- Dimitrios Konstantopoulos
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Dimitrios Konstantopoulos Personal information Full name Dimitrios Konstantopoulos Date of birth 29 November 1978 Place of birth Thessaloniki, Greece Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Playing position Goalkeeper Club information Current club AEK Athens Number 23 Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1996–2000 Kalamata 14 (0) 2000–2001 Egaleo 10 (0) 2001–2002 Kalamata 3 (0) 2002–2003 SC Farense 0 (0) 2003–2007 Hartlepool United 117 (0) 2007–2010 Coventry City 31 (0) 2008 → Nottingham Forest (loan) 0 (0) 2008–2009 → Swansea City (loan) 4 (0) 2009 → Swansea City (loan) 2 (0) 2009 → Cardiff City (loan) 9 (0) 2010–2011 Kerkyra 30 (0) 2011– AEK Athens 0 (0) National team 1998–1999 Greece U21 9 (0) 2011- Greece 1 (0) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 November 2010 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).Dimitrios Konstantopoulos (Greek: Δημήτριος Κωνσταντόπουλος; born 29 November 1978 in Thessaloniki) is a Greek football goalkeeper, who currently plays for AEK Athens.
Contents
Career
Hartlepool United
Konstantopoulos was given a trial at Hartlepool United in 2003 by the then manager Neale Cooper after previously playing for Portuguese team SC Farense and Greece’s under 21 national team. After impressing in reserve matches, and due to the forthcoming departure of Hartlepool’s number 2 keeper Anthony Williams, Konstantopoulos was offered an 18-month contract.
Konstantopoulos spent the majority of his first season playing for Hartlepool’s reserve team and as a substitute. In the following 2004–2005 season, Konstantopoulos finally made his debut in the 2–1 League Cup win over Macclesfield Town on 24 August 2004. After impressing, Konstantopoulos then made his league debut in the 2–1 win against Colchester United six days later and his performances displaced Jim Provett as Hartlepool’s first choice keeper. During this season, Konstantopoulos went on to make 6 appearances in cup competitions and 28 in the league. One of his most crucial performances came in the second leg of the play-off semi-final against Tranmere Rovers, in this match Konstantopoulos pulled off a number of spectacular saves to keep Hartlepool in the match. When the match went to penalties Konstantopoulos saved twice to help put Hartlepool through to the play-off final. During this season, Konstantopoulos won the Hartlepool United Disabled Supporters Association(HUDSA) Community Player of the Year.
Coventry City
Konstantopoulos was signed by Coventry City on 30 June 2007.[1]
At the end of the 2009/2010 Coventry City told Konstantopoulos he was surplus to requirements and he was subsequently released.
Nottingham Forest
On Monday 24 March 2008 Konstantopoulos signed for Nottingham Forest on loan until the end of the 2007/08 season. He then ruptured his tendon in his right leg on his first day of training at The City Ground. The keeper's Forest career was over before it started.[2]
Swansea City
On 24 October 2008, Konstantopoulos signed for Swansea City on a 1 month emergency loan deal after Swansea's first choice keeper Dorus de Vries suffered a double fracture to his jaw against Queens Park Rangers.[3] He made his Swansea debut against Doncaster Rovers on 1 November, saving a penalty in the 85th minute. He made a total of 5 appearances before the return of de Vries meant he was dropped to the bench before being recalled to Coventry due to a goalkeeper crisis, appearing on the bench in the clubs 2–0 win over Kidderminster Harriers.[4]
He returned to Swansea on a second loan spell in January,[5] making just one appearance in the FA Cup, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 win over Portsmouth.[6] Swansea attempted to extend his loan deal beyond the end of the transfer window but the deal was unable to be completed in time due to adverse weather conditions.[7]
Cardiff City
After returning to Coventry, Konstantopoulos was again loaned out, this time to Swansea's local rivals Cardiff City until the end of the season as cover for Finland international Peter Enckelman who was ruled out for up to two months after undergoing knee surgery.[8] With second choice goalkeeper Tom Heaton also being ruled out through injury, Konstantopoulos was handed his debut on 22 February against Wolverhampton Wanderers which ended in a 2–2 draw after the Greek keeper scored an own goal after dropping a cross from Wolves midfielder Kyel Reid into his own net.[9] Konstantopoulos continued in goal with a draw against Queens Park Rangers and a defeat to Southampton before winning his first games with the club after recording consecutive wins over Barnsley and Doncaster Rovers. However his Cardiff career took another knock after a second blunder in his first month during a 2–0 defeat to Norwich City when he failed to clear a long pass and was tackled by Dave Mooney to concede the first goal of the game.[10] His errors led to Cardiff manager Dave Jones signing Stuart Taylor on loan from Aston Villa to replace him and, despite remaining with the side for the rest of the season, he did not make another appearance before returning to Coventry.
AEK Athens
On 13/7/11 Konstantopoulos signed a two-year deal with Greek giants AEK Athens keeping him at the club until 2013.[11] Due to Konstantopoulos' very impressive performances at Kerkyra where he was awarded Superleague Greece keeper of the year he was AEK Athen's main target in the Summer transfer period to replace Argentinian keeper Sebastian Saja. Shortly after he signed Konstantopoulos stated, "It is an honour to be chosen starting goalkeeper at a huge team like AEK is and I thank AEK for believing in me. One thing I can promise to the fans is that I will give my best effort every match and I will try my best to help AEK succeed there goals by winning the league."[12]
Notes
- ^ "Coventry capture Konstantopoulos". BBC Sport. 25 May 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/coventry_city/6691137.stm. Retrieved 30 June 2007.
- ^ "Dimitrios Deal Done". Nottingham Forest FC. 25 March 2008. http://www.nottinghamforest.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10308~1273427,00.html. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
- ^ "Swans complete Dimi deal" swanseacityfc.co.uk Retrieved on 10 February 2009
- ^ "Coventry 2–0 Kidderminster" BBC Sport Retrieved on 9 February 2009
- ^ "Konstantopoulos returns to Swans" BBC Sport Retrieved on 9 February 2009
- ^ "Portsmouth 0–2 Swansea" BBC Sport Retrieved on 9 February 2009
- ^ "Swans lose keeper Konstantopoulos" BBC Sport Retrieved on 9 February 2009
- ^ "Cardiff snap up Konstantopoulos" BBC Sport Retrieved on 9 February 2009
- ^ "Wolves 2–2 Cardiff" BBC Sport Retrieved on 22 February 2009
- ^ "Bluebirds boss Jones points finger at blunder keeper Dimi" Western Mail Retrieved on 11 March 2009
- ^ AEK Athens sign Konstantopoulos
- ^ Konstantopoulos interview
External links
AEK Athens F.C. – current squad 1 Kafes (c) · 2 Kontoes · 3 Helgason · 4 Manolas · 5 Dellas · 6 Cala · 7 Roger · 8 Beleck · 9 Leonardo · 10 José Carlos · 11 Sialmas · 12 Tsitas · 13 Rikka · 14 Makos · 15 Karabelas · 16 Argyriou · 17 Katsetis · 19 Lagos · 21 Vargas · 22 Guðjohnsen · 23 Dimi · 24 Burns · 28 Moschonas · 31 Georgeas · 33 Liberopoulos · 47 Bougaidis · 66 Englezou · 77 Klonaridis · 88 Foundas · 90 Gentsoglou · 92 Tsoukalas · 99 Arabatzis · Manager: Kostenoglou
Categories:- 1978 births
- Living people
- People from Thessaloniki
- Greek footballers
- Greek expatriate footballers
- Expatriate footballers in Portugal
- Expatriate footballers in England
- Association football goalkeepers
- Kalamata F.C. players
- Egaleo F.C. players
- Hartlepool United F.C. players
- Coventry City F.C. players
- Swansea City A.F.C. players
- Cardiff City F.C. players
- The Football League players
- SC Farense players
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