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Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos
	Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos
Personal information
Full name	Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos
Date of birth	August 7, 1976 (age 33)
Place of birth	Piraeus, Greece
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	PAS Giannina
Number	13
Senior career1
National team
	1 Senior club appearances and goals; counted for the domestic league only.; * Appearances (Goals)

Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos (born August 7, 1976 in Piraeus) is a Greek goalkeeper who is currently playing for PAS Giannina F.C.. In the past he played for the Greek National team.

[edit] Football career

[edit] Greece

Born in Piraeus, he is a fanatic of major Greek club Olympiakos FC, where he started playing as a goalie at very early age. Except for 1996, when he was loaned to Proodeftiki FC, he played for the Red and Whites from 1997 to 2003, winning seven championships in a row.

He was the young third goalkeeper in 1997's Olympiakos roster behind Foto Strakosha and Alekos Rantos but injuries and bad games from the previous two made coach Dusan Bajevic to give him a chance. His astonishing performances, which included impossible saves and penalty stops eventually lifted Dimitris to the level of an idol earning the nickname of "The Eagle", being one of the masterpieces for Olympiakos championship after ten years of disappointments.

He lost nearly all the 1998 season due to a severe knee injury, which was worsened by a badly treated arthrosis that also affected his shoulder. This did not prevent a glorious comeback in the 1999 UEFA Champions League, with Olympiakos advancing to quarterfinals for the first time and being chosen as the best goalkeeper in the competition.

On 23 October 2001 Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos made a sensational save penalty to Ruud Van Nistelrooy at 65th-minute between Manchester United and Olympiacos FC for Champions League, in Old Trafford. It was the only penalty missed by the Dutch international striker for that season.

Even though, the injuries he suffered left a big "black hole" in his playing abilities, making Dimitris not to be fit enough so as to face cross-threats, conceding some easy goals in decisive games which are still in the mind of the Greek supporters.

[edit] Italy

After several bad games in 2003, he was accused of spoiling his career with nightlife and top models. This criticism eventually led to his decision to leave Greece, and he was transferred to newly-promoted Serie A side Messina, where, despite some great performances, he could not unseat Marco Storari for the #1 jersey.

In the summer of 2005. he was signed by A.C. Milan, but due to a series of subpar performances in friendlies against Chelsea FC and the MLS's Chicago Fire during a summer tour of the United States, coupled with Milan's heavy surplus of goalkeepers, he was loaned to A.S. Roma before being shipped to Ascoli for the '06-07 season.

On February 25, 2007 he played his first Serie A match for Ascoli against Livorno.^[1] Despite the black & white's relegation, Dimitris performances were really good, good enough to make his coach to leave former Italian superstar Gianluca Pagliuca on the bench.

On 11 June 2007, he was signed by A.C. Siena on free transfer, for 2 year deal, where despite beginning the season in the starting eleven, he has finished as the substitute goalkeeper behind Austrian international Alex Manninger.^[2]

According with the official website of A.C.Siena, on 28 May 2009, Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos with agreement with the club decided to leave A.C.Siena for family reasons.

[edit] PAS Giannina (Ajax of Epirus)

On 30 May 2009, Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos has signed with PAS Giannina.[1]. Team that produced players like Giourkas Seitaridis and Moniker “Ajax of Epirus” just promoted in the Super League Greece. Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos start his new season against Xanthi away finished 1-1 and he become the player with most experience for his new club. Eleftheropoulos made a great saving during the match against AO Kavala, and made his contribution to achieve a great victory for PAS Giannina and Eleftheropoulos as elected the best player of the match.

[edit] International career

Dimitrios got his first of twelve senior international caps for Greece in a friendly against Belgium in 1999. From his twelve caps, three were in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the European zone where although having brilliant performances in both games against Germany, he was left aside from the national team after a strong cross with coach Vassilis Daniil.

For the Euro 2004 coach Otto Rehhagel chose Antonios Nikopolidis as his starting keeper and Konstantinos Chalkias and Fanis Katergiannakis as substitutes, leaving Dimitris out of the roster.

[edit] Honours

Olympiacos

Super League Greece: 1996-1997, 1997-1998, 1999-1999, 1999-2000, 2000-2001, 2001-2002, 2002-2003