Foreigners who could have played for the NT

[AEKftw21]

This is a thread about foreigners who, despite having Greek citizenship, opted for another national team, usually because they were born there.

I will start the thread with Olympiakos legend Djordevic. The midfielder was born in Serbia, but moved to Greece aged 15 and spent all of his career there. He is known for being Olympiakos' player with the most appearances. Despite that, he opted to play for his country of birth, Serbia and guided them in the World Cup 2006.

Think it was right that he represented Serbia, but imagine having him in the midfield in our golden era...Imagine the creativy he would offer...


Other similar examples?

[Reaper]

Neri Castillo is an obvious one. Terrible hot head but his brilliance would have been massive.He was a beast 2007 Copa America for Mexico. Scored against Brazil, Ecuador and 2 against Paraguay in that competition. The following year Greece lost all 3 of its games in Euro 2008 with Greece only scoring 1 goal. He could have been a huge help.

[Don Giovanni]

We've had a few over the years. Remember Batista, the poor man's Gullit?

I'm not particularly fond of this idea, but I would like to have seen Cypriot nationals play for Greece. Players like Konstantinou and Okkas should have represented Greece.

[AEKftw21]

We've had a few over the years. Remember Batista, the poor man's Gullit?

I'm not particularly fond of this idea, but I would like to have seen Cypriot nationals play for Greece. Players like Konstantinou and Okkas should have represented Greece.

These Cypriots were a huge asset to Olympiakos' attack in the 2005-07 period, but I don't think they would start for the glorious 2004 national team...

[Don Giovanni]

Konstantinou was one of the best players in Greece by the millennium, Panathinaikos paid a record fee for him and he repaid it in the UCL with a goal every other game, none bigger than his strike against Barcelona in the Camp Nou. I remember he scored one goal where this hack of a defender fouled him twice in the penalty area and Konstantinou still managed to score LOL. There was no stopping him. Tall, fast, and clinical both on the ground and in the air, from close range and from distance. Even from the most acute angles, he could finish. When he first burst on to the scene, he was some player, then his knees started to go. For a time though, I think he might have been arguably the best player in Greece between 1999-2002. That's why PAO paid so much because he really should have gone abroad at that point and PAO knew that his value would only go up, which it did, but like I said his knees went first. If we had him in Euro 2000 qualifying, we would have made it to the finals.

Okkas was not the best of finishers, but he was hard working and possessed good technical abilities as well as creativity. I don't think he would have been good enough for Greece until perhaps after Euro 2004, when he signed for OSFP.

[Don Giovanni]

We talk about foreigners, but I think the biggest shame is that Delikaris, Hatzipanagis, and Tsartas didn't get more opportunities to represent Greece. These were proper players who deserved a global audience.

Delikaris very nearly propelled Greece to Euro 1976 with his goals against West Germany. Massive goals. The one who scored in Greece is easily the most iconic:

Hatzipanagis was ruled ineligible due to his past youth-level commitments to the Soviets (nowadays, he would have been allowed to have competed for Greece, but the rules were more strict back then). The man ran literal circles around opponents.

Tsartas was the one player we had who could almost always find that goal we needed to win. He had a hand in 5 of the 8 goals we scored when we qualified for Euro 2004. It was his assists against Spain that propelled us into a position to progress to the latter stages and it was his assist against the Czechs that put us into the final. The technical quality and vision of both crosses is nothing short of sensational. I'm convinced we missed out on 2006 precisely because he was too old and Greece had no one to fill in his shoes. If you look at the start of our campaign, it's he who got the assist in our 1-2 loss to Albania and he who scored the goal against Ukraine to salvage a 1-1 draw with a spectacular, signature free-kick of his. If he was still the player he was only a few years earlier, I think Greece would have qualified for the 2006 World Cup. I also think the failure to adequately replace him was another reason we looked so impotent at Euro 2008.

In football, to be successful, you need at least one player of that kind of caliber, someone who can really pull rabbits out of the hat so to speak. It's not enough to have workmanlike players who can run their tails off and rely on opposition defensive errors or luck, you need real quality in your ranks to truly succeed. Players capable of doing things only they can dream up, actions and plays that are tactically unplayable.

[Kojak]

Konstantinou was one of the best players in Greece by the millennium, Panathinaikos paid a record fee for him and he repaid it in the UCL with a goal every other game, none bigger than his strike against Barcelona in the Camp Nou. I remember he scored one goal where this hack of a defender fouled him twice in the penalty area and Konstantinou still managed to score LOL. There was no stopping him. Tall, fast, and clinical both on the ground and in the air, from close range and from distance. Even from the most acute angles, he could finish. When he first burst on to the scene, he was some player, then his knees started to go. For a time though, I think he might have been arguably the best player in Greece between 1999-2002. That's why PAO paid so much because he really should have gone abroad at that point and PAO knew that his value would only go up, which it did, but like I said his knees went first. If we had him in Euro 2000 qualifying, we would have made it to the finals.

Okkas was not the best of finishers, but he was hard working and possessed good technical abilities as well as creativity. I don't think he would have been good enough for Greece until perhaps after Euro 2004, when he signed for OSFP.

Agree about Konstantinou, its a shame about his decline in what should have been his prime - His combination with Papadopoulos in 2003 is what propelled Dimi Paps into the limelight and leading goalscorer from nowhere. The amount of goals paps scored of his flick ons, and drawing players leaving space for him to run in behind was great to watch.

[Amorgos]

Neri Castillo is an obvious one. Terrible hot head but his brilliance would have been massive.He was a beast 2007 Copa America for Mexico. Scored against Brazil, Ecuador and 2 against Paraguay in that competition. The following year Greece lost all 3 of its games in Euro 2008 with Greece only scoring 1 goal. He could have been a huge help.

I follow him on Facebook and he is pretty much a Greek. He came to Greece when he was 14 or so, I am more surprised now seen how he is so Greek, and at a time the NT was really struggling in attack after Otto wanted to rely on just Euro 04 guys, that this guy wasn't introduced to the team but perhaps his attitude was another reason.

[Reaper]

Yea. Rumours were he was offered €800k to play for Greece but refused. Shame considering he was and is fluent in Greek and basically a Greek guy now. He had some bitterness in those days left unresolved. He seems far happier these days.

[AEKftw21]

Konstantinou was one of the best players in Greece by the millennium, Panathinaikos paid a record fee for him and he repaid it in the UCL with a goal every other game, none bigger than his strike against Barcelona in the Camp Nou. I remember he scored one goal where this hack of a defender fouled him twice in the penalty area and Konstantinou still managed to score LOL. There was no stopping him. Tall, fast, and clinical both on the ground and in the air, from close range and from distance. Even from the most acute angles, he could finish. When he first burst on to the scene, he was some player, then his knees started to go. For a time though, I think he might have been arguably the best player in Greece between 1999-2002. That's why PAO paid so much because he really should have gone abroad at that point and PAO knew that his value would only go up, which it did, but like I said his knees went first. If we had him in Euro 2000 qualifying, we would have made it to the finals.

Okkas was not the best of finishers, but he was hard working and possessed good technical abilities as well as creativity. I don't think he would have been good enough for Greece until perhaps after Euro 2004, when he signed for OSFP.

Made some research for him and found out that Panathinaikos paid Iraklis 15 million (!!!) to sign him. 15 million was absurd and still is for the standards of the Greek league nowadays. 15m back is the equivalent of paying 65m today. Did people rate him so damn high?

[AEKftw21]

Yea. Rumours were he was offered €800k to play for Greece but refused. Shame cosidering he was and is fluent in Greek and basically a Greek guy now. He had some bitterness in those days left unresolved. He seems far happier these days.

Really sad that his career was pretty much over the season he moved to City and failed to perform. In my opinion, he retired too early and could have still been playing in the Greek league at 35. He currently lives in Athens, making a living from selling fishing equipment


By the way, besides Greece, he also turned down Uruguay and Italy, as members of his family descended from these countries. He was close to playing for Uruguay, as he was called up for their youth team at 17.

[Don Giovanni]

Castillo had the advantage of playing and learning from the likes of Giovanni and Rivaldo. The three of them really terrorized teams.

[AEKftw21]

Castillo had the advantage of playing and learning from the likes of Giovanni and Rivaldo. The three of them really terrorized teams.

True, Nery should have stayed in Olympiakos, it all went downhill for him when he left. The league was way better back then, but not as interesting as it is today (3 different chamions in the last 3 years), so I guess he left because he was in need for a new challenge.

Not in a million chances that players like Giovanni, Rivaldo and Nery will play in Greece in the foreseeable future.

[Reaper]

True, Nery should have stayed in Olympiakos, it all went downhill for him when he left. The league was way better back then, but not as interesting as it is today (3 different chamions in the last 3 years), so I guess he left because he was in need for a new challenge.

Not in a million chances that players like Giovanni, Rivaldo and Nery will play in Greece in the foreseeable future.

The pressure was most likely from Olympiacos for him to be sold. Oly made a fortune. Neri's mistakes were the clubs he chose. Ukraine and then the prem. He did not have the physicality to survive those places. La Liga was the league he needed to aim for. Also what happened with him at city with the dislocated shoulder was a reflection of the physicality his body was not used to.

[AEKftw21]

The pressure was most likely from Olympiacos for him to be sold. Oly made a fortune. Neri's mistakes were the clubs he chose. Ukraine and then the prem. He did not have the physicality to survive those places. La Liga was the league he needed to aim for. Also what happened with him at city with the dislocated shoulder was a reflection of the physicality his body was not used to.

True, but he wasn't good enough to join any notable La Liga club back then.

I also believe that 2008 was the year of the takeover of the Arab investors, so City had countless of cash to spash back then, so it is logical that some of the tranfers they made wouldn't be so succesful.

Anyways, another reason, Castillo didn't become a world class player is the fact that he wasn't the most hardworking player around. He overestimated his abilities and the sudden move from the Greek League to the Prem didn't have a good impact on him.