Alexandros Tziolis
Personal information
Date of birth	February 13, 1985 (1985-02-13) (age 24)
Place of birth	Katerini, Greece
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Defensive Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Panathianikos
Number	37
Youth career
1995–2002	Apollon Litochoriou, SV Moehringen
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2002–2005 2005– 2009	Panionios Panathinaikos → Werder Bremen (loan)	61 (3) 80 (5) 15 (1)
National team2
2001-2005 2005-	Greece U21 Greece	12 (1) 16 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 13, 2009. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of November 14, 2009. * Appearances (Goals)

Alexandros Tziolis (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Τζιόλης) (born February 13, 1985 in Katerini) is a Greek international footballer, who plays for the Greek Super League club Panathinaikos.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Early club career

Alexandros began his playing career as a teenager in a local team called Apollon Litochorou. He played there for about 7 years and in 2002, a Panionios scouter spotted his talent and brought him to Athens. He was an integral part of Panionios team for 3 seasons, playing 61 matches and scoring 3 goals. As a result, Panathinaikos FC offered Panionios 650.000€ and signed him.

[edit] Panathinaikos

Tziolis has been established as a first team player for Panathinaikos after replacing the big-name but disappointing Igor Biscan during the 2006-2007 season. The lack of titles for Panathinaikos put Tziolis in the center of criticism alongside with his team-mate Loukas Vyntra. For both players, though, this criticism could be considered unfair since they were neither big-money signings of the club nor did they receive the biggest contracts. By the end of 2007-2008 season Tziolis was close to his exit from Panathinaikos but the new manager Henk Ten Cate chose to keep him. After being mostly neglected at the beginning of 2008-2009 season, Tziolis was included in the team in November and was MVP in the epic 3-0 win in Germany against Werder Bremen for the UEFA Champions' League, where he also scored the third goal for Panathinaikos. According to some Greek sport newspapers, he avoided to celebrate the victory with the fans, embittered by the recent criticism he received. Since ten Cate shows his preference to 4-3-2-1 tactics, he is expected to gain more opportunities in the first XI at the expense of Marcelo Mattos. He has since established himself as a valuable member of the squad, linking well with team-mates Gilberto Silva and Simao Mate Junior.

[edit] Werder Bremen

On 7 January 2009, Panathinaikos FC agreed terms with Werder Bremen and Tziolis will go on loan at the German club for at least 6 months, for a fee of €300.000. After those months, Werder Bremen has the right to fully obtain Tziolis for a fee of €1.6m.^[1][2]

Tziolis played a regular role in Bremen's midfield and helped the club to make the UEFA Cup final against Shaktar Donetsk, on 20 May 2009. In the final, he came on as a substitute for Peter Niemeyer in the 103rd minute. After having nearly scored the equalizing goal when Bremen where a goal behind, the team lost the final of the last UEFA Cup edition to Shaktar with a final score of 2-1. Tziolis also featured in Bremen's 1-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup final the same season, where Tziolis won his first ever trophy in professional football.

[edit] International career

After representing his country 12 times for the under-21 side, Tziolis made his international debut for Greece on 21 January, 2006 in a friendly match against Korea Republic.

He was a part of the defending European champions at UEFA Euro 2008, where he played only once, when he came on as a substitute in a 1-2 loss to Spain in the group-stage.

[edit] Playing Style

Tziolis is a tall defensive midfielder, good in air, with powerful long shots. He plays a "silent" role in the game, and he tends to occupy the role of a deep-lying playmaker more than a defensive stopper. His crisp passing and physical strength are also positive aspects of his game.

[edit] Honours

Panathinaikos

• Greek Cup: Runners up 2006-07

Werder Bremen

• UEFA Cup: Runners up 2008-09
• German Cup: 2008-09

[edit] References

v • d • e Greece squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Nikopolidis • 2 Seitaridis • 3 Patsatzoglou • 4 Spiropoulos • 5 Dellas • 6 Basinas • 7 Samaras • 8 Giannakopoulos • 9 Charisteas • 10 Karagounis • 11 Vyntra • 12 Chalkias • 13 Tzorvas • 14 Salpigidis • 15 Torosidis • 16 Kyrgiakos • 17 Gekas • 18 Goumas • 19 Antzas • 20 Amanatidis • 21 Katsouranis • 22 Tziolis • 23 Liberopoulos • Coach: Rehhagel