Vasilis Torosidis facts for kids
Torosidis with Roma in 2013
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Vasilios Torosidis | ||
| Date of birth | 10 June 1985 | ||
| Place of birth | Xanthi, Greece | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Right-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Skoda Xanthi | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2002–2007 | Skoda Xanthi | 76 | (3) |
| 2007–2013 | Olympiacos | 134 | (12) |
| 2013–2016 | Roma | 60 | (4) |
| 2016–2018 | Bologna | 44 | (1) |
| 2018–2020 | Olympiacos | 19 | (0) |
| Total | 333 | (20) | |
| International career | |||
| 2007–2019 | Greece | 101 | (10) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Vasilis Torosidis (Greek: Βασίλης Τοροσίδης, born on 10 June 1985) is a Greek former professional footballer. He played as a right-back, a defensive position on the field.
Contents
Club Career Highlights
Starting at Skoda Xanthi
Vasilis Torosidis began his professional football journey with Skoda Xanthi. He made his first appearance for the senior team on 19 April 2003, when he was just 17 years old. He scored his first goal in the Super League on 17 October 2005. After playing 76 games for the club over five years, his skills caught the eye of bigger Greek teams.
Time with Olympiacos
Torosidis joined Olympiacos in January 2007. He quickly scored his first goal for the team on 21 January 2007. He also scored his first European goal for Olympiacos in a big 5–0 win against FC Nordsjælland in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup. He scored another European goal against Hertha BSC.
In 2009, Torosidis signed a new contract with Olympiacos. Many big European clubs, like Newcastle United, Roma, and Bayern Munich, were watching him.
In February 2011, an incident involving fans and players during a match led to a punishment for Olympiacos. Torosidis also received a ban from playing for a few games after an incident during the match.
By January 2013, Torosidis decided he wanted a new challenge in a different European league. He told the Sun newspaper, "I want to move abroad." On 22 January 2013, he moved from Olympiacos to Roma in Italy.
Playing for Roma
On 23 January 2013, Torosidis officially joined Roma, a team in Italy's top league, Serie A. He signed a contract that would last until June 2015. Roma's sporting director, Sabatini, was very happy to have him, calling him an "experienced player" who had played many games for Olympiacos and the Greek national team.
He played his first game for Roma in a 3–3 draw against Bologna. He scored his first goal for Roma in a 3–2 away win against Atalanta. He also scored a great goal in a Coppa Italia semi-final match against Internazionale. Roma reached the 2013 Coppa Italia Final but lost to Lazio.
In January 2014, Torosidis scored an early goal that helped Roma win 1–0 against Sampdoria in the Coppa Italia. This win helped the team recover after a tough loss in the league. In March 2014, he scored again as Roma beat Udinese Calcio, helping them stay in second place in Serie A.
On 2 August 2014, Roma announced that Torosidis had signed a new contract, keeping him at the club until 2017. He said he wanted to stay because Roma was a "big club with big targets" and he wanted to win trophies with them. In September 2015, he scored his first goal of the 2015–16 season in a UEFA Champions League match against FC BATE Borisov. During this season, Torosidis faced several injuries, which sometimes caused him to lose his spot in the starting team.
Moving to Bologna
On 31 August 2016, Torosidis moved to Bologna, another Italian club. He signed a contract until June 2018. He made his first appearance for Bologna on 11 September 2016.
In October 2016, he suffered an injury while playing for the Greek national team, which kept him out of action for about two weeks. He returned to play later that month. In February 2017, he scored his first goal for Bologna in a tough 7–1 loss against Napoli. Later that month, he received a red card during a match against Genoa.
He continued to face muscle injuries during the 2017–18 season. In November 2017, he received two yellow cards in a match, which meant he was sent off. On 1 July 2018, he left Bologna.
Returning to Olympiacos
On 28 July 2018, after five years in Italy, Torosidis returned to his former club, Olympiacos. In October 2018, he scored a header in a UEFA Europa League group stage match, helping Olympiacos win 2–0 against F91 Dudelange. This goal earned him a spot in the UEFA Europa League team of the week. A week later, he scored again in another Europa League match against Dudelange, which Olympiacos won 5–1. He also scored in a Greek Cup match in November 2018.
Retirement from Football
On 13 September 2020, Vasilis Torosidis officially announced his retirement from professional football. His last game was the 2019–20 Greek Football Cup final, which Olympiacos won 1–0 against AEK. He ended his career as a cup winner.
International Career with Greece
Playing for the National Team
Torosidis made his first appearance for the Greece national team in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier match against Turkey. After another player retired, Torosidis became Greece's main left-back, even though he usually played right-back for his club. He was part of the Greek squad for Euro 2008. He scored his first international goal in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg.
In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, during a match against Nigeria, an opponent received a red card after an incident involving Torosidis. He then scored a very important goal in that same match, which gave Greece a 2–1 win. This was Greece's first ever win at a World Cup.
An own goal by Torosidis in a 1–1 draw with Romania did not stop Greece from qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. This was Greece's third time qualifying for a World Cup and Torosidis' second in a row. From his debut in 2007, Greece always qualified for major tournaments like the UEFA Euro and FIFA World Cup. Many people call this period the "Golden Era" of Greek football.
On 10 October 2017, he scored his 10th international goal in a home game against Gibraltar. This made him the first defender in the history of the Greece national team to score ten international goals. Five of these goals were headers.
Career Statistics
Here are Vasilis Torosidis's career statistics, showing his appearances and goals for his clubs and the national team.
Club Statistics
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Skoda Xanthi | 2002–03 | Super League Greece | 4 | 0 | – | – | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2003–04 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 17 | 0 | |||
| 2004–05 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | 22 | 1 | |||
| 2005–06 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 2 | ||
| 2006–07 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 1 | ||
| Total | 76 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 84 | 4 | ||
| Olympiacos | 2006–07 | Super League Greece | 11 | 1 | – | – | 11 | 1 | ||
| 2007–08 | 26 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 37 | 2 | ||
| 2008–09 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 31 | 4 | ||
| 2009–10 | 24 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 33 | 6 | ||
| 2010–11 | 20 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 3 | ||
| 2011–12 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 34 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 18 | 3 | ||
| Total | 134 | 12 | 19 | 3 | 34 | 4 | 187 | 19 | ||
| Roma | 2012–13 | Serie A | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | 12 | 2 | |
| 2013–14 | 18 | 1 | 4 | 1 | – | 22 | 2 | |||
| 2014–15 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 28 | 2 | ||
| 2015–16 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 1 | ||
| Total | 60 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 77 | 7 | ||
| Bologna | 2016–17 | Serie A | 28 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 1 |
| 2017–18 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||
| Total | 44 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 1 | ||
| Olympiacos | 2018–19 | Super League Greece | 13 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 25 | 3 |
| 2019–20 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 1 | ||
| Total | 19 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 36 | 4 | ||
| Career total | 333 | 20 | 36 | 8 | 60 | 7 | 429 | 35 | ||
- A. Includes appearances in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
International Statistics
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greece | |||
| 2007 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 11 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 9 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 8 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 12 | 2 | |
| 2013 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 12 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 10 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2018 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 101 | 10 | |
- Scores and results list Greece's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Torosidis goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 September 2008 | Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg | 17 |  Luxembourg |
1–0 | 3–0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 14 October 2009 | Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece | 25 | Luxembourg |
1–0 | 2–1 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3 | 17 June 2010 | Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein, South Africa | 28 |  Nigeria |
2–1 | 2–1 | 2010 FIFA World Cup |
| 4 | 8 October 2010 | Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece | 33 |  Latvia |
1–0 | 1–0 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying |
| 5 | 26 March 2011 | Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta | 36 |  Malta |
1–0 | 1–0 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying |
| 6 | 26 May 2012 | Kufstein Arena, Kufstein, Austria | 44 |  Slovenia |
1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 7 | 15 August 2012 | Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway | 49 |  Norway |
1–0 | 3–2 | Friendly |
| 8 | 6 September 2016 | Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé, Portugal | 85 |  Gibraltar |
4–1 | 4–1 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 9 | 10 October 2016 | A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia | 87 |  Estonia |
1–0 | 2–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 10 | 10 October 2017 | Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece | 93 | Gibraltar |
1–0 | 4–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Honours and Awards
Olympiacos
- Super League Greece: 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2019–20
- Greek Football Cup: 2007–08, 2008–09, 2011–12, 2019–20
- Greek Super Cup: 2007
Individual
- Super League Greece Greek Footballer of the Season: 2009–10
- Super League Greece Team the Season: 2009–10
See also
In Spanish: Vasilis Torosidis para niños
- List of footballers with more than 100 international caps
