Angelos Basinas ( , born 3 January 1976) 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

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He could also operate as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

and a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. He is best remembered for his key role in the Greece national team that won the 2004 European Championship. He provided the corner kick through which

Angelos Charisteas Angelos Charisteas (, ; born 9 February 1980) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a forward. Since 2019, he works as sporting director for Aris. At club level he played for Aris Thessaloniki, Werder Bremen, Ajax, Feyenoor ...

scored the winning goal in the final against Portugal.

Club career

Panathinaikos

Basinas started his career with Greek side Panathinaikos, during his time at Panathinaikos he won both the league and the

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 ...

in 2004. After a row broke out between Basinas, the manager and the Panathinaikos board over wages, Basinas was released on 21 September 2005, which brought an end to a career at the club which lasted over ten years, during this time he made over 150 appearances for the club scoring many crucial goals both domestically and in European competitions. ( He played 153 games (26 goals, five assists) with the club in all competitions).

Mallorca

Although rumored to go to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

, Everton,

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 ...

and

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, ...

during the 2006 winter transfer window, Basinas signed a contract with

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

preferring to leave Greece and join the Spanish Primera División. In the second half of the 2005–06 season, Basinas completed a successful first period at Mallorca, helping to save the team from relegation proving a key part of the struggling team's survival. In his second year at the club he helped the team to finish in seventh position, one point from European qualification. He was released by Mallorca on 1 July 2008 after his -year contract came to an end. He played 81 games (one goal, one assist) with the club in all competitions.

AEK Athens

On 31 July 2008, Basinas signed a three-year contract of €1.4 million per annum with

, choosing the number 14. Despite the pre-season odds, AEK underachieved during the first half of the season and lost the title race too early, making Basinas favourable towards a new move during the winter transfer period.

Portsmouth

On 2 February 2009,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

confirmed the signing of Basinas on an eighteen-month contract. He made his debut for Portsmouth on 7 February 2009 against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. Just a few hours after his debut, manager Tony Adams, who brought Basinas in, was sacked by the club and replaced by

Paul Hart Paul Anthony Hart (born 4 May 1953) is an English football manager, coach, and former professional player who made 567 appearances in the Football League as a defender. Hart was most recently assistant manager to Nathan Jones at Charlton ...

. Under the new manager, Basinas hardly played and was benched for the rest of the season after only making three appearances for Portsmouth. Despite little playing time in his first season at Portsmouth, Basinas stated that he wanted to stay at the club. When Avram Grant became the manager of the club, Basinas had continued to impress for Portsmouth when called upon and a poll among Portsmouth fans on 23 January 2010, showed that he's appreciated by the fans. 77% of fans believe that "Basinas has the creative touch and must play", while only 2% believed he should leave the club. With Portsmouth Basinas reached the 2010 FA Cup Final against Chelsea of

Carlo Ancelotti Carlo Ancelotti (; born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Brazil national team. Nicknamed "Carletto" in Italy and "Don Carlo" in Spain, he is regarded as one of the greatest ...

, but he was left out of the matchday squad.

Arles-Avignon

In the summer 2010, Basinas moved to

Arles Arles ( , , ; ; Classical ) is a coastal city and Communes of France, commune in the South of France, a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Reg ...

, with his teammate

, in the

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

. He made his debut on 21 August 2010 in a 2–1 away defeat against

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. Basinas made a total of five appearances in Ligue 1 and French Cup. The contract was broken two months later.

International career

Basinas won his first cap in a 3–1 win over El Salvador on 18 August 1999 and scored his first goal in just his second match, also against El Salvador just two days later. He remained a part of the national team setup since his debut and was a regular after

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 ...

took over in 2001. He was a key player in Greece's upset

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 football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. Th ...

victory, scoring a penalty in his country's 2–1 upset win over host team

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in the tournament's opening game. Basinas was a vital player in the hard-working midfield of the Greek team throughout the tournament. In the final, Charisteas scored the winning goal for Greece against Portugal off a corner kick by Basinas, which saw Greece win the trophy. After Theodoros Zagorakis retired, Basinas was selected to take the captain's arm band. Basinas earned his 100th cap for Greece 1 April 2009 in a FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifier against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. At the time, he was only the second Greek player to achieve 100 national team appearances alongside Theodoros Zagorakis.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Greece's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Basinas goal''.

Honours

Panathinaikos * Greek League: 1995–96, 2003–04 *

: 2003–04; runner-up 1997–98, 1998–99 Portsmouth *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

: runner-up

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Greece U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

runner-up:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Greece * European Championship:

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

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Basinas, Angelos 1976 births Living people Greek men's footballers Men's association football midfielders La Liga players AEK Athens F.C. players RCD Mallorca players Panathinaikos F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players AC Arlésien players UEFA Euro 2004 players European champions for Greece 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players UEFA Euro 2008 players UEFA European Championship–winning players Greece men's international footballers Greece men's under-21 international footballers Super League Greece players Premier League players Ligue 1 players FIFA Men's Century Club Footballers from Chalcis Greek expatriate men's footballers Greek expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Greek expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Greek expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France