Pantelis Kafes (Greek: Παντελής Καφές) (born on June 24, 1978 in Veria, Greece) is a Greek football player who currently plays for AEK Athens FC. He is known for being one of very few outfield players to have worn the number 1 jersey.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Pontii Verias

He started playing professional football in January 1995 at the age of 17 for Pontioi Verias. The club were relegated to the third division that summer and the following May were demoted again. The one shining light was Kafes, who joined PAOK FC in January 1997.

[edit] PAOK

Kafes burst on to the Alpha Ethniki scene in 1998/99, scoring seven times. He continued to impress and was instrumental in PAOK's Greek Cup triumph in 2001. Again one of PAOK's outstanding performers in 2002/03, Kafes helped the club to a fourth-placed finish and also took his tally of UEFA Cup appearances to 21. Yet his spell in Thessaloniki ended acrimoniously as he was released from his contract after a dispute over unpaid wages. Olympiacos CFP stepped in with a three-year contract.

[edit] Olympiacos

He was ever-present in his first season at Olympiacos as they finished second in the Alpha Ethniki in 2003, and made his first UEFA Champions League appearances, five in all. Kafes played in the majority of Olympiacos' league matches on their way to the domestic double, and only a mid-season injury preventing him from matching his record in Europe, where he took part in all of the club's Champions League and UEFA Cup games.

Likewise for next season, 2005–2006, where he played 22 domestic league games, earned another double and scored two truly memorable tying goals from the edge of the box for Olympiacos in the UEFA Champions League- however they both earned no points for his team, as both games ended 2-1.

Kafes was released from Olympiacos during 2006-07 season. A few days later he signed a 2 year contract with AEK Athens, Olympiakos' basic rival for the Greek championship.

[edit] AEK Athens

Soon after signing for AEK and continuing his tradition of wearing the number 1, Kafes broke into the first team and was a mainstay in AEK's fight for the championship, but they had to settle for second. The following season on January 12 2008 Kafes scored his first goal for AEK against Veria. On February 30 of the same year, Kafes scored against his former club Olympiacos and put AEK 4 - 0 in front. For the rest of the season however Kafes' efforts to win the championship proved unsuccessful as AEK came out second again, loseing out on the title on goal difference to Olympiacos. In his third season with the "Dikefalos-Aetos", AEK did not live up to there expectations and finished third, Kafes was a key figure in there revival inwich he captained the side on a few occasions.

On June 12 2009, Kafes signed a new 3 year deal which will keep him at AEK until 2012. He agreed to reduce his wages to help the clubs financial difficulties ^[1][2] .

On July 11 2009, Kafes was given the captains armband and will be the new captain for the upcoming season ^[3]

On September 13 2009, Kafes scored his first goal of the 2009-10 season versus Iraklis.

[edit] International career

Kafes has been a standard call-up in the Greek national side in recent times. He made his debut against Croatia in April 2001 and scored his first goal against Austria in Vienna in March 2003, following it up with another in an August victory against Sweden. Kafes made two appearances in UEFA EURO 2004 qualifying, and was in the finals squad, but failed to make an appearance in the finals. He has remained a squad regular since.

[edit] Career statistics

Last updated: 2009-09-13
Source: aekfc.gr

[edit] Honours

PAOK

• Greek Cup: 2001, 2003

Olympiacos

• Super League Greece: 2005, 2006, 2007
• Greek Cup: 2005, 2006

Greece

• European Championship: 2004

[edit] References

Pantelis Kafes - Navigation boxes and awards 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 – 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 v • d • e AEK Athens F.C. – current squad 1 Kafes (c) · 2 Araujo · 3 Hersi · 4 Geraldo · 5 Majstorović · 6 Alexopoulos · 7 Juanfran · 8 Nsaliwa · 9 Leonardo · 10 Djebbour · 11 Manduca · 12 Jahić · 13 Koutromanos · 14 Makos · 15 Karabelas · 16 Roger · 17 Rikka · 18 Blanco · 19 Lagos · 21 Pavlis · 22 Arabatzis · 23 Saja · 24 Manolas · 26 Yahaya · 27 Lukač · 28 Moschonas · 29 Németh · 30 Iordache · 31 Georgeas · 32 Scocco · 34 Tachtsidis · 87 Arce · 90 Gentsoglou · Coach: Bajević Sporting positions Preceded by Sotiris Kyrgiakos AEK Athens captain 2009- Succeeded by Incumbent