Nikos Liberopoulos

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Nikos Liberopoulos
Liberopoulos in 2012
Personal information
Full name Nikolaos Liberopoulos
Date of birth (1975-08-04) 4 August 1975 (age 48)
Place of birth Filiatra, Greece
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)
attacking midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1993 Erani Filiatra 53 (33)
1993–1996 Kalamata 78 (20)
1996–2003 Panathinaikos 185 (72)
2003–2008 AEK Athens 142 (66)
2008–2010 Eintracht Frankfurt 50 (10)
2010–2012 AEK Athens 53 (18)
Total 561 (219)
International career
1996–1998 Greece U21 23 (15)
1996–2012 Greece 76 (13)
1997 Greece military
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Greece
World Military Cup
Winner 1997
UEFA European U-21 Championship
Runner-up 1998
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Nikolaos "Nikos" Liberopoulos (Greek: Νίκος Λυμπερόπουλος; born on 4 August 1975) is a retired Greek former professional international footballer who played as a forward. He is famous for his aim-to-goal shot, his innate in-play instincts, and his technical attacking skills. Liberopoulos is a unique player in Greek domestic football, as he is equally adored by fans of both AEK Athens and Panathinaikos. He is the only player to be recorded in the top ten scorers of all time for both these teams. Indeed, after seven seasons at Panathinaikos Liberopoulos scored 103 goals. On 10 May 2012, he reached a milestone 100 goals for AEK Athens after a brace against Atromitos, making him the only player in history to score a hundred goals for both Athens clubs (NOTE: this contradicts the tabulated data below, which gives 101 goals for AEK Athens and 87 goals for Panathinaikos. The latter is also in disagreement with data on the Elite Football website: 92 goals at AEK Athens and 76 goals at Panathinaikos[1]). On 8 September 2017, he became the Technical Director of AEK.[2]

Club career

Early years

Liberopoulos started his career football career at the local Erani Filiatra, he then moved to Kalamata in 1994. After an impressive debut season in Greece's top division, AEK Athens and Olympiacos tried to sign him during the summer of 1996 yet Panathinaikos managed to snap him up.

Panathinaikos

In summer 1996, he signed for Panathinaikos. With them he reached the semi-final stage of the

Hellas Verona showed interest in hiring him, but his loyalty to Panathinaikos kept him in Athens
. In 2003, Liberopoulos clashed with Panathinaikos' board which eventually led to him leaving the club. While at Panathinaikos he would deliberately misplace passes to his colleague Marco Villa because he saw him as more of a threat than a teammate.

AEK Athens

Following his departure from Panathinaikos he was ready to join Sochaux, but he finally chose AEK Athens where he became a formidable offensive player and inspirational leader. He went to score several times against his former team but never celebrated earning the fans' applause and a standing ovation for his action. He helped AEK Athens scoring 79 times in his 195 appearances and earning a top scorer award during the 2006–07 season. His most important goals originated from two long range shots, one in a 1–0 win against Lille and another in a 4–0 with against Olympiacos. During June 2007, Liberopoulos was offered a lucrative contract with 1. FC Nürnberg worth 4 million euros, which he declined to remain with AEK Athens. Club president, Demis Nikolaidis had publicly announced his intent to retain Liberopoulos at all costs in an effort to bolster AEK Athens' chances at achieving dominance in the Greek Super League. On 7 July 2008, Liberopoulos was released by AEK.[3] German team Eintracht Frankfurt announced his signing on 13 July 2008.

Eintracht Frankfurt

Liberopoulos signed a two-year deal and received the number 10 shirt. He made his Bundesliga debut for Eintracht Frankfurt, playing the full 90 minutes against Hertha BSC on 17 August 2008 at the Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt. Liberopoulos scored his first goal against Mainz 05. He won 55 caps scoring 13 goals in all competitions.

Return to AEK Athens

Liberopoulos again signed for AEK Athens in the summer of 2010 and put in an impressive display in AEK's 5–3 win against Australian

Greek Cup 2010–11 against Atromitos 3–0 while also scoring the first goal and was awarded MVP
of the match.

On 16 June 2011, Liberopoulos signed a new one-year deal keeping him at the club until 2012.[5] Also, his teammate Traianos Dellas decided to stay for one year at AEK, in order to stop his professional career with his best friend, Liberopoulos.

On 20 May 2012, he played his last match with AEK against Panathinaikos. A lot of Panathinaikos and AEK fans respected him with a standing ovation when he was exiting the stadium.

International career

Liberopoulos played for

European Championship in 1998, where they lost to Spain.[6]

In 1997 he was called to the military team, where he won the World Military Cup of the same year, scoring in the final against Italy.[7]

Liberopoulos appeared 76 times in total for Greece scoring 13 goals in the process. His most notable performance in the Euro 2008 qualifiers to date was a last-second goal five minutes into stoppage time to grant Greece a 2–1 victory over Moldova on 6 June 2007, which placed Greece at the top of their qualifying division. Liberopoulos has been known on the international scene as a "super sub", coming off the bench many times in the final quarter of games and scoring the decisive goal.

He was a member of the 23-man squad formed by coach Otto Rehhagel for UEFA Euro 2008.

On 11 September 2009, Liberopoulos announced his retirement from international football,

Fernando Santos
.

He was also called for

Fernando Santos. Liberopoulos announced his retirement from international football after Greece lost to German 4–2 in the Euro 2012 quarter finals on 22 June 2012.[9]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Erani Filiatra 1991–94 Delta Ethniki 53 33 0 0 – – 53 33
Kalamata 1991–94
Beta Ethniki
 21 5 2 0 0 0 – 23 5
1994–95 27 4 4 2 0 0 – 31 6
1995–96 Alpha Ethniki 30 11 4 2 0 0 – 34 13
Total 78 20 10 4 0 0 0 0 88 24
Panathinaikos 1996–97 Alpha Ethniki 32 7 6 2 3 2 – 38 9
1997–98 27 2 4 1 0 0 – 31 3
1998–99 31 13 5 2 8 3 – 36 15
1999–00 26 23 4 3 5 1 – 30 26
2000–01 26 11 6 3 14 1 – 39 14
2001–02 17 0 3 1 10 2 – 28 2
2002–03 27 16 4 2 8 2 – 32 18
Total 186 72 32 14 48 11 0 0 266 97
AEK Athens 2003–04 Alpha Ethniki 27 13 7 3 6 1 – 40 17
2004–05 28 9 9 3 6 1 – 43 13
2005–06 27 14 5 2 2 0 – 34 16
2006–07 Super League 29 18 1 0 9 2 – 39 20
2007–08 30 13 1 0 8 0 – 39 13
Total 141 67 23 8 31 4 0 0 195 79
Eintracht Frankfurt 2008–09[10] Bundesliga 29 9 2 1 0 0 – 31 10
2009–10[10] 21 1 3 2 0 0 – 24 3
Total 50 10 5 3 0 0 0 0 55 13
AEK Athens 2010–11[10][11] Super League 22 7 6 3 5 2 1 0 34 12
2011–12[10][11]
 24 7 1 0 4 0 6 3 35 10
Total 46 14 7 3 9 2 7 3 69 22
Career total 554 216 77 32 88 17 7 3 726 268

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[12]
National team Year Apps Goals
Greece 1996 03 00
1997 00 00
1998 03 01
1999 14 04
2000 09 02
2001 07 01
2002 02 00
2003 01 00
2004 00 00
2005 04 01
2006 05 01
2007 07 02
2008 10 01
2009 02 00
2010 00 00
2011 07 00
2012 02 00
Total 76 13
Scores and results list Greece's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Liberopoulos goal.
List of international goals scored by Nikos Liberopoulos
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 14 October 1998 Athens Olympic Sports Complex, Athens, Greece  Georgia 2–0 3–0 2000 UEQ
2 18 August 1999 Anthi Karagianni Stadium, Kavala, Greece  El Salvador 1–0 3–1 Friendly
3 1–0
4 3–0
05 18 December 1999 Trikala Municipal Stadium, Trikala, Greece  Estonia 2–2 2–2 Friendly
06 3 June 2000 Stadionul Steaua (1974), Bucharest, Romania  Romania 1–2 1–2 Friendly
07 7 October 2000 Athens Olympic Sports Complex, Athens, Greece  Finland 1–0 1–0 2002 WCQ
08 14 November 2001 Municipal Stadium Kaisariani, Athens, Greece  Cyprus 1–1 1–2 Friendly
09 7 September 2005 Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan  Kazakhstan 2–1 2–1 2006 WCQ
10 2 September 2006
Chişinău
, Moldova 		 Moldova 1–0 1–0 2008 UEQ
11 6 June 2007 Pankritio Stadium, Heraklion, Greece  Moldova 2–1 2–1 2008 UEQ
12 13 October 2007 Athens Olympic Sports Complex, Athens, Greece  Bosnia and Herzegovina 3–1 3–2 2008 UEQ
13 24 May 2008
Stadium Puskás Ferenc, Budapest
, Hungary 		 Hungary 2–3 2–3 Friendly

Honours

AEK Athens

Greece U21

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Nikos Liberopoulos". Elite Football.
  2. ^ "Nikos Lyberopoulos hired as Technical Director < ANNOUNCEMENTS".
  3. ^ "AEK FC release Liberopoulos". aekfc.gr. Archived from the original on 8 July 2008.
  4. ^ Athanasiou, Nikos (19 January 2010). "Λύμπε": "Πιο συγκεντρωμένοι στη ρεβάνς" (in Greek). gazzetta.gr. Archived from the original on 23 January 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  5. ^ Ανακοίνωση [Liberopoulos renews contract] (in Greek). aekfc.gr. 16 June 2011. Archived from the original on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  6. ^ "Greece-Spain Under-21 1998". UEFA.com.
  7. ^ "World Military Championship". RSSSF.
  8. ^ "Λυμπερόπουλος: "Αποχωρώ από την Εθνική ομάδα"" [Liberopoulos retires from Greek national team] (in German). sport-fm.gr. 11 September 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  9. ^ "Greece Duo Announce Retirements". Fox Soccer. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  10. ^ a b c d "Nikos Liberopoulos » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  11. ^ a b Nikos Liberopoulos at Soccerway
  12. ^ "Nikos Liberopoulos". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  13. ^ "Greece 0-1 Spain". www.uefa.com. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
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