Kostas Frantzeskos (, born 4 January 1969) is a Greek professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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and former player. Frantzeskos is better known for his deadly free-kick accuracy. He scored 57 free kick goals during his career.

Career

As a youngster, Kostas played for

Vouliagmeni Vouliagmeni (, meaning "sunken") is a seaside suburb and former municipality 20 km south of Athens city centre. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni, of which it is a municipal unit. The ...

. He started his Football A Division career in Panathinaikos, after they picked him up in 1990. He was very quick to adapt and soon made his 1st division debut, in a very successful season, with Panathinaikos winning the double. He made nearly 100 appearances for the Greens - including 11 European games - winning one championship and three cups. In 1994, he was transferred to OFI and spent two seasons there, under coach

Eugène Gerards Eugène 'Gène' Gerards (7 May 1940 − 2 January 2018) was a Dutch Association football, football player, manager and scout. As a player, Gerards played for Limburg (Netherlands), Limburgian clubs SV Limburgia and Fortuna '54. As a manager, he ...

, which he still holds to the highest esteem. He appeared in many games, becoming a mainstay in the Cretan team's midfield. At the second half of 1996/97 season, Frantzeskos left OFI for

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

. He was one of the many Greek star-players bought at that time by then-PAOK owner Giorgos Batatoudis, along with

Zisis Vryzas Zisis Vryzas (; born 9 November 1973) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a forward for various teams in Greece and abroad, as well as for Greece, when they won the Euro 2004. After his retirement, he worked for PAOK as tech ...

, Vassilis Borbokis,

Spiros Marangos Spyros Marangos (born 20 February 1967) is a Greek football coach and former player. Career He played for Panionios, Panathinaikos, PAOK, Omonia and APOEL at the club level. He also made 26 appearances for the Greece national football team, ...

, and others. He was much loved by PAOK fans for his many memorable goals, especially his winner against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the first round first leg of the 1997/98

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 ...

, in

Toumba Stadium Toumba Stadium () is a multi–purpose stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece, mainly used for association football, football. It is property of P.A.O.K., AC PAOK and hosts PAOK FC since its completion in 1959. The official name of the stadium is simply ...

. PAOK went on to win the tie 2–1 on aggregate. He made over 100 appearances with PAOK during his 3-year stay, scoring 45 goals. He also made 12 appearances in the UEFA Cup, scoring 6 times. His standout performances helped him develop a good reputation in Europe especially after having some very good European match performances with PAOK. After turning 31, Kostas left PAOK in 2000 for

Kalamata Kalamata ( ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece after Patras, and the largest city of the Peloponnese (region), homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regiona ...

, a much smaller club, then struggling for survival in the 1st Division. His tenure there was rather short, and although making a handful of appearances, he could not help the club stay in the first division. He left the next year for Ionikos, another mid-range club, also battling to avoid relegation. Managing even less appearances than the previous year, Frantzeskos decided to try out the Cypriot League, signing for

AEK Larnaca AEK Larnaca FC (, "Athletic Union Kition (ancient state), Kition of Larnaca") is a Cyprus, Cypriot professional association football, football club based in Larnaca. The club was formed in 1994 after a merger of two historical Larnaca clubs, EP ...

, where he regained some of his former glory. That was not the case, however, when he returned to Greece in 2003, playing half a season for Aris Thessaloniki F.C. and another half for

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 ...

. In 2003–2004 Aris narrowly escaped relegation, yet Proodeftiki was not equally lucky - so Frantzeskos finished his 15-year-long career in relative obscurity, playing a season in the Second Division until 2005.

Style of play

Frantzeskos holds the record 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 ...

for the most goals ever scored from direct free-kicks, always using his left foot. He was frequently cited as one of the most accurate free-kick takers in Europe, especially while playing for PAOK. He even scored a few of them in the UEFA Cup, most notably the two against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, much to keeper

José Francisco Molina José Francisco Molina Jiménez (born 8 August 1970) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, currently manager of Indian Super League club Mohun Bagan Super Giant. Eleven years of his extensive professional care ...

's anguish, both home and away. He continued scoring from spot-kicks on to his last days, scoring a few for Proodeftiki. He also holds a rather unusual record of being the only player in Greece to score a ''

hat trick A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mechan ...

'' with free-kicks and one of only four in the world (the others are

Giuseppe Signori Giuseppe "Beppe" Signori (; born 17 February 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He played for several clubs in Italy throughout his career, and also had spells in Greece and Hungary with Iraklis Thess ...

Siniša Mihajlović Siniša Mihajlović ( sr-Cyrl, Синиша Михајловић, ; 20 February 1969 – 16 December 2022) was a Serbian football manager and professional footballer who played as a defender. Mihajlović had an illustrious playing career, winni ...

and Ray McKinnon), in the last game of the 1996–1997 season, with PAOK playing against Kastoria FC. Quite surprisingly, Frantzeskos was very inefficient at scoring from the penalty spot - which led to his famous quote during an interview: ''"Next time we win a penalty, and they want me to take it, I'll ask for a

wall A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or serves a decorative purpose. There are various types of walls, including border barriers between countries, brick wal ...

"''.

National team

Frantzeskos debuted for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

in 1992, in a friendly match against

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 ...

, held 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 ...

, with Cyprus winning 2–3. He was an important member of the squad that qualified to the 1994 World Cup. He ended his national years in 2000, again in a friendly match, this time against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, held in

. He has been capped a total of 38 times for Greece, scoring 7 goals.

Managerial statistics

''As of 27 September 2022''

Honours

Panathinaikos *

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 ...

: 1990–91 *

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 ...

: 1990–91, 1992–93, 1993–94 *

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 ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

Individual

* PAOK MVP of the Season: 1997–1998, 1998–1999, 1999–2000

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frantzeskos, Kostas 1969 births Living people Greece men's international footballers Greek football managers OFI Crete F.C. players Panathinaikos F.C. players PAOK FC players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players Kalamata F.C. players Ionikos F.C. players Proodeftiki F.C. players AEK Larnaca FC players Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Super League Greece players Cypriot First Division players Panathinaikos F.C. non-playing staff Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. managers Egaleo F.C. managers Trikala F.C. managers Panegialios F.C. managers Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Athens Greek men's footballers 20th-century Greek sportsmen