Christos Maladenis (; born 23 May 1974) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

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

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 manager.

Career

Maladenis began his career in

Skoda Xanthi Xanthi Football Club () is a Greek Association football, football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace. They play their home matches at Skoda Xanthi Arena Founded in 1967, Xanthi is well set up in terms of their financial support and youth set ...

, attracting the interest of Panathinaikos and

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 ...

. In the summer of 1995, he signed for AEK. Despite the injuries he had, he slowly made his presence felt, competing in many positions in the lineup, mainly in the midfield and offense. His best season was the period 1998–1999, where he scored 13 goals. He also played an incredible match against Iraklis in

Kaftanzoglio Stadium Kaftanzoglio National Stadium () is a sports stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece. It currently has 27,560 seats, owing to conversion of terraces to seats in 2000 and a comprehensive renovation before reopening to host football matches for the 2004 ...

, completing a hat-trick in AEK's victory with 2-3 which secured them in second place and sent them in next season's

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 ...

qualifiers. Maladenis also scored goal in the final of

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 ...

against Ionikos, which AEK won with 3–0. His best moment of his career was arguably the goal against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

in a Champions League game at

Nikos Goumas Stadium Nikos Goumas Stadium () was a multi-purpose stadium in Nea Filadelfeia, a northwestern suburb of the Athens urban area, Greece. It was used mostly for football matches and was the home stadium of AEK. It is now replaced by Agia Sophia Stadium ...

on 2 October 2002. He played in AEK until 2003, where he won 4 cups and 1 Super Cup. In December 2003 Maladenis was released and signed a deal with

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

for three years. In 2007 Maladenis played for

Levadiakos Levadiakos Football Club (officially romanized: ''Levadeiakos'' ) is a Greek professional football club that plays in the Super League Greece. Based in Livadeia, Greece, the club was promoted to the Alpha Ethniki, forerunner of the Super League, ...

. He later played in

Panthrakikos Panthrakikos Football Club () is a Greek football club based in Komotini, Thrace in North Eastern Greece founded in 1963. The club competed in Super League Greece during the 2008–09 season for the first time. History Early years (1963–2001) ...

and

Trikala Trikala () is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala (regional unit), Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios (Thessaly), Pineios. According to the Greek Natio ...

. From January 2009 he played in Bulgarian side

Vihren Vihren ( ) is the highest peak of Bulgaria's Pirin Mountains. Reaching , it is Bulgaria's second and the Balkans' third highest, after Musala and Mount Olympus. Although Vihren is deprived of lakes and streams due to the karst topography, a numb ...

. He signed with the club from

Sandanski Sandanski ( ; , formerly known as Sveti Vrach, , until 1947) is a town and a recreation center in southwestern Bulgaria, part of Blagoevgrad Province. Named after the Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary Yane Sandanski, it is situated in Sanda ...

on 8 January 2009 and has been given the number 7 shirt. Maladenis made his team debut a few days later, scoring in a 1–0 friendly win against

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv (), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Stadion Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park and ha ...

. He ended his professional career in 2010 at the amateur level in Iasmos Rodopis.

Career statistics

Last update: 12 April 2018

Honours

AEK Athens *

: 1995–96, 1996–97, 1999–2000, 2001–02 *

Greek Super Cup The Greek Super Cup (), formerly known as the Friendship and Solidarity Cup () is a Greek association football one-match competition, which is contested annually either between the champions of the previous Super League Greece season and the hold ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maladenis, Christos 1974 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Greek men's footballers Greek expatriate men's footballers AEK Athens F.C. players AEK Athens F.C. non-playing staff PAOK FC players OFC Vihren Sandanski players Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Greek expatriates in Bulgaria Super League Greece players Super League Greece 2 players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Trikala F.C. players Xanthi F.C. managers Footballers from Xanthi