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Sotiris Kyrgiakos

Personal information
Full name	Sotirios Kyrgiakos
Date of birth	23 July 1979 (1979-07-23) (age 30)
Place of birth	Trikala, Greece
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position	Centre Back
Club information
Current club	Liverpool
Number	16
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps (Gls)†
1998–2004	Panathinaikos	60 0(5)
1999–2001	→ Agios Nikolaos (loan)	56 0(3)
2005–2006	Rangers	43 0(1)
2006–2008	Eintracht Frankfurt	51 0(8)
2008–2009	AEK Athens	20 0(0)
2009–	Liverpool	02 0(0)
National team‡
2002-	Greece	53 0(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 29 August 2009 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 October 2009 (UTC)

Sotirios "Sotiris" Kyrgiakos (Greek: Σωτήρης Κυργιάκος) (born on 23 July 1979 in Trikala, Greece) is a Greek international football player currently playing as a centre back for Liverpool in the Premier League.^[1]

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Panathinaikos 1.2 Rangers 1.3 Eintracht Frankfurt 1.4 AEK Athens 1.5 Liverpool 2 International career 2.1 International goals 3 Honours 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Panathinaikos

Kyrgiakos made his first football steps with a local team, Thyella Megalochoriou. It did not take long for him to be recognized. At the start of the 1996-97 season he became a member of the Panathinaikos football academy. He lived and played football at the Paiania athletic complex, the club’s training ground.

In the wake of the 1999-2000 season he became a member of Agios Nikolaos, a second division club and won the respect of president Lampros Maris whom Sotirios considers as his second father. He stayed with Agios Nikolaos for two years and in 2001 he took part in the pre-season camp at OFI Crete. The centre-back injuries at his parent club, Panathinaikos, just before the 3rd Qualifying round matches with Slavia Prague for the 2000–01 Champions League meant that he had to return to Paiania and become a regular member of the starting line-up.

[edit] Rangers

The following January, he joined Rangers on loan during season 2004-05 with a view to a permanent deal at the end of the season. With his new club he won a second consecutive championship and also the Scottish League Cup scoring two goals in the 5-1 win against Motherwell in the final.^[2] He initially failed to agree terms with Rangers and held talks with Everton, Portsmouth and Schalke and the Italian club Genoa before finally agreeing a one year deal with Rangers ^[3]. He scored a famous winning goal against FC Porto in the UEFA Champions League that year,^[4] and ended the season with three goals after also scoring against Peterhead in the FA Cup^[5] and Dunfermline in the league.^[6] He was released in May 2006 after the contract ran out ^[7].

[edit] Eintracht Frankfurt

In June 2006 Sotiris signed a 2 year deal with Eintracht Frankfurt^[8]. In his first season, he proved to be a fan favourite with some great performances and crucial goals which helped the team avoid relegation. In his second season with the club with more excellent performances he helped the team finish in 9th position. On 1 July 2008, after his 2 year deal expired, Kyrgiakos decided not to renew his contract with the German club, and so was released.

[edit] AEK Athens

On 1 August 2008, Sotiris agreed to sign for AEK Athens on a five year deal ^[9]. Sotiris Kyrgiakos has reportedly been earning 1.6 Million Euros per year, helping the team to reach the final of the Greek Cup.

[edit] Liverpool

On 21 August 2009 it was announced that he had signed a two-year deal with the option of a further year for Liverpool, for a reported fee of £2 million, becoming the first Greek player to sign for Liverpool. Kyrgiakos wears the number 16 shirt at Anfield.^[1][10]

He made his league debut against Bolton on 29 August 2009 in which Liverpool won 3-2 .^[11]

[edit] International career

Kyrgiakos made his senior international debut on 13 February 2002 against Sweden, and scored his first goal against Norway 1 year later on 13 February 2003. He was unlucky to miss their Euro 2004 victory through injury, which ironically was a knee injury sustained against Rangers team-mate Stefan Klos. He scored three goals in their Euro 2008 qualifiers and was selected in the final squad to represent Greece in the final tournament ^[12].

[edit] International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	13 February 2003	Heraklion, Greece	Norway	1-0	Win	Friendly Match
2.	24 March 2007	Athens, Greece	Turkey	1-4	Loss	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier
3.	12 September 2007	Oslo, Norway	Norway	2-2	Draw	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier
4.	12 September 2007	Oslo, Norway	Norway	2-2	Draw	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier

[edit] Honours

Panathinaikos

• Greek League: 2004
• Greek Cup: 2004

Rangers

• Scottish Premier League: 2005
• Scottish League Cup: 2005

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website (Greek) (English)
• Official liverpool profile
• Official AEK Athens profile
• Profile at Transfermarkt.de
• Sotirios Kyrgiakos career stats at Soccerbase
• ESPN Profile

Sotiris Kyrgiakos - Navigation boxes and awards 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 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 Sporting positions Preceded by Traianos Dellas AEK Athens captain 2008-2009 Succeeded by Incumbent

v • d • e Liverpool F.C. – current squad 1 Cavalieri · 2 Johnson · 4 Aquilani · 5 Agger · 8 Gerrard (c) · 9 Torres · 10 Voronin · 11 Riera · 12 F. Aurélio · 15 Benayoun · 16 Kyrgiakos · 18 Kuyt · 19 Babel · 20 Mascherano · 21 Lucas · 22 Insúa · 23 Carragher · 24 N'Gog · 25 Reina · 26 Spearing · 27 Degen · 28 Plessis · 31 El Zhar · 32 Darby · 34 Kelly · 36 Irwin · 37 Škrtel · 38 Dossena · 39 Eccleston · 40 Ayala · 41 Hansen · 42 Gulácsi · 43 Bouzanis · 46 Amoo · Manager: Benítez

Persondata
NAME	Kyrgiakos, Sotiris
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Greek international footballer
DATE OF BIRTH	23 July 1979
PLACE OF BIRTH	Trikala, Greece
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH