A classic midfield player, Theodoros Zagorakis is highly influential when his team have possession and is also excellent in closing the opposition down and preventing them from dictating the play.

National team

The captain of the Greek national side, Zagorakis made his debut just after the 1994 FIFA World Cup finals, a 5-1 win against the Faroe Islands on 7 September. He has played in the qualifying campaigns for three UEFA European Championships and two World Cups, 1998 and 2002.

UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifying

Zagorakis led by example as Greece eclipsed Spain and Ukraine to top Group 6, playing all eight qualifiers and helping his side to six clean sheets in as many victories and an automatic passage to Portugal.

Club

After beginning his career with FC Kavala - for whom he scored six goals in 114 league matches - Zagorakis moved to FC PAOK Thessaloniki during the 1992/93 season.

1993: Zagorakis was a firm favourite with supporters at PAOK. He rarely missed a league fixture and often chipped in with important goals, particularly in 1994/95 when he struck four, his best-ever tally.

1997: From there Zagorakis joined Premiership outfit Leicester City FC for a €1.2m fee. Club and player enjoyed an impressively long stay in the English top flight and claimed the League Cup in 1998 and 2000.

2000: Signed for AEK Athens FC in the summer of 2000. Zagorakis took part in all AEK's 26 league games in the 2001/02 season and no team-mate could make the same claim. He also scored three goals in their eight UEFA Cup games, including one in the San Siro stadium against Internazionale FC. The following term was another season of near misses for AEK, who were unbeaten in Europe yet still eliminated at the first hurdle.

2003/04: Amidst AEK's financial turmoil, the Greece captain continued to be as dependable as ever, missing just three Alpha Ethniki matches.

Did you know?

Zagorakis is the most capped current Greek international, having appeared over 80 times.

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