Stelios Serafidis
Stelios Serafidis ( el, Στέλιος Σεραφείδης; 6 August 1935 – 4 January 2022) was a Greek international football player who played as a goalkeeper for AEK Athens. Serafidis was among the most reliable and consistent goalkeepers in the history of the club. Gifted with agility and excellent reflexes, he was famous for his high diving saves under tough conditions. Despite his small stature, he managed to become one of the top players in the 1950's and 1960's and he is considered as one of the top Greek goalkeepers of all time. Early life Born on 6 August 1935 in Gazi, Athens, to refugee parents from Pontus and raised in Aigaleo, Serafidis had a particularly difficult childhood like most children of that time before, during and after World War II. Before playing football he did various small jobs to make a living. He worked as a water carrier, baker, porter, shoe polisher and peddler. His older brother Lambis, who was an international striker at Apollon Athens ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gazi, Athens
Gazi (, ; formerly Γκαζοχώρι ''Gazochori'' or Φωταέριο ''Fotaerio'') is a neighborhood of Athens, Greece. It surrounds the old Athens gasworks, which is the industrial museum and exhibition space "Technopolis", widely known as Gazi, next to Keramikos and close to the Acropolis. History The old gasworks was founded in 1857. Around 1910, several brothels were set up in the area, a fact which led to brothels in general being referred to as 'Gazi'. During the mid-20th century, small dwellings with few rooms and large gardens began to spring up around the gasworks. These were generally home to large, poor families from Athens. Gazi was a deprived area but despite this, there was no associated high crime rate. The area was mainly inhabited by crate makers. In 1967, due to difficult socioeconomic conditions in northern Greece, many Muslim families established a presence in the area, working at the gasworks. Over the years, numerous garages, paint shops, tinsmiths an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach football in Europe and the Eurasian transcontinental countries of Russia, Turkey, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, as well as one Asian country Israel. UEFA consists of 55 national association members. Because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIFA and UEFA suspended all Russian national teams and clubs from any FIFA and UEFA competitions. UEFA consists of the national football associations of Europe, and runs national and club competitions including the UEFA European Championship, UEFA Nations League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Europa Conference League, and UEFA Super Cup, and also controls the prize money, regulations, as well as media rights to those co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Agia Sophia Stadium
The Agia Sophia Stadium (), also known by its commercial name OPAP Arena, is the home stadium of AEK Athens FC. With an all-seater capacity of 32,500, it is the largest football-only stadium and the second largest football stadium overall in Greece. It is located in Nea Filadelfeia, a northwestern suburb of Athens, Greece. Built in 2022 on the site of Nikos Goumas Stadium, the former ground of the club, the stadium is the most contemporary stadium in Greece. Name The stadium holds a founding and a commercial name. The founding name of the stadium is Agia Sophia, chosen after the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, formerly a Greek Orthodox church. The name highlights the significant cultural roots of AEK and its founders from Constantinople. The commercial name of the stadium, OPAP Arena, was picked after OPAP – Greek Organisation of Football Prognostics S.A. secured the name right for five years, starting from 2022. History In 1926, land in Nea Filadelfeia that was origina ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Takis Ikonomopoulos
Panagiotis "Takis" Ikonomopoulos ( gr, Παναγιώτης "Τάκης" Οικονομόπουλος; born 19 October 1943) is a Greek former international football player who played as a goalkeeper. He was nicknamed ''"The Bird"'' ''( gr, "Το Πουλί")'' after his impressive dives he did during his career. Career In 1963, a month after coach Stjepan Bobek arrived at Panathinaikos, Ikonomopoulos was transferred to the club from Proodeftiki. While playing for Panathinaikos, he managed to not concede a single goal for 1,088 minutes (in a span of 13 consecutive games—a record for Greece which remains unbroken). The record spanned from 17 January 1965 until 9 May 1965. His record places him in spot number 19 in the World's Top Division Goalkeepers of all time with the longest time without conceding a goal (the second highest for Greece, ranking at world spot 38 is Vasilis Konstantinou of Panathinaikos who went 988 minutes without giving up a goal, from 30 December 1979 u ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Savvas Theodoridis
Savvas Theodoridis ( gr, Σάββας Θεοδωρίδης; 18 February 1935 – 17 August 2020) was a Greek football player who played as a goalkeeper for Olympiacos and the Greece national team. He was also a member of the Olympic team that participated in the qualification games for the 1960 Summer Olympics, where Greece finished last in their respective group, playing in all four games. Honours ;Olympiacos * Panhellenic Championship: 1954–55, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59 *Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most i ...: 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61 * Piraeus FCA Championship: 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959 References 1935 births 2020 deaths Greek footballers Greece men's international footballers Olympi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Poland National Football Team
The Poland national football team ( pl, Reprezentacja Polski w piłce nożnej) has represented Poland in men's international tournaments football competitions since their first match in 1921. The team is controlled by the Polish Football Association (PZPN), the governing body for football in Poland. Poland have competed at nine FIFA World Cups, with their first appearance being in 1938, where they were eliminated by Brazil. The country's best result was a bronze medal, which Poland won in 1974 and 1982; this era is regarded as the golden era of Polish international football. At the UEFA European Championship, Poland's best result was a quarter-finals appearance at the 2016 tournament before losing to eventual champions Portugal. Overall, they have competed in four European Championship since their debut in 2008. They were co-hosts of the 2012 edition, along with Ukraine. Overall, Poland's best ever result in international football tournament was the gold medal won at the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competition winners through a round robin group stage to qualify for a double-legged knockout format, and a single leg final. It is one of the most prestigious football tournaments in the world and the most prestigious club competition in European football, played by the national league champions (and, for some nations, one or more runners-up) of their national associations. Introduced in 1955 as the (French for European Champion Clubs' Cup), and commonly known as the European Cup, it was initially a straight knockout tournament open only to the champions of Europe's domestic leagues, with its winner reckoned as the European club champion. The competition took on its current name in 1992, adding a round-robin group stage in 1991 and allowing mu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1968–69 European Cup
The 1968–69 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won by Milan, who beat Ajax 4–1 in the final, giving Milan its first European Cup title since 1963, and its second overall. A number of Eastern Bloc clubs withdrew from the first two rounds when UEFA paired up all of the Eastern Bloc clubs against one another in the aftermath of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. Substitutions of two players at any game time were allowed; obligatory match dates were introduced (two weeks between the legs) and fixed on Wednesdays; the away goal rule was extended to the first and second rounds. Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ..., the defending champions, were eliminated by Milan in the semi-finals. Bracket First round ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mimis Papaioannou
Dimitrios "Mimis" Papaioannou ( el, Δημήτριος "Μίμης" Παπαϊωάννου; born 23 August 1942) is a Greek former professional football player, who played as a forward, mostly for AEK Athens and a former manager. His nickname was "The Vlach" ''(Greek: "ο Βλάχος")'', due to his origin. Throughout his entire career, Papaioannou was never shown a single red card, showing the prudence and integrity of his character. Papaioannou was considered to be the best Greek footballer of his generation and one of the best Greek footballers of all time, being awarded the best Greek footballer of the 20th Century by IFFHS. In 2021, the IFFHS also chose him in Greece's best XI of all time. Early life Papaioannou was born on 23 August 1942 in Nea Nikomedeia of Imathia. His father, Kostas was the curator of the local football team Nea Genea, thus the young Papaioannou came in touch with football from an early age. His football talent began to shine from early on, while his ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Branko Stanković
Branko "Stane" Stanković ( sr-Cyrl, Бранко "Стане" Станковић, ; 31 October 1921 – 20 February 2002) was a Bosnian Serb footballer and manager, from Sarajevo. Playing career Club He started his career in SK Slavija Sarajevo, as a youth player in 1936. In 1941 he escaped from Sarajevo and joined Yugoslav pre-war most successful club, BSK Belgrade and played in the Serbian League during the war. In 1946 he came to Red Star Belgrade, where he established himself as one of the best defenders in the Yugoslav First League. Stanković played 195 games, with 14 scored goals. International Stanković mainly played for Red Star Belgrade and was capped 61 times for Yugoslavia. He participated at two World Cups and won a silver medal at each of the 1948 Olympics and the 1952 Olympics. His final international was a November 1956 friendly match away against England. Stanković is one of the most elegant defense players of his time. Because of his playing style ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Giorgos Sideris
Giorgos Sideris ( el, Γιώργος Σιδέρης, born 5 April 1938-) is a Greek former footballer, who played as striker. Club career Sideris began his youth career at Atromitos Piraeus playing in the centre of midfield but his coaches soon became aware of his goalscoring capabilities. When he was promoted to the senior team in 1958 he produced an outstanding debut season in which Sideris became the fulcrum of Atromitos’ attack. The youngsters direct, no-holding-back attacking style plundered 28 goals in 30 league appearances Sideris transferred to Olympiacos in the summer of 1959. Despite having his heart set on a move to Panathinaikos, a friend of his, Savvas Theodoridis, had ushered him towards Olympiacos, fresh off winning their sixth consecutive league title. Olympiacos were keen to continue their domestic dominance, and, despite the aforementioned resistance to the move, the Atromitos president had received an offer too good to refuse and forced the move. The yo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Olympiacos F
Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club 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, basketball, volleyball, water polo, handball, athletics, swimming, table tennis and boxing amongst many othersand have won numerous European and domestic titles over the club's history. Olympiacos CFP is one of the most successful and decorated multi-sport clubs in Europe, being the only Greek club, as well as one of the few European multi-sport clubs to have won as many as 19 International titles –including 17 major European titles, 1 Intercontinental title and 1 Balkan title– in five sports (Football, Basketball, Volleyball, Water Polo, Wrestling) (no other Greek club have won more than seven European titles). Overall, Olympiacos is the most successful Greek mult ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |