Kostas Chalkias
Personal information
Full name	Konstantinos Chalkias
Date of birth	May 30, 1974 (1974-05-30) (age 35)
Place of birth	Larissa, Greece
Height	1.99 m (6 ft 6+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	PAOK
Number	1
Youth career
1994-1996	Panathinaikos
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993-1994 1994-1996 1996-1999 1999-2001 2001-2003 2003-2004 2005 2006 2006-2008 2008-present	Apollon Larissa F.C. Panathinaikos Apollon Athens Panathinaikos Iraklis Panathinaikos Portsmouth Real Murcia Aris Thessaloniki PAOK	- (-) 0 (0) 75 (0) 26 (0) 60 (0) 26 (0) 5 (0) 2 (0) 46 (0) 44 (0)
National team2
2002-present	Greece	26 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 October 2009. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 10 September 2009. * Appearances (Goals)

Konstantinos "Kostas" Chalkias (Greek: Κώστας Χαλκιάς) is a Greek footballer, born May 30, 1974 in Larissa, Greece. He stands 199 cm (6'7") tall and plays in the goalkeeper position. He currently plays for PAOK F.C..

[edit] Greece and Panathinaikos

Chalkias started his career in the Panathinaikos youth academy in the 94/95 double winning PAO team and was loaned out for his first two seasons to Apollon Athens. After he returned, he was forced to play third keeper to the legendary Jozef Wandzik and Greek legend Antonis Nikopolidis. He made a total of 25 starts over the next three years between 1998 and 2001 for Panathinaikos and was transferred for two seasons to Iraklis before good performances led to a return to Panathinaikos in the 01/02 season. After playing second fiddle again to Antonis Nikopolidis during most of the 03/04 season, he was allowed back in to the first team after a dispute Nikopolidis had with management.

[edit] Going abroad

At the end of the 2003/2004 season, Nikopolidis was let out on a free transfer to bitter rivals, Olympiakos, and a new keeper was bought: Mario Galinovic. After a fight for first team football, eventually Galinovic won out and due to overseas interest, Chalkias was shipped out to English side Portsmouth F.C. in January 2005, making his debut in the FA Cup fourth round tie away at fierce rivals Southampton F.C. Unfortunately, over the next few matches Chalkias's wild tactics and inconsistency led to some poorly conceded goals, and he was soon dropped and replaced by Jamie Ashdown. With the signing of Sander Westerveld in July 2005, Chalkias fell even further down the pecking order, and in January 2006 he was released by the club, after making only 5 appearances. Shortly after his release from Portsmouth he joined Segunda División side Real Murcia.

[edit] Return to Greece

Chalkias was bought in the summer transfer window of 2006 by Aris Thessaloniki. Chalkias was a member of the Greek national team that won the Euro 2004 in Portugal, albeit as reserve keeper and without making an appearance. After his transfer to Aris, Chalkias regained some of the form that he showed during his bright run in the first team for Panathinaikos and after an exceptional season (as possibly the best keeper in Greece during season 06/07), he was recalled for the National Team and gained a starting spot over Nikopolidis after his poor performances earlier in the Euro 2008 qualifiers.

Chalkias left Aris in summer 2008 ^[1] and moved to arch-rivals PAOK F.C., signing a two year contract on May 28, 2008, thus becoming the third player to have played for the all three major clubs of Thessaloniki (Aris, P.A.O.K., Iraklis), following Apostolos Tsourelas and Stefanos Borbokis^{[citation needed]}. He is currently the first keeper for PAOK F.C. and the Greek national team.

[edit] National Team

Konstantinos Chalkias made his debut the 10 November 2001 against Estonia. In the summer 2004 he won Euro 2004 included in the team together with the other goalkeepers Antonis Nikopolidis and Fanis Katergiannakis. Otto Rehhagel called him also for the qualification of Euro 2008. Konstantinos Chalkias during the qualification for the World Cup 2010 play as the first goalkeeper for Greek national team, after the retirement of the legendary goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis and he is the only goalkeeper from the Euro 2004.

[edit] Honours

Panathinaikos

• Greek Super League: 2003-04

Panathinaikos

• Greek Cup: 2003-04

Greece

• European Championship: 2004

Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

• Greek Cup: Runners up 2007-08

PAOK F.C.

• Greek Super League: Runners up 2008-09

[edit] References

Greece squads v • d • e Greece squad – UEFA Euro 2004 Winners (1st Title) 1 Nikopolidis • 2 Seitaridis • 3 Venetidis • 4 Dabizas • 5 Dellas • 6 Basinas • 7 Zagorakis (c) • 8 Giannakopoulos • 9 Charisteas • 10 Tsiartas • 11 Nikolaidis • 12 Chalkias • 13 Katergiannakis • 14 Fyssas • 15 Vryzas • 16 Kafes • 17 Georgiadis • 18 Goumas • 19 Kapsis • 20 Karagounis • 21 Katsouranis • 22 Papadopoulos • 23 Lakis • Coach: Rehhagel 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 v • d • e Greece squad – 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup 1 Nikopolidis • 2 Seitaridis • 3 Vyntra • 4 Tavlaridis • 5 Kyrgiakos • 6 Basinas • 7 Zagorakis (c) • 8 Giannakopoulos • 9 Charisteas • 10 Tsiartas • 11 Papadopoulos • 12 Chalkias • 13 Sifakis • 14 Fyssas • 15 Vryzas • 16 Kafes • 17 Amanatidis • 18 Goumas • 19 Kapsis • 20 Karagounis • 21 Katsouranis • 22 Gekas • 23 Lakis • Coach: Rehhagel