^[3] He has also been touted as natural successor to Tim Cahill and Brett Holman in the Australian national team.^[5]

In addition to holding an Australian passport, Antonis also holds a Greek passport.^[6]

Early career

Antonis began his football career at St Christopher’s Soccer Club in Bankstown before moving to Sydney Olympic and Marconi.^[7]

Antonis signed a five-year contract with Everton at just 14 years of age, but his contract was terminated due to FFA's implementation of FIFA's rule prohibiting the overseas transfers of players under the age of 18.^[8]

Club career

Sydney FC

Antonis with Sydney FC in 2010

On 22 June 2010, he made his debut for Sydney in a friendly game against Macarthur Rams at Campbelltown Stadium.^[9] Then on 5 July 2010, he signed 3-year contract by Sydney FC.^[10] Antonis made his competitive debut for Sydney FC against Wellington Phoenix on 11 September 2010. The game ended with a 2-1 loss. Antonis scored his first goal for Sydney FC on 16 February 2013 against Adelaide United.

After rupturing a muscle in his thigh, Antonis was out for 9 months which denied his move overseas. He finally returned to the senior squad in February 2014, the game of his return against Perth Glory, he scored his first goal since returning from injury.

Speculation and trials

After signing with Sydney FC, he was inked with possible moves to Everton, Inter Milan and Marseille.^[11] Much of the speculation was based on his close personal ties with Everton and Socceroo star Tim Cahill,^[12][13] and further sparked by a 25-minute cameo in a friendly match for Sydney FC against Everton at ANZ Stadium on 10 July 2010.^[14] In February 2012, Antonis reiterated his commitment to Sydney FC and the remainder of his three-year contract, stating that he is more than happy being at the club.^[15]

In April 2012, Antonis travelled to Germany to trial with Bundesliga club Borussia Monchengladbach as a potential replacement for Roman Neustadter.^[16]

At the conclusion of the 2012-13 season, Antonis was approached by Dutch club FC Utrecht for a trial only for Sydney FC to accept bid from Italian Serie A club, Parma.^[17] He signed a four-year deal after Parma triggered a release clause in his two-year deal.^[18] The deal never went through and Antonis to Sydney FC.^[19]

PAOK

The 21-year-old returned to Sydney from the Sky Blues' preseason camp on the Gold Coast with News Corp reporting a $500,000 bid for the midfielder from PAOK FC .^[20]

Greek sources stated that Antonis spoke at length with former Danish international and Technical Director of PAOK Frank Arnesen on the prospects of PAOK's title aspirations that season.

Terry Antonis made his debut for PAOK in the Greek Cup match away to Chania on 3 December 2015, coming on as a 64th-minute substitute for Eyal Golasa. He made his Greek Super League debut on 21 February 2016 away to Panathinaikos as a 84th minute replacement for Giannis Mystakidis.

Loan to Veria

Antonis was loaned out to battling Greek Super League outfit Veria FC which is coached by Georgios Georgiadis, a former PAOK favourite as a player and interim coach.^[21][22] Antonis moved on a one year loan to Veria on 31 August 2016.^[23] Terry Antonis made his first appearance for Veria on 16 October 2016 as a 88th minute substitute for Sisinio González Martínez in the Greek Super League match away to Atromitos. ^[24]

Loan to Western Sydney Wanders

He was subsequently loaned to Western Sydney Wanderers FC for the remainder of the 2016–17 A-League season.^[25] Terry Antonis made his debut for the Western Sydney Wanderers in the away A-League match against the Brisbane Roar on January 28, 2017 as a 77th minute substitute for Mitch Nichols.^[26]

VVV-Venlo

On 8 July 2017, it was announced Antonis had signed with Eredivisie side VVV-Venlo on a two year deal.^[27]

International career

Terry Antonis playing for the Young Socceroos in 2013.

Antonis was part of the final squad for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup but he did not get any actual game time during the tournament. On 23 December 2015, Antonis was included to Australia U-23 national team manager's Aurelio Vidmar selections for Olympic Games 2016 qualifiers, which took place in Doha.^[28]

Career statistics

As of 10 July 2017

Honours

Country

Australia

• AFC Asian Cup: 2015

References

External links

• Terry Antonis at Soccerway
• Terry Antonis – FIFA competition record
• Terry Antonis – UEFA competition record