Giourkas Seitaridis facts for kids
Seitaridis playing for Greece in 2008
|
||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 4 June 1981 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Piraeus, Greece | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.85 m | |||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Right-back, centre-back | |||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | |||||||||||||
| 1998–2001 | PAS Giannina | 40 | (5) | |||||||||||||
| 2001–2004 | Panathinaikos | 77 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | Porto | 23 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Dynamo Moscow | 8 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2006–2009 | Atlético Madrid | 59 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2009–2013 | Panathinaikos | 41 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| Total | 248 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| National team | ||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2010 | Greece | 72 | (1) | |||||||||||||
|
Honours
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
Georgios "Giourkas" Seitaridis (born on 4 June 1981) is a Greek former professional footballer. He played mainly as a right-back and sometimes as a centre-back. Giourkas last played in 2013 for the Greek team Panathinaikos. Before that, he played for clubs like PAS Giannina, Porto, Dynamo Moscow, and Atlético Madrid.
He was also a key player for the Greece national team. He played 72 international games and scored one goal. Giourkas was a big part of the team that won Euro 2004. For his amazing performance, he was chosen for the Team of the Tournament. Interestingly, both his grandfather and father, Dimitris Seitaridis, were also footballers and later became managers.
Contents
Giourkas Seitaridis' Club Career
Starting with PAS Giannina
Giourkas Seitaridis began his professional football journey with PAS Giannina in 1997. This club was sometimes called "Ajax of Epirus". He quickly became an important right full-back for the team.
Seitaridis helped his team get promoted to the Super League 2 in the 1999–2000 season. He played 40 league games for PAS Giannina and scored 5 goals.
Joining Panathinaikos
His talent was soon noticed by Panathinaikos, a big club from Athens. On 12 January 2001, he signed a 5-year contract with them. He quickly became a regular player for the team.
At just 22 years old, he won his first major trophies with Panathinaikos. In the 2003–04 season, the team won both the league title and the Greek Cup. This is known as winning the "double" in football.
He scored his first goal in a European competition against Manchester United. This happened on 7 March 2001, during a UEFA Champions League game. In September 2001, he was named the Greek Young Footballer of the Year.
Playing for Porto
On 11 June 2004, just before the UEFA Euro 2004 tournament, it was announced that Seitaridis would join Porto. Porto was a very strong team at the time, having just won the UEFA Champions League. The official news came out on 26 July 2004.
He helped Porto win two more trophies that year. They won the Portuguese SuperCup and the Intercontinental Cup.
Moving to Dynamo Moscow
On 23 May 2005, Giourkas moved to the Russian team Dynamo Moscow. Several of his former Porto teammates also joined the club that year. However, Seitaridis found it hard to settle in Moscow.
He said the weather was too cold and very different from Greece. He only played 8 league games during his one year there before deciding to leave.
Time at Atlético Madrid
On 16 June 2006, he moved to Atlético Madrid in Spain. He was the second Greek footballer to play for Atlético. His former teammate, Demis Nikolaidis, helped convince him to join.
His first game for Atlético was tough; he was sent off in the first half. He also received another red card just six games into the season. He scored his first goal for Atlético in 2007 during an Intertoto Cup game.
In November 2007, Seitaridis got an injury to his achilles tendon. This meant he needed surgery and was out for about two and a half months. Because of this injury, he only played 14 league games in the 2007–08 season.
The 2008–09 season also started with challenges for him. He lost his regular spot in the team to new players. On 29 April 2009, he was suspended by the club's president. This was because he didn't show up for a home match, even though he wasn't playing. Two weeks later, on 13 May 2009, Atlético announced that Seitaridis was leaving the club.
Returning to Panathinaikos
On 10 September 2009, Giourkas Seitaridis signed a 4-year deal to return to Panathinaikos. He came back to his old team after five years away. At first, he struggled with injuries and wasn't fully fit. He missed most of the 2009–10 season's games.
However, on 21 March 2010, he made a surprise return in a big game against rivals Olympiacos. Panathinaikos ended that season well, winning the "double" again. Seitaridis didn't play in the Greek Cup final due to injury, but he played in two games on the way to the final.
The 2010–11 season started well for him, but another muscle injury kept him out. He was even put on the transfer list in January 2011. Despite offers from other teams, he stayed at Panathinaikos.
The 2011–12 season was even more difficult. He only played 45 minutes in one game and a full 90 minutes in another. The 2012–13 season started better, with him playing in the first three league matches. He also helped with an assist in a UEFA Europa League game against Tottenham Hotspur. In the summer of 2013, his contract ended, and he left the club.
Giourkas Seitaridis' International Career
Youth and Early Senior Career
Giourkas Seitaridis also played for the Greece under-21 team. His first game for them was on 6 October 2000. He played in the 2002 UEFA Under-21 Championship in Switzerland.
He made his debut for the senior Greece national team on 13 February 2002. This was in a friendly match against Sweden.
Winning UEFA Euro 2004
Seitaridis helped Greece qualify for UEFA Euro 2004 in Portugal. This was only the second time in history Greece had reached the tournament. He was one of the most important players during Greece's amazing journey to win the championship. This victory surprised the whole football world, as Greece was not expected to win.
In the first match against Portugal, he won a penalty. In the final game, he also won an important corner kick. His contributions were so great that he was named part of the 23-man UEFA 2004 All-Star squad. Four other Greek players were also in this special team.
FIFA Confederations Cup 2005
Because Greece won Euro 2004, they qualified for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup in Germany. Giourkas Seitaridis was part of the 23-man squad for this tournament.
UEFA Euro 2008 and 2010 FIFA World Cup
He scored his first goal for the national team on 2 June 2007 against Hungary. This was during a Euro 2008 qualifying match, which helped Greece qualify for UEFA Euro 2008. He played twice in the Euro 2008 tournament, but got injured in the second game against Russia.
Even with concerns about his fitness, the Greece national manager, Otto Rehhagel, picked Seitaridis for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He played 90 minutes in the first game of the group stage against South Korea. After this, Seitaridis had played in two European Championships and one World Cup for Greece.
Career Statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| PAS Giannina | 1998–99 | Beta Ethniki | 6 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 6 | 0 |
| 1999–00 | 24 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 24 | 3 | ||
| 2000–01 | Alpha Ethniki | 10 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 10 | 2 | |
| Panathinaikos | 2000–01 | Alpha Ethniki | 12 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 1 | – | – | 14 | 1 |
| 2001–02 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | – | – | 27 | 0 | ||
| 2002–03 | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 29 | 0 | ||
| 2003–04 | 21 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 0 | – | – | 35 | 0 | ||
| Porto | 2004–05 | Primeira Liga | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 0 | – | – | 36 | 0 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 2005 | Russian Premier League | 8 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8 | 0 |
| 2006 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | ||
| Atlético Madrid | 2006–07 | La Liga | 31 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 33 | 0 |
| 2007–08 | 14 | 0 | – | – | 4 | 1 | – | – | 18 | 1 | ||
| 2008–09 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | – | 20 | 0 | ||
| Panathinaikos | 2009–10 | Superleague Greece | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 10 | 0 |
| 2010–11 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 9 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | 24 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 248 | 5 | 22 | 0 | 43 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 315 | 7 | ||
International Goal
- The score column shows the score after Seitaridis scored, with Greece's goals listed first.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 June 2007 | Pankritio Stadium, Heraklion, Greece |  Hungary |
2–0 | 2–0 | Euro 2008 qualifying |
Honours and Achievements
PAS Giannina
- Beta Ethniki: 1999–2000 (Promoted to top league)
Panathinaikos
- Super League Greece: 2003–04, 2009–10 (League Champion)
Greek Cup: 2003–04, 2009–10 (Cup Winner)
.png){kind=small}
Porto
- Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2004 (Super Cup Winner)
- Intercontinental Cup: 2004 (World Club Champion)
Greece National Team
- UEFA European Championship: 2004 (European Champion)
Individual Awards
- Greek Young Footballer of the Year: 2001
- UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 2004
See also
In Spanish: Georgios Seitaridis para niños
