Emmanuel Zambazis (; born April 24, 1997), sometimes known as Manolis Zambazis, is a Canadian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays 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 ...

Early life

Zambazis began playing soccer at the age of six with Olympic Flame SC. He later played for East York SC and Mississauga SC.

University career

In 2018, after playing three years at the professional level in Greece, Zambazis began attending

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

, where he played for the men's soccer team. He scored his first goal on September 7, in a 1–1 draw against the McMaster Marauders . At the end of his first season, he was named an OUA West Second Team All Star. He earned U SPORTS academic all-Canadian honours for the 2020–21 academic year. In 2021, he was named an OUA East All-Star. Over his time with York, he won the OUA Championship in 2018 and an OUA silver medal in 2021.

Club career

In 2014, Zambazis appeared for

Vaughan Azzurri Vaughan Azzurri is a Canadian semi-professional soccer team based in Vaughan, Ontario, that currently competes in the League1 Ontario men's and women's divisions. The semi-professional team was founded in 2014 by the Vaughan Soccer Club, which ...

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1ON) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association. League1 Ontario consists of three tiers – League1 Premier ...

. In August 2014, Zambazis signed with Greek Football League club Iraklis. On October 29, 2015, Zambazis made his professional debut for Iraklis in a

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 ...

match against

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 ...

. Zambazis left the clib upon the club's dissolution due to financial troubles. In November 2018, at the

2018 CPL–U Sports Draft The 2018 CPL–U Sports Draft was the inaugural CPL–U Sports Draft, held on November 12, 2018, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Seven Canadian Premier League (CPL) teams selected 21 U Sports athletes in total. The results were announced on Nove ...

, Zambazis was selected in the second round (11th overall) by

York9 FC York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. Histor ...

. In April 2019, he officially signed a contract with the club. He made his first start for York9 FC in a match against Pacific FC on July 17, 2019. In August, he chose to remain with the team, rather than to return to university to play. In September 2019, he terminated his contract with the club by mutual consent. In 2023, he played with

International career

Zambazis is eligible to represent

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

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 ...

internationally. In November 2011, he made his debut in the Canadian national program, attending a Canada U15 identification camp. In February 2016, Zambazis played with the Greece U19 in two friendly games against the Czech Republic U19. In May 2016, he was called up to a training camp with the Canada U20. In February 2017, Zambazis was called up to represent the Canada U20 at the

2017 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2017 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was the 5th edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship (26th edition if all eras included), the men's under-20 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was hosted in Costa Rica between ...

Personal life

His maternal uncle is Spiros Papathanasakis, the former owner of Iraklis F.C.

Career statistics

External links

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zambazis, Emmanuel 1997 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Canadian men's soccer players Greek men's footballers Soccer players from Toronto Canadian people of Greek descent Sportspeople of Greek descent Iraklis F.C. (Thessaloniki) players York Lions men's soccer players York United FC draft picks York United FC players League1 Ontario players Super League Greece players Canadian Premier League players Greece men's youth international footballers Canada men's youth international soccer players Vaughan Azzurri players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen 21st-century Greek sportsmen University and college men's soccer players in Canada