Nikos Liberopoulos

Nikos Liberopoulos

Personal information
Full name	Nikolaos Liberopoulos
Date of birth	4 August 1975 (1975-08-04) (age 36)
Place of birth	Filiatra, Greece
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Centre forward / Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club	AEK Athens
Number	33
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1991-1994	Erani Filatrion	53	(33)
1994–1996	Kalamata	78	(20)
1996–2003	Panathinaikos	186	(72)
2003–2008	AEK Athens	140	(68)
2008–2010	Eintracht Frankfurt	50	(10)
2010–	AEK Athens	32	(14)
National team‡
1996–	Greece	72	(13)
Honours Silver UEFA European U-21 Championship 1998 Gold Greek Cup 2011
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 May 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 26 March 2011

Nikolaos "Nikos" Liberopoulos (Greek: Νίκος Λυμπερόπουλος) (born on 4 August 1975 in Filiatra) is a well known Greek international football player currently playing as a centre forward for AEK and Greek national football team in the Greek Super League. He is famous for his aim-to-goal shot, his innate in-play instincts, and his technical attacking skills. Liberopoulos is a unique player in Greek domestic football, as he is equally adored by fans of both AEK Athens and Panathinaikos. Due to the tense rivalry between the Greek clubs, this happens very rarely. He is the first and only player to be recorded in the top ten scorers of all time for both these teams.

Club career

He is one of the most popular footballers to come out of Peloponnesus. Liberopoulos started off his career with Erani Filiatron, he then moved to Kalamata F.C. in 1994. After an impressive debut season in Greece's top division AEK Athens and Olympiakos F.C. tried to sign him during the summer of 1996 yet Panathinaikos managed to snap him up.

Panathinaikos F.C.

In the summer 1996 he signed for Panathinaikos he reached the semifinal stage of the UEFA Champions League. Italian clubs, mainly Juventus and Hellas Verona showed interest in hiring him, but his loyalty to Panathinaikos kept him in Athens. In 2003 Liberopoulos clashed with Panathinaikos' board which eventually led to him leaving the club.

AEK Athens

Following his departure from Panathinaikos he was ready to join Sochaux but he finally chose his childhood club AEK Athens where he became a formidable offensive player and inspirational leader. He went to score several times against his former team but never celebrated earning the fans' applause and a standing ovation for his action. He helped AEK Athens scoring 79 times in his 195 appearances and earning a top scorer award during the 2006–07 season. His most important goals originated from two long range shots, the one against Lille OSC (AEK Athens won 1-0) and the other against Olympiakos F.C. (AEK Athens won 4-0). During June 2007, Liberopoulos was offered a lucrative contract with 1. FC Nuremberg worth 4 million euros, which he declined to remain with AEK Athens. Club president Demis Nikolaidis has publicly announced his intent to retain Lymperopoulos at all costs in an effort to bolster AEK Athens' chances at achieving dominance in the Greek Super League. On 7 July 2008, Liberopoulos was released by AEK.^[1] German team Eintracht Frankfurt announced his signing on 13 July 2008.

Eintracht Frankfurt

Liberopoulos signed a 2-year deal giving the number 10 shirt. He made his German Bundesliga debut for Eintracht Frankfurt, playing the full 90 minutes against Hertha Berlin on 17 August 2008 at the Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt. Liberopoulos scored his first goal against Mainz 05. Lyberopoulos has won 55 caps scoring 13 goals in all competitions.

AEK Athens

Liberopoulos again signed for AEK Athens in the summer of 2010, and put in an impressive display in AEK's 5-3 win against Australian A-League club Sydney FC on 25 July 2010, scoring one goal and setting-up two others. Liberopoulos also scored against Blackburn three day's later. He made his Superleague Greece against Kerkyra and scored his first official goal in a Europa League match against Hajduk Split. On 19 January 2010, in a Greek Cup match against Panathinaikos he scored two goals leading his team to victory. Liberopoulos was applauded during his substitution later in that game by some of Panathinaikos' fans despite their team's defeat. After the match Liberopoulos said "I have spent seven nice years in Panathinaikos in which I matured as a player. I keep only the positive things, but now for me AEK is my family and I will do everything for the team." and about the Panathinaikos' fans ovation "It means a lot to me. It's a great feeling to be applauded during your substitution. There were some hoots also but even if the whole stadium was hooting at me that would not have changed what I have said earlier about my feelings for Panathinaikos".^[2] On 30 May 11 Liberopulos won his first trophy in his career with AEK winning the Greek Cup 2010-11 against Atromitos 0-3 while also scoring the first goal and was awarded MVP of the match.

On 16 June 2011, Liveropoulos signed a new 1-year deal keeping him at the club until 2012.^[3]

International career

Liberopoulos has appeared 70 times for Greece scoring 13 goals in the process. Liberopoulos is currently active as a forward in the national team. His most notable performance in the Euro 2008 qualifiers to date was a last-second goal 5 minutes into stoppage time to grant Greece a 2-1 victory over Moldova on 6 June 2007, which placed Greece at the top of their qualifying division. Liberopoulos has been known on the international scene as a "super sub", coming off the bench many times in the final quarter of games and scoring the decisive goal.

He was a member of the 23-man squad formed by Coach Otto Rehhagel for Euro 2008, but was surprisingly out of favour for Euro 2004

On 11 September 2009, Liberopoulos announced his retirement from international football,^[4] But he returned to the national squad about a year later when he was recalled by the new coach Fernando Santos.

Records

• He has a total 83 appearances in European competitions which is a record for a Greek forward.

Club	UCL		UEL		Total
	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Panathinaikos	33	6	15	5	48	11
AEK Athens	16	3	20	3	33	06
Total	49	9	35	8	84	17

Last updated: 2010-05-00
Source: uefa.com

Statistics

Club

Club performance			League		Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Greece			League		Greek Football Cup		Europe		Total
1993–94	Erani Filiatron	Delta Ethniki	8	5	?	?	?	?	8	5
	Kalamata	Beta Ethniki	21	5	?	?	?	?	21	5
1994–95			27	4	?	?	?	?	27	4
1995–96		Alpha Ethniki	30	11	?	?	?	?	30	11
1996–97	Panathinaikos		32	7	?	?	?	?	32	7
1997–98			27	2	?	?	?	?	27	2
1998–99			31	13	?	?	?	?	31	13
1999–00			26	23	4	3	?	?	30	26
2000–01			26	11	6	3	7	0	39	14
2001–02			17	0	3	1	8	1	28	2
2002–03			27	16	4	2	1	0	32	18
2003–04	AEK Athens		27	13	7	3	6	1	40	17
2004–05			28	9	9	3	6	1	43	13
2005–06			27	14	5	2	2	0	34	16
2006–07		Super League	29	18	1	0	9	2	39	20
2007–08			30	13	1	0	8	0	39	13
Germany			League		DFB-Pokal		Europe		Total
2008–09	Eintracht Frankfurt	Bundesliga	29	9	2	1	0	0	31	10
2009–10			21	1	3	2	0	0	24	3
Greece			League		Greek Football Cup		Europe		Total
2010–11	AEK Athens	Super League	23	7	6	3	5	2	34	12
Total	Greece		435	166	46	20	52	7	533	193
	Germany		50	10	5	3	0	0	55	13
Career total			485	176	51	23	52	7	588	206

International

Greece national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1996	03	00
1998	03	01
1999	14	04
2000	09	02
2001	07	01
2002	02	00
2003	01	00
2005	04	01
2006	05	01
2007	07	02
2008	10	01
2009	02	00
2011	04	00
Total	71	13

Last updated: 2011-08-04
Source: Nikos Liberopoulos at National-Football-Teams.com

Nikos Liberopoulos: International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
01	1998-10-14	Athens Olympic Sports Complex, Athens, Greece	Georgia	2–0	3–0	2000 UEQ
02	1999-08-18	Kavala Stadium, Kavala, Greece	El Salvador	1–0	3–1	Friendly
03	1999-08-18	Kavala Stadium, Kavala, Greece	El Salvador	2–1	3–1	Friendly
04	1999-08-20	Kavala Stadium, Kavala, Greece	El Salvador	2–0	3–0	Friendly
05	1999-12-18	Trikala Stadium, Trikala, Greece	Estonia	2–2	2–2	Friendly
06	2000-06-03	Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania	Romania	2–1	2–1	Friendly
07	2000-10-07	Athens Olympic Sports Complex, Athens, Greece	Finland	1–0	1–0	2002 WCQ
08	2001-11-14	Athens, Greece	Cyprus	1–1	1–2	Friendly
09	2005-09-07	Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan	1–2	1–2	2006 WCQ
10	2006-09-02	Zimbru Stadium, Chişinău, Moldova	Moldova	0–1	0–1	2008 UEQ
11	2007-06-06	Pankritio Stadium, Heraklion, Greece	Moldova	2–1	2–1	2008 UEQ
12	2007-10-13	Athens Olympic Sports Complex, Athens, Greece	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3–1	3–2	2008 UEQ
13	2008-05-24	Stadium Puskás Ferenc, Budapest, Hungary	Hungary	3–2	3–2	Friendly

Honours

AEK Athens

• Greek Cup: 1

2011

Individual

• Greek Young Footballer of the year: 1

1996

• Greek Footballer of the year: 3

2000, 2006, 2007

• Greek Super League top scorer: 2

2003, 2007

References

1. ^ AEK FC release Liberopoulos
2. ^ Athanasiou, Nikos (2010-01-19). ""Λύμπε": "Πιο συγκεντρωμένοι στη ρεβάνς"" (in Greek). gazzetta.gr. http://www.gazzetta.gr/football/cup-news/item/130489-%CE%9B%CF%8D%CE%BC%CF%80%CE%B5-%C2%AB%CE%A0%CE%B9%CE%BF-%CF%83%CF%85%CE%B3%CE%BA%CE%B5%CE%BD%CF%84%CF%81%CF%89%CE%BC%CE%AD%CE%BD%CE%BF%CE%B9-%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B7-%CF%81%CE%B5%CE%B2%CE%AC%CE%BD%CF%82%C2%BB. Retrieved 20 January 2011. 
3. ^ Liberopoulos renews contract
4. ^ Liberopoulos retires from Greek national team

Persondata
Name	Liberopoulos, Nikos
Alternative names
Short description	footballer
Date of birth	4 August 1975
Place of birth	Filiatra, Greece
Date of death
Place of death