Ioannis "Giannis" Okkas (

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 ...

: Ιωάννης «Γιάννης» Οκκάς; born 11 February 1977) is a Cypriot football manager and former player, who is the currently the manager of

Anorthosis Famagusta Anorthosis Famagusta (), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Famagusta multi-sport club founded in 1911 in Varosha, Famagusta.

. Okkas is the 2nd leading all-time goalscorer for the Cyprus national team, scoring 27 total goals for Cyprus. With 106 caps, Okkas has made more appearances for Cyprus than any other player in history. He also captained the national team for several years.

Club career

Okkas started his career with Nea Salamis in the 1993–94 season, aged 17. He scored the second goal in Anorthosis' 3–1 win against

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC (, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Division and has won the championship tit ...

for the 1997–98 Cypriot Cup final. In the summer of 1997, he transferred to

for a reported fee of £350,000. In 2000 Okkas signed for

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 ...

club

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

for a reported 900 million

greek drachma Drachma may refer to: * Ancient drachma, an ancient Greek currency * Modern drachma, a modern Greek currency (1833...2002) * Cretan drachma, currency of the former Cretan State * Drachma proctocomys, moth species, the only species in the Genus ...

s. In 2003, Okkas signed for

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 ...

. After being release from his AEK contract, due to the club's financial problems, Okkas signed for

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, ...

. His league debut for Olympiacos was marked by Okkas' scoring the very first goal for Olympiacos, in the newly built

Karaiskakis Stadium The Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium (), commonly referred to as the Karaiskakis Stadium (, ), is a Association football, football stadium in Piraeus, Attica, Greece, and the home ground of the Piraeus football club Olympiacos F.C., Olympiacos. It i ...

. In 2007, after trials at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

and

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

, Okkas became the first Cypriot player to move to Spain, signing a contract with

Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was foun ...

. In 2008, he returned to

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

to play for Omonia. Okkas was released from Omonoia, in June 2009, after confronting manager

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. ...

on his playing position. In 2009, he returned to Anorthosis, signing a three-year contract with the club. After being released by Anorthosis,

Ermis Aradippou Ermis Aradippou () is a Cypriot professional football club based in Aradippou, a settlement on the outskirts of the city of Larnaca. The club was formed in 1958, and currently plays in the Cypriot Third Division. Ermis' greatest success ca ...

became the fourth, and last, team, Okkas would play in the Cypriot First Division. He debuted for Ermis, in an away defeat against APOEL. In his second match for Ermis, Okkas scored twice to help the club get past ENP.

International career

Okkas debuted for Cyprus on 15 February 1997 in a friendly 2–3 home loss against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. He made his competitive debut in a match against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, on 29 March 1997, for the 1998 World Cup qualifying stage. Four days later he scored his first goal for Cyprus in a 4–1 away defeat against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. He scored three goals in his side's failed attempts to qualify for the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, and was also on target in Euro 2004's qualifying stage, notably against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, in which Cyprus lost 1–2, but with fine displays from Okkas, including a delicate chip that left French keeper

Grégory Coupet Grégory Coupet (born 31 December 1972) is a French former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Coupet is most well known for his lengthy career at Lyon where he won seven Ligue 1 titles. He also played for Saint-Étienne, Atlét ...

completely stranded. On 15 November 2006, Okkas netted in a surprising Euro 2008 qualifier draw with giants

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 started captaining the national squad since the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

. On 8 October 2010, Okkas reached 100 appearances for

Cyprus national football team The Cyprus national football team (, ) represents Cyprus in men's international Association football, football and is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association. The team's home ground is the AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis, AEK Arena in L ...

in a 1–2 home loss against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, in match that he managed to score his 26th goal for Cyprus. On 11 October 2011, he played for the last time with the national side, in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group H match against

Ullevaal Stadion Ullevaal Stadion () is an all-seater football stadium located in Oslo, Norway. It is the home ground of the Norway national football team, and the site of the Norwegian Cup Final. From its opening in 1926 to 2009 it was the home ground of ...

, Oslo, where he scored his last goal for the Cypriot national team. After fifteen full playing years as the captain for Cyprus, Okkas announced his retirement from international football on 2 March 2012. At the time of his retirement Okkas was the most capped player for Cyprus and the second all-time scorer.

Trivia

For two consecutive years, Okkas scored the first league goal of the season in

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 ...

, with AEK in 2003–04 and Olympiacos the next season.

Coaching career

After retiring as a professional football player, Okkas was appointed as an assistant manager in

. In March 2015 he replaced Mitchell van der Gaag as manager of Ermis Aradippou. He was dismissed from his position at Ermis on 11 May.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Anorthosis *

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 ...

: 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000 *

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup, formally known as the Cypriot Coca-Cola Cup of First and Second Division () for sponsorship purposes, is a Cypriot knockout football club competition, hosted annually by the Cyprus Football Association. First held in 1934, it i ...

: 1997–98 *

Cypriot 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 ...

: 1998, 1999 PAOK *

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 ...

: 2000–01, 2002–03 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 ...

: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07 *Greek Cup: 2004–05, 2005–06 Individual * PAOK MVP of the Season: 2001–2002, 2002–2003

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Okkas, Ioannis 1977 births Living people Greek Cypriots Footballers from Larnaca Cypriot men's footballers Cyprus men's international footballers Cypriot expatriate men's footballers Cypriot expatriate sportspeople in Greece Cypriot expatriate sportspeople in Spain Men's association football forwards Anorthosis Famagusta FC players PAOK FC players AEK Athens F.C. players Nea Salamis Famagusta FC players Olympiacos F.C. players RC Celta de Vigo players AC Omonia players Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Cypriot First Division players Super League Greece players Segunda División players FIFA Men's Century Club Ermis Aradippou FC players Cypriot football managers Ermis Aradippou FC managers