Nikos Liberopoulos facts for kids
Liberopoulos in 2012
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Nikolaos Liberopoulos | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 4 August 1975 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Filiatra, Greece | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.87 m | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Forward, attacking midfielder | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1991–1993 | Erani Filiatra | 53 | (33) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1996 | Kalamata | 78 | (20) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1996–2003 | Panathinaikos | 185 | (72) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2008 | AEK Athens | 142 | (66) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2010 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 50 | (10) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2012 | AEK Athens | 53 | (18) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 561 | (219) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| National team | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996–1998 | Greece U21 | 23 | (15) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1996–2012 | Greece | 76 | (13) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1997 | Greece military | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Honours
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Nikolaos "Nikos" Liberopoulos (born on 4 August 1975) is a retired Greek professional footballer. He played as a forward for many years. Nikos was known for his powerful shots towards the goal. He also had great instincts during games and excellent attacking skills.
Liberopoulos is a special player in Greek football. Fans of both AEK Athens and Panathinaikos loved him. He is the only player to be among the top ten goal scorers for both of these big Athens teams. After seven seasons at Panathinaikos, he scored 72 goals. He later scored 84 goals for AEK Athens. On 8 September 2017, he became the Technical Director for AEK.
Contents
Nikos's Football Journey
Starting Out in Football
Liberopoulos began his football journey at a local club called Erani Filiatra. He then moved to Kalamata in 1994. After playing very well in Greece's top league, big clubs like AEK Athens and Olympiacos wanted to sign him. But Panathinaikos was quicker and signed him in the summer of 1996.
Playing for Panathinaikos
Nikos joined Panathinaikos in 1996. With them, he reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, a very important European competition. Some Italian clubs, like Juventus, were interested in him. However, he chose to stay loyal to Panathinaikos in Athens. In 2003, Liberopoulos had a disagreement with the Panathinaikos board. This led to him leaving the club.
Time at AEK Athens
After leaving Panathinaikos, Liberopoulos decided to join AEK Athens. He became a very strong attacking player and a great leader for the team. He scored many goals against his old team, Panathinaikos. But he never celebrated these goals, showing respect to his former fans. This earned him applause and standing ovations from the crowd. He scored 79 goals in 195 games for AEK Athens. He also won a top scorer award in the 2006–07 season.
Some of his most important goals were long-range shots. One helped AEK win 1–0 against Lille. Another was in a big 4–0 win against Olympiacos. In June 2007, he turned down a big contract offer from a German club to stay with AEK Athens. The club president, Demis Nikolaidis, wanted to keep him to help AEK win the Greek Super League. On 7 July 2008, Liberopoulos left AEK. He then signed with the German team Eintracht Frankfurt on 13 July 2008.
Playing in Germany
Liberopoulos signed a two-year contract with Eintracht Frankfurt and wore the number 10 shirt. He played his first game in the Bundesliga (Germany's top league) on 17 August 2008. He scored his first goal against Mainz 05. He played 55 games for Eintracht Frankfurt and scored 13 goals.
Coming Back to AEK Athens
Liberopoulos returned to AEK Athens in the summer of 2010. He played very well in a 5–3 win against Sydney FC, scoring one goal and helping with two others. He also scored against Blackburn a few days later. His first official goal after returning was in a UEFA Europa League match.
On 19 January 2010, he scored two goals in a Greek Cup match against Panathinaikos, leading his team to victory. Some Panathinaikos fans even applauded him when he left the field. He said that Panathinaikos was important to him, but AEK was now his family. On 30 May 2011, Liberopoulos won his first trophy with AEK. They won the Greek Cup 2010–11 against Atromitos 3–0. He scored the first goal and was named the best player of the match.
On 16 June 2011, Liberopoulos signed a new one-year deal to stay at AEK until 2012. His friend and teammate, Traianos Dellas, also decided to stay for one more year. They wanted to finish their careers together. On 20 May 2012, Nikos played his last match for AEK against Panathinaikos. Fans from both teams gave him a standing ovation as he left the stadium, showing their great respect.
Playing for Greece
Youth and Military Teams
Liberopoulos played for the Greece U21 team from 1996 to 1998. He scored 15 goals in 23 games, becoming their top scorer. He was a key player when the team reached the final of the European Championship in 1998. They lost to Spain in the final.
In 1997, he played for the Greek military team. He helped them win the World Military Cup that year, even scoring in the final against Italy.
Senior National Team
Liberopoulos played 76 games for the Greece senior team and scored 13 goals. A very important goal was in the Euro 2008 qualifiers. On 6 June 2007, he scored a last-minute goal against Moldova. This gave Greece a 2–1 win and put them at the top of their group. Liberopoulos was often called a "super sub" because he would come off the bench late in games and score important goals.
He was part of the Greek squad for UEFA Euro 2008, chosen by coach Otto Rehhagel. On 11 September 2009, Liberopoulos announced he was retiring from international football. However, he returned to the national team about a year later when the new coach, Fernando Santos, called him back. He was also selected for UEFA Euro 2012. Liberopoulos officially retired from international football after Greece lost to Germany 4–2 in the Euro 2012 quarter-finals on 22 June 2012.
Career Statistics
Club Appearances and Goals
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Erani Filiatra | 1991–94 | Delta Ethniki | 53 | 33 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 53 | 33 | ||
| Kalamata | 1991–94 | Beta Ethniki | 21 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 23 | 5 | |
| 1994–95 | 27 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | 31 | 6 | |||
| 1995–96 | Alpha Ethniki | 30 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | 34 | 13 | ||
| Total | 78 | 20 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 88 | 24 | ||
| Panathinaikos | 1996–97 | Alpha Ethniki | 32 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 2 | – | 38 | 9 | |
| 1997–98 | 27 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 31 | 3 | |||
| 1998–99 | 31 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 3 | – | 36 | 15 | |||
| 1999–00 | 26 | 23 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1 | – | 30 | 26 | |||
| 2000–01 | 26 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 1 | – | 39 | 14 | |||
| 2001–02 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 2 | – | 28 | 2 | |||
| 2002–03 | 27 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 2 | – | 32 | 18 | |||
| Total | 186 | 72 | 32 | 14 | 48 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 266 | 97 | ||
| AEK Athens | 2003–04 | Alpha Ethniki | 27 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 1 | – | 40 | 17 | |
| 2004–05 | 28 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 1 | – | 43 | 13 | |||
| 2005–06 | 27 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | 34 | 16 | |||
| 2006–07 | Super League | 29 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | – | 39 | 20 | ||
| 2007–08 | 30 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | – | 39 | 13 | |||
| Total | 141 | 67 | 23 | 8 | 31 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 195 | 79 | ||
| Eintracht Frankfurt | 2008–09 | Bundesliga | 29 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 31 | 10 | |
| 2009–10 | 21 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | 24 | 3 | |||
| Total | 50 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55 | 13 | ||
| AEK Athens | 2010–11 | Super League | 22 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 12 |
| 2011–12 | 24 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 35 | 10 | ||
| Total | 46 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 69 | 22 | ||
| Career total | 554 | 216 | 77 | 32 | 88 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 726 | 268 | ||
International Appearances and Goals
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greece | 1996 | 3 | 0 |
| 1997 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1998 | 3 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 14 | 4 | |
| 2000 | 9 | 2 | |
| 2001 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2005 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 7 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 10 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 76 | 13 | |
- Scores and results list Greece's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Liberopoulos goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 October 1998 | Athens Olympic Sports Complex, Athens, Greece |  Georgia |
2–0 | 3–0 | 2000 UEQ |
| 2 | 18 August 1999 | Anthi Karagianni Stadium, Kavala, Greece |  El Salvador |
1–0 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 3 | 1–0 | |||||
| 4 | 3–0 | |||||
| 5 | 18 December 1999 | Trikala Municipal Stadium, Trikala, Greece |  Estonia |
2–2 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 6 | 3 June 2000 | Stadionul Steaua (1974), Bucharest, Romania |  Romania |
1–2 | 1–2 | Friendly |
| 7 | 7 October 2000 | Athens Olympic Sports Complex, Athens, Greece |  Finland |
1–0 | 1–0 | 2002 WCQ |
| 8 | 14 November 2001 | Municipal Stadium Kaisariani, Athens, Greece |  Cyprus |
1–1 | 1–2 | Friendly |
| 9 | 7 September 2005 | Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan |  Kazakhstan |
2–1 | 2–1 | 2006 WCQ |
| 10 | 2 September 2006 | Zimbru Stadium, Chişinău, Moldova |  Moldova |
1–0 | 1–0 | 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 |
2–3 | 2–3 | Friendly |
Awards and Achievements
Team Honours
- AEK Athens
- Greek Cup: 2010–11
- Greece U21
- UEFA European Under-21 Championship runner-up: 1998
Individual Awards
- Greek Young Footballer of the year: 1995–96
- Greek Footballer of the year: 1999–2000, 2005–06, 2006–07
- Greek Super League top scorer: 2002–03, 2006–07
Images for kids
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A friendly robot
See also
In Spanish: Nikolaos Liberopoulos para niños
