Kostas Katsouranis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kostas Katsouranis Κώστας Κατσουράνης
Personal information
Full name	Kostantinos Katsouranis Κωνσταντίνος Κατσουράνης
Date of birth	June 21, 1979 (1979-06-21) (age 28)
Place of birth	Patras, Greece
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current club	Benfica
Number	8
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1996–2002 2002–2006 2006–present	Panachaiki AEK Athens Benfica	096 (11) 112 (49) 062 (11)
National team2
2003–present	Greece	39 (3)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of November 4, 2007. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of May 19, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Konstantinos (Kostas) Katsouranis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος „Κώστας“ Κατσουράνης; born June 21, 1979 in Patras, Greece) is a Greek football player currently playing for SL Benfica, having joined them from AEK Athens FC in June 2006. Primarily a defensive midfielder, he is a versatile player that can also perform as a central defender or a forward. In Greece, Katsouranis is regarded as one of the best Greek footballers of his generation.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Panachaiki 1.2 AEK Athens FC 1.3 SL Benfica 1.3.1 Luisão incident 2 International career 3 Honours 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Panachaiki

Only 17 when he débuted in the 1996–97 season for the Patras-based club Panachaiki, he spent six seasons there and, by the third, was already a regular starter.

[edit] AEK Athens FC

When his contract with Panachaiki expired, Katsouranis decided that it was time to move forward to a bigger club. He opened negotiations with Panathinaikos. Eventually his current coach Fernando Santos and formerly of Panathinaikos, decided to sign the Portuguese Carlos Chaínho, a player he knew when both were at FC Porto, meaning the Greek's transfer would not be finalized, despite the negotiations. Then Olympiakos approached. The talks with Giorgos Louvaris, vice-president of Olympiakos, seemed finally to end with an agreement, but Louvaris asked Katsouranis to wait until the president Sokratis Kokkalis's return from a business trip to USA for the final negotiations, but former AEK Athens president Chrysostomos Psomiadis took advantage of the situation and convinced the promising midfielder to sign a three-year contract with AEK.

Coming off the bench and making an impressive performance in a single game for the Greek league, Kostas immediately became an integral part of the club. His continuing progress in the top-level rapidly him the team's best player and a first team regular.

The 2004–05 season would perhaps be one of Katsouranis's finest seasons with the club, as he scored 12 times from the defensive midfielder spot, leading the club in a hard battle for the title. AEK managed to finish third when many had expected a mid-table performance. Werder Bremen expressed strong interest for the Greek international but Kostas together with president Demis Nikolaidis decided to reject the offer.

In the 2005–06 season he led the club to a second place finish in the league and brought them into the UEFA Champions League, at the end of the season Fernando Santos was sacked and Katsouranis wanted to leave to a bigger club and further his career abroad, he signed with SL Benfica, managed by Fernando Santos, for a fee of about 2 million euros.

[edit] SL Benfica

Katsouranis signed a four-year contract with Portuguese side SL Benfica on 23 June 2006 and completed his move to another European club after having successfully played for AEK Athens FC. Giorgos Karagounis is another Greek player who arrived in SL Benfica a year earlier. When he arrived in June, he said "Even if Fernando Santos or Karagounis were not here I still would have joined. Benfica to me is one of Europe's top clubs and they proved that in the UEFA Champions League. I am here to achieve that same objective and joining Benfica can also help my international career".

In his first Portuguese derby, against FC Porto, he followed on to score for Benfica with a header following a corner kick, the second goal he has scored for Benfica in the league in just a few matches. Katsouranis quickly became a key player for Benfica, scoring some important goals and he also captained the team on a few occasions. He proved to be one of the most important imports into the 2006–07 Portuguese Liga, playing in 28 league matches and scoring six goals.

Despite interest from Valencia CF, SV Werder Bremen and Tottenham Hotspur and Juventus were linked to the player after summer signing Sergio Almiron was considered a flop but Benfica refused to sell the player despite Juventus willing to trade Tiago Mendes for the Greek international. Benfica were relunctant to sell and, on September 14, 2007, Katsouranis agreed to a contract extension with SL Benfica for another two years.

[edit] Luisão incident

In January 2008, Katsouranis was involved in an on-field argument with team-mate Luisão, during a league match against Vitoria Setubal. The argument arose after Katsouranis's misplaced pass forced Luisão to commit a foul in order to stop the player with the ball. After receiving a yellow card, Luisão openly criticised Katsouranis, who responded in a similar manner. The two players were on the point of breaking into violence, before team-mates separated them. Both players were then quickly substituted, and given suspensions by the club. Both players apologized to each other and are still playing together for the team.

[edit] International career

Katsouranis made his international début for Greece on August 20, 2003 against Sweden and scored his first goal against Kazakhstan in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier. Katsouranis was one of the key factors in Greece's triumph at the European Championships of 2004, following Greece's success at the tournament Katsouranis was a regular for Greece in their unsuccessful 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Katsouranis became one of Greece's impact players in their UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers in which he helped Greece qualify for the finals and have a chance to retain their crown. Katsouranis has also captained Greece on several occasions.

[edit] Honours

Greece

• European Championship: 2004

Individual

• Greek Championship best Greek player: 2005

Awards
Preceded by Dimitrios Papadopoulos	Best Greek player 2005	Succeeded by Nikos Liberopoulos
Sporting positions
Preceded by Theodoros Zagorakis	AEK Athens captain 2004-2006	Succeeded by Traianos Dellas

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• (Portuguese) Kostas Katsouranis on SL Benfica's website
• (English) Kostas Katsouranis on PortuGOAL.net

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 • 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 SL Benfica – current squad 1 Moreira • 2 L. Filipe • 3 Edcarlos • 4 Luisão • 5 Léo • 6 Petit • 7 Cardozo • 8 Katsouranis • 9 Mantorras • 12 Quim • 14 Maxi Pereira • 17 Zoro • 18 Binya • 20 Di María • 21 N. Gomes • 22 Nélson • 23 David Luiz • 24 Butt • 25 N. Assis • 26 C. Rodríguez • 30 Adu • 33 Sepsi • 38 Makukula • Manager: Flores