Grigoris Georgatos (; born 31 October 1972) 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

left-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 was nicknamed the “''Greek

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), often known as Roberto Carlos and sometimes ''RC3'', is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer. He has been described as the "most offensive-minded left-back in the ...

”'' and ''"the crazy bald"'' ''()'' due to his highly-aggressive play on the pitch and his shaved hairstyle.

Club career

Early career

He began his career in 1991 at

Panachaiki Panachaiki G.E. (Greek: Παναχαϊκή Γυμναστική Ένωση, ''Panachaiki Gymnastiki Enosi'', "Pan- Achaean Gymnastic Union") is a Greek multi-sport club based in the city of Patras, Greece. The history of Panachaiki began in 1891, ...

when his skills were first noticed in the

Alpha Ethniki 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 ...

. After four and a half seasons in December 1995, he was 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, ...

. He came to the club playing as an attacking midfielder. He had to "fit" in the same line-up as

Predrag Đorđević Predrag Đorđević (alternatively Djordjević, sr-cyr, Предраг Ђорђевић; born 4 August 1972) is a Serbian retired footballer. Known for his set pieces, Đorđević played as a left midfielder for Greek club Olympiacos for 13 y ...

, so

Dušan Bajević Dušan "Duško" Bajević ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Бајевић, ; , ''Doúsan Báyevits''; born 10 December 1948) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Bosnian football manager ...

had he return to left-back. He gradually impressed with his performances lifting three consecutive championships with them from 1996 to 1997, when he finished as the side's top scorer despite his defensive role.

Internazionalle

In the 1998–1999 season, while playing in a

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 ...

match against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

, Georgatos caught the eye of Italian club

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

, signing him in the 1999–2000 season for €7 million. He settled well in

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

, playing 28 matches and scoring 2 goals for Inter. Despite that, the following season he returned to Olympiacos for a season-long loan, as he was sad and missed his family, house and Athens city. After his loan was over, he returned to the

, with Georgatos choosing to rejoin Inter after losing his first-team place at the club from

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

. Although he returned to Inter, he could not get back into the first-team because of an injury that kept him out for a while, playing only 10 matches and scoring 1 goal that season. With his second spell in Italy being unsuccessful, Georgatos quickly returned to Greece.

Return to Greece

He asked to return to Olympiacos, but the red-whites refused as they had just signed Stylianos Venetidis who also played in the same position. Makis Psomiadis, took the opportunity and brought him to

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 ...

for €3 million, where he was called to work with Bajević again. Due to the presence of Michalis Kasapis in the team, Georgatos played in AEK in the position of the left midfielder. In the 2002–03 season he played 23 games as AEK finished third and also featured in four of the club's six

matches. His great performances at the club gained the favour of the fans, who forgot his red and white past. The next season, he scored six goals in six games but was unsettled at AEK and in the January transfer window his third spell at Olympiacos began, helping them finish second. In 2006 Georgatos expressed his intention to end his career at

when he signed a one-year contract until July 2007, retiring at the end of the season.

International career

He first appeared for

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 ...

in a

Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

qualifier against

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

in September 1995. He prematurely retired from international football in September 2001, following a reported dispute with coach

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 ...

. Georgatos played 35 times and scored 3 goals in total for Greece.

After football

After the end of his career, Georgatos initially enacted with the administration of Panachaki, while since 2013 he was one of the heads of the Olympiacos academies. From the summer of 2015 to the summer of 2016, he worked as the sports director of the Olympiacos with responsibility for the first team's competitive department.

Style of play

Georgatos was known as an offensive fullback with an excellent crossing ability; his combative style at left back earned him the nickname, "the Greek

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Olympiacos *

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 ...

: 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07 *

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 ...

: 1998–99, 2004–05, 2005–06 Individual * Greek Footballer of the Year: 1998–99 *

Golden Eleven

References

External links

Inter Archive
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Georgatos, Grigoris 1973 births AEK Athens F.C. players Men's association football central defenders Men's association football fullbacks Footballers from Piraeus Greek expatriate men's footballers Inter Milan players Serie A players Olympiacos F.C. players Panachaiki F.C. players Greece men's international footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Living people Super League Greece players Football League (Greece) players Greek expatriate sportspeople in Italy Greek men's footballers