Takis Fyssas (, born 12 June 1973) is a Greek former professional footballer 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 ...

. After his retirement he served as the sporting director of the Greece national team. From 1999 to 2007, he earned 60 caps for the Greece national team. He was part of the team which won Euro 2004.

Club career

Panionios

Fyssas started his career in the Panionios youth academy, achieving his senior debut in the 1990–91 season. After eight seasons in Nea Smyrni, which included a

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 ...

triumph.

Panathinaikos

He signed for Athens club Panathinaikos in 1998. The increased exposure Fyssas received playing at the Spiros Louis ensured a rapid elevation to the Greece national side and he made his debut against

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in 1999. Fyssas also made his first

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appearance while with the ''Greens'', in the 2000–01 season.

Benfica

In December 2003, he moved to

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with Benfica, where he was to stay for a season and a half, helping Benfica claim the 2003–04 Portuguese Cup and 2004–05

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

. On 25 January 2004, he was on the bench for a 1–0 away win against Vitória de Guimarães, a game overshadowed by the sudden death of his teammate Miklós Fehér. He scored a goal on the final of Portuguese Cup that season, that gave them the victory against

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

Hearts

After being allowed to leave Benfica in the summer of 2005, Fyssas made the surprise decision to move to Scotland with the Hearts, despite reported interest from England and Germany. He collected his fourth career winners medal in his first season with the Tynecastle side, when they defeated Gretna in the 2005–06

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

on 9 December 2006. He became a popular member of the Hearts team and will always be remembered fondly for his celebrations after clinching a place in the

. He left the

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club at the end of the 2006–07 season to move back to Panathinaikos.

Panathinaikos

In his second Panathinaikos term, he played just a couple of games and he silently decided to retire from football.

International career

Fyssas played 60 matches for Greece national team and he scored four goals. He was one of the key players for team that won the Euro 2004 championship in Portugal, a win that shocked the footballing world as Greece were considered 100–1 outsiders before the tournament started. He was subsequently selected in the Team of the Tournament.

After retirement

Fyssas after his retirement entered into the staff of Panathinaikos Youth Departments serving as technical director. Then he was hired to the Greece national team, helping Otto Rehhagel for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

and the new coach Fernando Santos after Rehhagel retired in 2010. He also served as sporting director of the Greece national team until 2024. In May 2019 Fyssas, was nominated as a candidate for Greece's New Democracy Party at the Greek legislative election, but he failed to get elected.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

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

Honours

Panionios *

: 1997–98 Panathinaikos *

: runners–up 1998–99 Benfica *

: 2004–05 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

: 2003–04 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

: runner-up

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Hearts *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

References

External links

Profile
at londonhearts.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fyssas, Takis 1973 births Living people Footballers from Athens Greek men's footballers Greek expatriate men's footballers S.L. Benfica footballers Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Panathinaikos F.C. players UEFA Euro 2004 players European champions for Greece UEFA European Championship–winning players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players Greece men's international footballers Panionios F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Super League Greece players Football League (Greece) players Primeira Liga players Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Greek expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Men's association football defenders Panathinaikos F.C. non-playing staff Greek expatriate sportspeople in Scotland