Nikos Anastopoulos (; born 22 January 1958) is a Greek former footballer and manager. He was one the most prolific strikers in the Greek league during the 1980s and is widely regarded as one of the best players in the history of Greek football. Anastopoulos began his career at Panionios in 1976, where he quickly became a high-profile player, winning the

cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

in 1979. After impressive performances in the following season's Cup Winners' Cup campaign, he was reached out by a number of European clubs, eventually signing with Olympiacos. He quickly became a fan favourite with Olympiacos fans and, despite a slow start, became a prolific goal scorer for the club and won the Bronze Boot as the third scorer in Europe in the 1982–83 season. He became central to the club's success in the 1980s, winning four league championships before departing for

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 ...

side Avellino in 1987. An ambitious signing, his tenure at the Italian club was ultimately unsuccessful, with him returning to Panionios in 1988. After a moderately successful year with Panionios, he returned to Olympiacos in 1989. With the club in dire financial situation, he became a vital part of the club, despite falling out with manager Oleg Blokhin, winning two Greek Football Cups before leaving for Ionikos in 1992. After a successful season with the Athenian side, Anastopoulos returned to Olympiacos, retiring from professional football in 1993 to become assistant manager of returning manager

Nikos Alefantos Nikos Alefantos (, 3 January 1939 – 23 June 2020) was a Greek professional footballer and football coach. He is regarded as one of the most innovative football managers of the 20th century, known in Greece for his phlegmatic personality, sho ...

. Anastopoulos earned his first cap with

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 1977, amassing a record (at the time) of 74 caps until 1988. With 29 goals, he is the all-time top scorer for the Greek national team. He also scored Greece's first goal at a major international tournament, scoring against

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

at the 1980 European Championship. His style of play was highly regarded and commonly noted for his acrobatic goals and headers, positioning, and sense of goal. He is considered one of the greatest players in Olympiacos history, where he scored 159 goals in 291 official games for the club. Since retiring as a player he has become a football manager, achieving notable success at PAS Giannina, Panachaiki, Aris, OFI and

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 ...

, becoming a fan favourite in these clubs. He became known for his outspoken attitude, tactical flexibility, and success under pressure, having achieved promotions with Aris and avoiding relegation on numerous occasions.

Club career

Anastopoulos was born on 22 January 1958. He started his career at Dafni before transferring to Panionios with whom he debuted in the Alpha Ethniki in the 1977–78 season. Thanks to Anastopoulos, Panionios won the

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 ...

in 1979 upsetting AEK Athens 3–1. His debut in European competition was also impressive as he scored twice against

FC Twente Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...

and once against IFK Göteborg in the Cup-winners' Cup. His performance brought an immediate transfer offer from Twente as well as other Greek and foreign clubs. Finally, in 1980, he went to Olympiacos. As an Olympiacos player, Anastopoulos, also known as "Moustakias" (the moustachioed one), won top scorer honours in 1982–83 season (29 goals), 1983–84 season (18 goals), 1985–86 season (19 goals) and 1986–87 season (16 goals). His goal-scoring exploits in 1982–83 won him the Bronze Boot as third scorer across Europe. Ahead of the 1987–88 season, Anastopoulos left Greece to play for Avellino in Italy. Though he performed well in the Italian Cup, he failed to score a single goal in

and returned to Greece the following season. After coming close to signing with AEK Athens, Anastopoulos chose to return to Panionios. He later played for Olympiacos, Ionikos and closed out his career with Olympiacos (once more) after the 1993–94 season.

International career

On 21 September 1977, Anastopoulos made his debut for

and during his playing career he was capped 75 times scoring 29 goals – more than any other Greek international. He was a member of the Greek squad in the finals of Euro 1980 and scored the only Greek goal of that competition with a header against

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Greece's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Anastopoulos goal''.

Managerial statistics

Honours

As player

Olympiacos * Greek First Division: 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1986–87 *

: 1989–90, 1991–92 * Greek Super Cup: 1992 Panionios *

: 1978–79

As coach

PAS Giannina * Greek Second Division: 2001–02 Aris * Greek Second Division third–place promotion: 2005–06 * Greek Third Division Group 1: 2015–16 Kalamata * Third Division (South Group): 2020–21 OFI Crete *

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 ...

promotion play–offs: 2010–11

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anastopoulos, Nikos 1958 births Living people Footballers from Athens Greek men's footballers Greece men's international footballers Greek football managers Greek expatriate men's footballers Greek expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Olympiacos F.C. players US Avellino 1912 players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. managers A.O. Kerkyra managers Panetolikos F.C. managers PAS Giannina F.C. managers Serie A players UEFA Euro 1980 players Panionios F.C. players Super League Greece players Super League Greece managers Ionikos F.C. players Ionikos F.C. managers Panserraikos F.C. managers Panachaiki F.C. managers OFI Crete F.C. managers Atromitos F.C. managers Kavala F.C. managers Panionios F.C. managers PAE Kerkyra managers Kalamata F.C. managers Men's association football forwards Panelefsiniakos F.C. managers 20th-century Greek sportsmen