Michalis Kapsis (, born 18 October 1973) is a Greek former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. He was an integral part of

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

winning squad.

Club career

Aris Nikeas

Kapsis started his football career in 1990 at Aris Nikeas, where he turned in a number of impressive performances in 21 games.

AO Neapolis

In the summer 1991, he joined AO Neapolis having an impressive performances for the club playing in 24 games.

Anagennisi Arta

In the following season, Kapsis signed for the Greek Third Division side, Anagennisi Arta. There, Kapsis played for 1 season having played 18 matches, scoring once.

Ethnikos Piraeus

In 1993 he was transferred to Ethnikos Piraeus where he established himself at the club as a center-back. In his first season, Kapsis helped the team to win the second division championship in 1994 and to get promoted to the first division. He was a key player for the club in the following years, playing to both first and second division winning another second division championship in 1998.

AEK Athens

In January 1999, Dimitris Melisanidis brought Kapsis to

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

. He quickly became a regular and he was paired in defence alongside players such as Nikos Kostenoglou, Carlos Gamarra, Mauricio Wright,

Vangelis Moras Evangelos "Vangelis" Moras (; born 26 August 1981) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a centre back and currently a manager. Club career Early years Moras started his football Ampelokipoi Larissa playing as a striker hav ...

and

Traianos Dellas Traianos Dellas (; born 31 January 1976) is a Greek professional football manager and former player. He last managed Super League club OFI. He was an integral part of Greece's Euro 2004 winning squad, during which he became the only player ...

, with whom they also formed the national team's defensive duo. In 2001, where he was fined for his involvement in a training ground incident with Ilias Atmatsidis, as AEK surrendered the championship to

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

in the final matchdays of the season. In 2002, he played in AEK's six draws in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

group stage. The following season, Kapsis was his usual consistent self, despite the disappointing season for AEK, who finished fifth. During his spell at the club he won 2 Greek Cups in 2000 and 2002. In the summer of 2004, AEK faced administrative and financial issues and as a result Kapsis was among the footballers that left the club.

Bordeaux

After the EURO 2004, was transferred to

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

for €500,000. He played 29 league matches in France,. After this performance many club made an offer to Kapsis for a possible new contract.

Olympiacos

In the summer 2005 he signed two-year deal with the then champions, Olympiacos. He failed to settle at the club of

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

. His frequent injuries and the lack of confidence from successive coaches, deprived him of a first-team slot. There was often speculation about his future at the club, and he was allegedly offered as an exchange in a failed transfer bid for

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

's Dimitris Salpingidis. At end of the season he won his first Championship and with the conquest of the Cup, he also won the domestic double. Trond Sollied announced on 31 August 2006 that Kapsis would not be included in the team eligible to participate in the Champions League.

APOEL

In February 2007 Kapsis moved to

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

to play for APOEL in

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

, and helped the club win the champion title race in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. The agreement was for that season only with the option to renew for the next one. Kapsis renewed, extremely pleased with the club. In August 2007 PAOK chairman and former teammate in Greece, Theodoros Zagorakis was interested in bringing him to PAOK. Kapsis stated that was flattered of PAOK's interest, but was also under a contract at APOEL. At the end of the season he also won the 2008 Cypriot Cup.

Levadiakos

In July 2008 he returned to

to sign a 2-year contract with Levadiakos. Kapsis made his debut for Levadiakos in the Super League on 31 August 2008 against

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect * ...

at the

Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium The Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium () or Charilaou Ground (Γήπεδο Χαριλάου) is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece. It was built in 1951 as the home stadium of Aris F.C. (Thessaloniki), one of the most p ...

. He helped the team during the season to stay in the category, being one of the most important and experienced players for his club. The following season he played his first match against

Kavala Kavala (, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the A2 motorway, a one-and ...

, where he faced his former teammates in the national team, Fanis Katergiannakis and Vasilios Lakis.

Ethinikos Piraeus

In February 2010 Kapsis returned to Ethnikos Piraeus, as he desire to play for the team where he debuted as a professional player before retiring.

International career

Kapsis with his great performances at a club level, earned a call-up in 2003, to play for

in the critical UEFA EURO 2004 qualifying matches against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. In those matches he marked Raúl González and

Andriy Shevchenko Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko (, ; born 29 September 1976) is a Ukrainian former Manager (association football), football manager and Football player, player. Shevchenko is considered one of the greatest Striker (association football), strik ...

superbly, where Greece won in both games. Afterwards, he was naturally included in the squad of

that ended up winning the tournament and in particular Kapsis achieved a great performance. Kapsis was included in the Greek squad for the

2005 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup association football, football tournament was the seventh FIFA Confederations Cup. It was held in Germany between 15 June and 29 June 2005, as a prelude to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was won by 2002 FI ...

in Germany.

Otto Rehhagel Otto Rehhagel (; born 9 August 1938) is a German former Association football, football coach and player. Rehhagel is one of only two people who, as player and manager combined, has participated in over 1,000 Bundesliga matches (the other bein ...

also included him in the squad for the qualifying rounds to the

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. Kapsis made 34 appearances in total and even scored once against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

for the FIFA World Cup qualification 2006 on 26 March 2005 in

, where Greece won by 1–3.

Personal life

His father, Anthimos, was also a footballer, who played as a defender for Panathinaikos, where he was a key player in their course to the 1971 European Cup final. In 2002 when Kapsis debuted in the Champions League, became the first player in Greek football that was featured alongside his father, in a Champions League match. The two were followed some years later by Georgios Samaras, son of

Ioannis Ioannis or Ioannes (), shortened to Giannis or Yannis (Γιάννης) is a Greek given name cognate with Johannes and John (given name), John and the Arabic name Yahya (name), Yahya . Notable people with the name include: *John I Tzimiskes, Ioannis ...

After football

After the end of his career, Kapsis was not involved with football and stayed away from the publicity "lights". Today he is a Fire captain in the

Hellenic Fire Service The Hellenic Fire Service () is the national fire and rescue service of Greece. It is part of the Ministry of Public Order and Citizen Protection (Greece), Ministry for Citizen Protection. Today they are 17% of the strength of the Service. Volunt ...

Honours

;Ethnikos Piraeus *

Beta Ethniki The Football League () was the second highest professional football league in Greece since its inception in 1962 as ''Beta Ethniki'' and until 2019. It then served as a third tier after the creation of the Super League 2 as the new second tier ...

: 1993–94, 1997–98 ;AEK Athens *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

: 1999–2000, 2001–02 ;Olympiacos *

Alpha Ethniki The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

: 2005–06 *Greek Cup: 2005–06 ;APOEL *

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

: 2006–07 *

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup, formally known as the Cypriot Coca-Cola Cup of First and Second Division () for sponsorship purposes, is a Cypriot knockout football club competition, hosted annually by the Cyprus Football Association. First held in 1934, it i ...

: 2007–08 ;Greece *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kapsis, Michalis Living people 1973 births Footballers from Piraeus Men's association football central defenders Greece men's international footballers UEFA European Championship–winning players UEFA Euro 2004 players European champions for Greece 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players Super League Greece players Cypriot First Division players Ligue 1 players Anagennisi Arta F.C. players Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. players AEK Athens F.C. players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Olympiacos F.C. players APOEL FC players Levadiakos F.C. players Greek expatriate men's footballers Greek expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Greek expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Greek men's footballers