Leonardo Koutris (; born 23 July 1995) is a 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 plays 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 ...

for

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

club

Pogoń Szczecin Pogoń Szczecin Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Pogoń Szczecin (), is a Polish professional football club based in Szczecin, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, which plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of the national football league s ...

. Born in Brazil, he represented Greece at international level.

Club career

Ergotelis

Born in

Ribeirão Preto Ribeirão Preto (Portuguese pronunciation: Help:IPA/Portuguese, �ibejˈɾɐ̃w ˈpɾetu is a city and a metropolitan area located in the northeastern region of São Paulo (state), São Paulo state, Brazil. Ribeirão Preto is the eighth-la ...

, Brazil, Koutris moved to Greece at the age of 6. He started his career with an amateur team, Niki Rodos, where he was spotted by

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

club

Ergotelis Ergotelis Football Club () is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Heraklion, Crete, which competes in the Heraklion Football Clubs Association, FCA Heraklion A1, the fourth tier of the Greek football league system, ...

scouts in 2011. On 28 January 2013, he signed his first professional contract with the club and made his debut as a substitute in a match against Greek champions

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, ...

on 1 December 2013. Already an international with the Greek U19 and U21 squads, and considered one of the greatest talents at Ergotelis, he renewed his contract with the club on 5 June 2014. After Ergotelis' relegation to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

in the summer of 2015, and despite reported interest from Greek club

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of the mos ...

, Koutris was one of the 17 players to hold out as part of the club's roster until the very end, which came in January 2016, when Ergotelis officially withdrew from professional competitions, and released all players from their contracts.

PAS Giannina

As a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

, Koutris signed a three-year contract with

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

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 ...

on 26 January 2016. He scored his first goal for the club on 21 July 2016, during his

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

debut, netting an

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

away goal against Norwegian club Odd during the third qualifying round of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League. This goal helped his club advance to the next round for the first time in its history, after winning the

two-legged tie In sports (especially association football), a two-legged tie is a contest between two teams which comprises two matches or "legs", with each team as the home team in one leg. The winning team is usually determined by aggregate score, the sum ...

4–3 on aggregate. On 28 April 2017, he signed a contract with champions

for an estimated fee of €600,000.

Olympiacos

On 25 July 2017, Koutris made his debut with the club in a 3–1 away win

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

game against Partizan. He played all the international games of the club, helping

to reach UEFA Champions League group stage, after a year. On 9 September 2017, he made his debut with the club in the

in a 1–1 away draw against

Xanthi Xanthi is a city in the region of Western Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Xanthi regional unit of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace. Amphitheatrically built on the foot of Rhodope mountain chain, the city is divided ...

. In the same month, it was reported that

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

and Benfica were tracking Koutris whom Olympiacos were eager to offer a new contract. On 18 November 2017, he scored his first goal with the club, sealing a 2–1 home

game against

Levadiakos Levadiakos Football Club (officially romanized: ''Levadeiakos'' ) is a Greek professional football club that plays in the Super League Greece. Based in Livadeia, Greece, the club was promoted to the Alpha Ethniki, forerunner of the Super League, ...

. He was voted MVP of the game. In November 2018,

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 ...

sporting director

Mario Husillos Armando Mario Husillos Herrero (born 5 February 1959) is an Argentine football manager and former player who most recently was the director of football at English club West Ham United. He played as a striker during a career that began at Boca J ...

reportedly spent the international break watching Koutris with the club considering a move for him. In January 2019, Olympiacos rejected an official bid of Italian club

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

for Koutris in the range of €5 million.

Loan to Mallorca

On 29 January 2020, Koutris was sent on loan to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

. On 15 February 2020, he made his debut the club as a substitute in the first half, replacing Lumor Agbenyenu in a 1–0 win home game against

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

. On 21 February 2020, it was announced he would miss six months after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury in a league match against

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

Loan to Fortuna Düsseldorf

On 2 October 2020, the 2. Bundesliga club announced the acquisition of the 25-year-old left back in the form of a loan until 2022, with a purchase option at the range of €3 million.

Pogoń Szczecin

On 4 December 2022, it was announced he would leave Olympiacos permanently after five-and-a-half years to join Polish side

on a three-and-a-half contract.

International career

On 9 November 2018, Greece's new coach

Angelos Anastasiadis Angelos Anastasiadis (; born 8 March 1953) is a Greek football manager and former international footballer. He previously coached numerous clubs in Greece including PAOK, Panathinaikos, Platanias and PAS Giannina as well as the Greece and Cypr ...

called up Koutris for the

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

matches against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. On 15 November 2018, he made his debut in a 1–0 home win against Estonia.

Personal life

Koutris holds both Greek as well as Brazilian citizenship, being born to a Greek father and a Brazilian mother.

Stretcher bearer incident

On 17 October 2015, during a

match against AEL at the

AEL FC Arena AEL FC Arena is a football stadium in Larissa, Greece, with a current seating capacity of 16,118. Since its completion in 2010 and for 8 seasons, it is the home ground of Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C., AΕL. Owner of the ground is Gipedo Larissa A ...

, Koutris was involuntarily involved in a comical incident after having gone down injured by a challenge just outside the penalty area. Unable to stand up, he was roughly loaded onto a stretcher by two stretcher bearers, who proceeded to drop him twice while carrying him outside, before unceremoniously dumping him at the side of the pitch. Ergotelis issued a formal complaint a few hours after the match had ended. The incident video went viral worldwide, and received coverage from major networks, such as

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and

the Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

, as well as being shown on ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. The show ran for nineteen seasons from September 8, 2003, to May 26, 2022, in which it broadcast 3,339 episodes. It was produced by ...

''.

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 ...

: 2019–20 *

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 ...

: 2019–20 Individual * Super League Greece Team of the Season: 2016–17

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Koutris, Leonardo 1995 births Living people Footballers from Ribeirão Preto Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football midfielders Brazilian men's footballers Greek men's footballers Greece men's international footballers Greece men's under-21 international footballers Greece men's youth international footballers Brazilian people of Greek descent Greek people of Brazilian descent Ergotelis F.C. players PAS Giannina F.C. players Olympiacos F.C. players Fortuna Düsseldorf players Pogoń Szczecin players Super League Greece players La Liga players Football League (Greece) players 2. Bundesliga players Ekstraklasa players Greek expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Greek expatriate sportspeople in Spain Greek expatriate sportspeople in Germany Greek expatriate sportspeople in Poland 21st-century Greek sportsmen