Nikos Anastopoulos

Nikos Anastopoulos

Personal information
Full name	Nikolaos Anastopoulos
Date of birth	22 January 1958 (1958-01-22) (age 53)
Place of birth	Dafni, Attica Greece
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
	Dafni
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1977–1980	Panionios	85	(14)
1980–1987	Olympiacos	198	(115)
1987–1988	Avellino	16	(0)
1988–1989	Panionios	11	(5)
1989–1992	Olympiacos	72	(30)
1992–1993	Ionikos	19	(7)
1993–1994	Olympiacos	3	(0)
Total		404	(171)
National team
1977–1988	Greece	74	(29)
Teams managed
1995–1996	Panelefsiniakos
1997–1998	Panserraikos
2000–2001	Panetolikos
2001–2002	PAS Giannina
2002	Panachaiki
2003	Kallithea
2003–2005	Kerkyra
2005–2006	Aris
2008	Ionikos
2008	PAS Giannina
2008–2009	Kavala
2010–	OFI Crete
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Nikos Anastopoulos (Greek: Νίκος Αναστόπουλος) is a Greek former football player, one of the most prolific strikers in the Greek league during the late 1970s and the 1980s. With 29 goals he is the all time highest scorer for the Greek national football team. Since retiring as a player he has become a football manager. In 404 games in the Greek championship division he scored 171 times.

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 1977–1978 season. Thanks to Anastopoulos, Panionios won the Greek Cup in 1979 upsetting AEK 3–1. His debut in European competition was also impressive as he scored twice against Twente Enschede of Holland and once against IFK Goteborg 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 Olympiakos Piraeus.

As an Olympiakos player, Anastopoulos, also known as "Moustakias" (the moustachioed one), won top scorer honours in 1982–1983 season (29 goals), 1983–1984 season (18 goals), 1985–1986 season (19 goals) and 1986–1987 season (16 goals). His goal-scoring exploits in 1982–1983 won him the Bronze Boot as third scorer in all Europe.

In 1987, 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 Serie A and returned to Greece when Avellino was relegated.^[1]

After coming close to signing with AEK, Anastopoulos chose to return to Panionios. He later played for Olympiakos, Ionikos and closed out his career with Olympiakos (once more) after the 1993–1994 season.

National team

During his playing career Anastopoulos was capped 74 times by the National Football Team of Greece 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 lone Greek goal of that competition with a brilliant header against Czechoslovakia.

After his playing career was over, Anastopoulos coached a variety of clubs:

• Panelefsiniakos (1995-96)
• Panetolikos(1997-98)
• PAS Giannina (1999, 2004,2006–07)
• Panserraikos F.C.
• Panachaiki
• Kallithea FC
• Kerkyra FC (2005)
• Aris (2006)
• Ionikos (2008)
• PAS Giannina (2008)
• Kavala FC (2009)
• PAS Giannina (June 2010)
• OFI Crete (September 2010)

Palmares

As Player

• Olympiacos F.C.
  • Greek Championship: 1980 , 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987
  • Greek Cup: 1990, 1992
  • Greek Super Cup: 1992

As Coach

• PAS Giannina
  • Greek Second Division: 2002

• Kavala F.C.
  • Greek Second Division: 2009

• OFI Crete
  • Greek Second Division, third place: 2011

References

1. ^ Rota, Davide (3 September 1998). "Greek Players in Italy". RSSSF. http://www.rsssf.com/players/greek-players-in-it.html. 

External links

• national-football-teams.com

Persondata
Name	Anastopoulos, Nikos
Alternative names
Short description	footballer
Date of birth	22 January 1958
Place of birth	Greece
Date of death
Place of death