Christos "Patsa" Patsatzoglou (; born 19 March 1979) 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

right-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 ...

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. ...

. Patsatzoglou started 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 ...

before being transferred 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, ...

where he won several national titles. He then moved to Omonia in Cyprus where he won the

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

. Patsatzoglou also had spells with

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

PAS Giannina PAS Giannina Football Club (), or with its full name Panipirotikós Athlitikós Síllogos Giánnina (, ''Panepirotic Athletic Club Giannina'') is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in the city of Ioannina, the capita ...

. Patsatzoglou was capped on 45 occasions with

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 ...

Club career

Early career

Born and raised in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

to a

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

family of the

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

faith, Christos started playing football for his hometown's local youth team Aghia Eleousa and managed a place in Greece U-17 national team. His talent was spotted by

's scouts and he was transferred there in 1996. He played for their first team for four years, from 1996–1997 to 1999–2000 where he won the Best Young Player award in his final season in Xanthi in 1999–2000.

Olympiacos

Alongside

Giourkas Seitaridis Georgios "Giourkas" Seitaridis ( ; born 4 June 1981) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a right-back and occasionally as a centre-back. He has last played in 2013 for Greek Superleague side Panathinaikos, having played pr ...

, Christos was considered to be one of Greece's top footballing talents and was pursued to be signed by the country's "Big 3";

and Panathinaikos, though he chose to sign with Olympiacos Piraeus. He was a top consistent performer until he was devastatingly injured in 2003, at a derby game between Olympiacos and AEK Athens. Just before he suffered the devastating injury, Christos was in the form of his life while playing for Olympiacos and Greece, as he was such an athletic and brick-wall solid defender at the back and very skillful and sharp going forward and was considered to be one of the top defenders of European football through his performances for Olympiacos while playing 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 ...

and

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

and without doubt the best defender in all of Greece through his performances for Olympiacos in the

Greek Super League 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 ...

and

Greek Football 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 ...

and inevitably, he was being courted by

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

who Olympiakos declined a £6 million offer from them as Patsatzoglou after being watched by a scout who was sent to Greece from Old Trafford for a long time to watch his games was in

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former professional football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as the greatest manager of all time and ...

's plans to rebuild his defensive lines but Olympiacos were not willing at all to give up their club's and country's star defender as he was so crucial to the success of Olympiacos and one of the pin-up boys of Greek football from the early 2000s and he remained at the Greek giants where down the track he copped a bad injury which kept him sidelined for a long while. He worked to recover from his injury for about two years, and made his comeback near the end of the 2004–05 season. He stated that he was healthy again and that it was up to his coach,

Trond Sollied Trond Johan Sollied (born 29 April 1959) is a Norwegian football manager and former player. He last managed Lokeren. During his playing career, Sollied was a defender who won the Norwegian top flight five times. He also played for Norway's na ...

to play him now. Sollied was not sure if Patsatzoglou could play again in such a competitive level, but he was willing to give him more chances in the 2005–06 season. During the 2006–07 season, Patsatzoglou suffered another knee injury, unrelated to his previous one, at the away Champions League match against

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

. Upon his return, he played a handful of games. In the 2007–08 season, Patsatzoglou scored the winning the goal in the

match against

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

. The goal would lead to Olympiakos' first Champions League away win, finishing 1–3.

Omonia

On 1 June 2009, it was announced that Patsatzoglou would play for his ex-coach

Takis Lemonis Takis Lemonis (; born 13 January 1960) is a Greek professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. Playing career Takis Lemonis played for local club Attikos before playing for Olympiacos F. ...

, this time though for

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 ...

club Omonia. Patsatzoglou agreed to a two-year deal earning €800,000. Patsatzoglou indicated he wants to leave in the summer transfer window and return to Greece. Being played out of position at centre-back has been cited as the reason for his desire to leave. Patsatzoglou only played six league matches due to his long-term injury.

AEK Athens

On 30 August 2010, Patsatzoglou agreed on terms with AEK Athens signing a one-year deal. Patsatzoglou was also rejoined with manager

Dusan Bajevic Dusan may refer to: * Dušan, a Slavic given name * Dusan, a son of Ra's al Ghul * Stefan Dušan (1308–1355), emperor of Serbia See also *Doosan Group Doosan Group () is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation. In 2009, the cor ...

. Patsatzoglou was given the number 2. Patsatzoglou made his debut for AEK against

Panserraikos Panserraikos Football Club (), the ''All-Serres Football Club'', is a Greece, Greek Association football, football club based in Serres in Central Macedonia, Greece. Panserraikos is one of the most important and well-supported clubs in northern G ...

coming on as a substitute. He is no longer with AEK Athens since January 2011.

PAS Giannina

In January 2011 Patsatzouglou signed for

a team in the second division hoping to get again in

Super League Greece 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 ...

. In November 2012 Patsatzoglou, who was on the team for the game against

OFI Crete OFI Football Club (, ''Heraklion Sportsmen Club 1925 FC''), commonly referred to as OFI, is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Heraklion, on the island of Crete. It is part of the O.F.I. (sports club), OFI mul ...

, disappeared making an appeal to the club due to a ten-day delay of a contract' dose. At that time, awaiting the final court decision for the appeal has been filed against

, Patsatzoglou was in England where he tried to open a new page in his career. The Greek international tested in

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

struggling to convince the team staff. He had also the best recommendations from

Stelios Giannakopoulos Stylianos (or Stelios) Giannakopoulos (; born 12 July 1974), known mononymously as Stelios due to his long surname, is a Greek football manager and former player. During his playing career, Stelios was a winger or attacking midfielder and a wel ...

, whom opinion always counts in

Reebok Stadium The Toughsheet Community Stadium is a Association football, football stadium in Horwich near Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers Football Club, with an all-seated capacity of 28, ...

. However, if this scenario did not proceed, Patsatzoglou was willing to exhaust every possibility for playing in England, at least until the end of the 2012–13 season.

Later career

In July 2013 Patsatzoglou signed a 2+1 years' contract for Greek Football League club Iraklis Psachna In July 2015 Patsatzoglou signed a new contract with the local A' Division of Evia Island team AEK Chalkidos. On 1 July 2016 he signed with Chalkida F.C. where he played only four matches. On 26 October 2016, he signed a contract with another

Gamma Ethniki The Gamma Ethniki (, C National Division) is the Greek football league system, third highest football league in Greece. History The Gamma Ethniki began in 1965 as an amateur championship, while in 1983 it was changed to professional. Although no ...

club

Proodeftiki Proodeftiki Football Club, also known as Proodeftiki Piraeus, simply as Proodeftiki, or with its full name as A.O. Proodeftiki Neolea (, transliterated "Athlitikós Όmilos Proodeftiki Neolea", ''Athletic Club Progressive Youth''), is a Greek fo ...

. On 29 September 2017, he signed a contract with another Gamma Ethniki club Fostiras.

International career

Patsatzoglou was selected for the

2002 UEFA European Under-21 Championship UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2002 was the 13th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Switzerland between 16 and 28 May 2002. Czech Republic U-21s won the competition for the first time. Qu ...

, although he had already made his full debut against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He appeared once in a qualifying match for

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 ...

, but not in the final tournament itself. Patsatzoglou was part of the 23-man squad that represented Greece at

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 football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

. He also participated in the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

, making two appearances against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, both as a substitute.

Career statistics

Honours

Olympiacos *

(8): 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09 *

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 ...

: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008–09 *

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 ...

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 ...

Omonia *

: 2009–10 *

LTV Super Cup The Cypriot Super Cup is a Cypriot football trophy, contested in an annual match between the previous season's Cypriot First Division champions, and the Cypriot Cup winners. The match is contested at the beginning of the football season, and is u ...

: 2009–10 Individual * Best Young Player: 1999–2000

References

External links

* *
2010 FIFA World Cup profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patsatzoglou, Christos 1979 births Living people Men's association football defenders Men's association football wingers Xanthi F.C. players Olympiacos F.C. players AEK Athens F.C. players Proodeftiki F.C. players PAS Giannina F.C. players AC Omonia players Super League Greece players Football League (Greece) players Cypriot First Division players Greek expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Greek expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Greece men's international footballers Greece men's under-21 international footballers Greek Romani people Greek people of Romani descent UEFA Euro 2008 players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Footballers from Athens Greek men's footballers Romani footballers Romani Christians