Giourkas Seitaridis has emerged
as a right-back of genuine promise who has effortlessly made the transition
from Greece's Under-21 side to the senior team to UEFA European Championship
glory.
National team
Played his first game for Greece on 13 February 2002 against Sweden, and
later that year participated in the 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
final round in Switzerland. Breaking into the senior team regularly in UEFA
EURO 2004™ qualifying, his reputation grew and was one of the main reasons
Greece were crowned champions, unsurprisingly named in the All-Star Squad.
Club
Born in the Athens port of Piraeus, Seitaridis signed professional terms
with PAS Giannina FC, for whom he played just eight league matches before
joining Panathinaikos FC on a five-year contract in January 2001 as a
19-year-old. Seitaridis made an immediate impact in March of that year with
a spectacular 25th-minute goal against Manchester United FC in the UEFA Champions
League, a strike only equalised by Paul Scholes in the dying seconds. Although
still inexperienced, he played a significant role in his club's run to the
following season's quarter-finals and in 2002/03 overcame a temporary loss
of form to start 25 Alpha Ethniki matches as Panathinaikos finished runners-up
to Olympiacos CFP. The club reportedly rejected summer offers from AS Monaco
FC and Valencia CF for the defender.
2003/04: Although Seitaridis ended the season with winner's medals in the
league and Greek Cup he was not at his inspirational best, with Itzhak Shum's
shuffling of his defence playing a significant part in that.
Did you know?
His father, Dimitris Seitaridis, was a striker who also played for Giannina
and Panathinaikos, while his uncle, Miltos Seitaridis, and grandfather were
both also stars in Greece. |
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