Nikos Liberopoulos

Nikos Liberopoulos

Liberopoulos in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Nikolaos Liberopoulos
Date of birth	(1975-08-04) 4 August 1975 (age 43)
Place of birth	Filiatra, Greece
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Striker / Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team	AEK Athens (Technical Director)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1991–1993	Erani Filiatrion	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
1996–2012	Greece	76	(13)
Honours UEFA European U-21 Championship 1998 Greek Cup 2011
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

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. 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 hundred goals for both Athens clubs (NOTE: this contradicts the tabulated data below, which gives 101 goals for AEK Athens and 87 goals for Panathinaikos. The latter is also in disagreement with data on the Elite Football website: 92 goals at AEK Athens and 76 goals at Panathinaikos^[1]). On 08 September 2017, he became the Technical Director of AEK.^[2]

Contents

• 
  1 Club career
  
  
  
  • 
    1.1 Panathinaikos F.C.
    
  
  
  • 
    1.2 AEK Athens
    
  
  
  • 
    1.3 Eintracht Frankfurt
    
  
  
  • 
    1.4 AEK Athens
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  2 International career
  


• 
  3 Records
  


• 
  4 Statistics
  
  
  
  • 
    4.1 Club
    
  
  
  • 
    4.2 International
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  5 Honours
  


• 
  6 References
  

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 Nürnberg 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.^[3] 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".^[4] 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.^[5] 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,^[6] 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.^[7]

Records

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

Club	UCL		UEL		Total
	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Panathinaikos	33	6	15	5	48	11
AEK Athens	16	3	24	3	40	06
Total	49	9	39	8	88	17

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Last updated: May 2012
Source: uefa.com

Statistics

Club

Club performance			League		Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Greece			League		Greek Cup		Europe		Total
1991–94	Erani Filiatron	Delta Ethniki	53	33	-	-	-	-	53	33
	Kalamata	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
1996–97	Panathinaikos		32	7	6	2	0	0	38	9
1997–98			27	2	4	1	0	0	31	3
1998–99			31	13	5	2	0	0	36	15
1999–00			26	23	4	3	0	0	30	26
2000–01			26	11	6	3	7	0	39	14
2001–02			17	0	3	1	8	1	28	2
2002–03			27	16	4	2	1	0	32	18
2003–04	AEK Athens		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
Germany			League		DFB-Pokal		Europe		Total
2008–09	Eintracht Frankfurt	Bundesliga	29	9	2	1	0	0	31	10
2009–10			21	1	3	2	0	0	24	3
Greece			League		Greek Cup		Europe		Total
2010–11	AEK Athens	Super League	23	7	6	3	5	2	34	12
2011–12			30	10	1	0	4	0	35	10
Total	Greece		511	209	72	29	88	17	671	255
	Germany		50	10	5	3	0	0	55	13
Career total			561	219	77	32	88	17	726	268

International

Greece national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1996	03	00
1998	03	01
1999	14	04
2000	09	02
2001	07	01
2002	02	00
2003	01	00
2005	04	01
2006	05	01
2007	07	02
2008	10	01
2009	02	00
2011	07	00
2012	02	00
Total	76	13

Last updated: 22 June 2012
Source: Nikos Liberopoulos at National-Football-Teams.com

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 (1974), 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

1. 
   ^ http://www.elitefootball.com/player/nikos-liberopoulos/22599
   


2. 
   ^ https://www.aekfc.gr/newsdetails/neos-technikos-defthyntis-o-nikos-lymperopoulos-50990.htm?lang=en&path=463335758
   


3. 
   ^ "AEK FC release Liberopoulos". aekfc.gr. Archived from the original on 8 July 2008..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   


4. 
   ^ Athanasiou, Nikos (19 January 2010). "Λύμπε": "Πιο συγκεντρωμένοι στη ρεβάνς" (in Greek). gazzetta.gr. Archived from the original on 23 January 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
   


5. 
   ^ Ανακοίνωση [Liberopoulos renews contract] (in Greek). aekfc.gr. 16 June 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
   


6. 
   ^ "Λυμπερόπουλος: "Αποχωρώ από την Εθνική ομάδα"" [Liberopoulos retires from Greek national team] (in German). sport-fm.gr. 11 September 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
   


7. 
   ^ "Greece Duo Announce Retirements". Fox Soccer. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
   

Awards

v t e Super League Greece Young Player of the Year 1995: Nikolaidis 1996: Liberopoulos 1997: Eleftheropoulos 1998: Karagounis / Antzas 1999: Iordanidis 2000: Patsatzoglou / Katsouranis 2001: Seitaridis 2002: Vallas 2003: Mantzios 2004: Tziolis 2005: Lagos 2006: Lagos 2007: Ninis 2008: Papastathopoulos 2009: Koutsianikoulis 2010: Ninis 2011: Fetfatzidis 2012: Vlachodimos 2013: Kaçe 2014: Kolovos 2015: Charisis 2016: Charisis 2017: Retsos 2018: Mavropanos v t e Super League Greece Greek Footballer of the Year 1995: Georgiadis 1996: Tsiartas 1997: Nikolaidis 1998: Nikolaidis 1999: Georgatos 2000: Liberopoulos 2001: Alexandris 2002: Nikolaidis 2003: Giannakopoulos 2004: D. Papadopoulos 2005: Katsouranis 2006: Liberopoulos 2007: Liberopoulos 2008: Salpingidis 2009: Salpingidis 2010: Torosidis 2011: A. Papadopoulos 2012: Mitroglou 2013: D. Papadopoulos 2014: D. Papadopoulos 2015: Kaltsas 2016: Fortounis 2017: Mantalos v t e Super League Greece top scorers 1957: Christoforidis 1958: Georgopoulos 1959: Nestoridis 1960: Nestoridis 1961: Nestoridis 1962: Nestoridis 1963: Nestoridis 1964: Papaioannou 1965: Sideris 1966: Papaioannou 1967: Sideris 1968: Inzoglou 1969: Sideris 1970: Antoniadis 1971: Dedes 1972: Antoniadis 1973: Antoniadis 1974: Antoniadis 1975: Antoniadis & Calcaterra 1976: Dedes 1977: Inzoglou & Dimitris Papadopoulos 1978: Mavros 1979: Mavros 1980: Bajević 1981: Kouis 1982: Charalambidis 1983: Anastopoulos 1984: Anastopoulos 1985: Mavros 1986: Anastopoulos 1987: Anastopoulos 1988: Nielsen 1989: Boda 1990: Mavros 1991: Saravakos 1992: Dimitriadis 1993: Dimitriadis 1994: Alexandris & Warzycha 1995: Warzycha 1996: Tsiartas 1997: Alexandris 1998: Warzycha 1999: Nikolaidis 2000: Nalitzis 2001: Alexandris 2002: Alexandris 2003: Liberopoulos 2004: Giovanni 2005: Gekas 2006: Salpingidis 2007: Liberopoulos 2008: Blanco 2009: Blanco & Galletti 2010: Cissé 2011: Cissé 2012: Mirallas 2013: Djebbour 2014: Solari 2015: Barrales 2016: Fortounis 2017: Berg 2018: Prijović v t e UEFA European Under-21 Championship awards Golden player 1978: Halilhodžić 1980: Demyanenko 1982: Völler 1984: Hateley 1986: Sanchís 1988: Blanc 1990: Šuker 1992: Buso 1994: Figo 1996: Cannavaro 1998: Arnau 2000: Pirlo 2002: Čech 2004: Gilardino 2006: Huntelaar 2007: Drenthe 2009: Berg 2011: Mata 2013: Thiago 2015: William 2017: Ceballos Top goalscorer 1978: Halilhodžić 1980: Shengelia 1982: Littbarski 1984: Hateley 1986: Vialli 1988: Karasavvidis 1990: Šuker & Sydelnykov 1992: Buso 1994: João Pinto 1996: Raúl 1998: Iversen & Liberopoulos 2000: Pirlo 2002: Maccarone 2004: Gilardino & Elmander 2006: Huntelaar 2007: Rigters 2009: Berg 2011: Adrián 2013: Morata 2015: Kliment 2017: Saúl v t e Greek Footballer of the Year 1995: Georgiadis 1996: Tsiartas 1997: Nikolaidis 1998: Nikolaidis 1999: Georgatos 2000: Liberopoulos 2001: Alexandris 2002: Nikolaidis 2003: Giannakopoulos 2004: D. Papadopoulos 2005: Katsouranis 2006: Liberopoulos 2007: Liberopoulos 2008: Salpingidis 2009: Salpingidis 2010: Torosidis 2011: A. Papadopoulos 2012: Mitroglou 2013: D. Papadopoulos 2014: D. Papadopoulos 2015: Kaltsas 2016: Fortounis 2017: Mantalos

Greece squads

v t e 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 v t e 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

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