- Nikos Nioplias
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Nikos Nioplias Personal information Full name Nikolaos Nioplias Date of birth 17 January 1965 Place of birth Galatini, Kozani, Greece Playing position Midfielder Youth career 1981–1982 Neoi Galatinis Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1981–1982 Kozani 1982–1993 OFI Crete 257 (34) 1993–1996 Panathinaikos 73 (6) 1996–2002 OFI Crete 159 (30) 2002–2004 Chalkidona 44 (0) National team Greece 44 (1) Teams managed 2005–2007 Greece U-19 2007–2009 Greece U-21 2009–2010 Panathinaikos 2011– Cyprus * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).
Nikolaos "Nikos" Nioplias (Greek: Νίκος Νιόπλιας), born on 17 January 1965 is a Greek football manager and former international footballer. He currently manages the Cyprus national football team.[1]Contents
Club career
His career began with OFI Crete FC in 1982, winning the Greek Cup in 1987, and he remained for a decade before moving to Panathinaikos FC. In his first season he won the cup again and in 1994/95 they completed the domestic double. The next season the Athens side retained the title and Nioplias played a vital role in their run to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. In 1996 he returned to OFI and remained for six seasons until a move to Halkidona FC, representing the newly-promoted side until summer 2004, when he ended his career having racked up 509 Greek top-flight appearances, second only to Mimis Domazos – 363 appearances with OFI FC.
International career
Meanwhile, he carved out a distinguished international career. Playing for Greece at the 1984 UEFA European Under-18 Championship finals, four years later he helped his nation to the final of the UEFA European U21 Championship. He graduated to the senior team, and was in the squad that qualified for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. In all he won 44 caps,[2] and his move into coaching was no surprise as he was considered a natural instructor even on the pitch.
Managerial career
Greece Under 19s
After gaining a diploma in the Netherlands, in January 2005 he gained his first coaching role. Coach of the Greece National Under 19 Football Team. He proved an immediate success as he masterminded Greece's progress to these finals in late May with wins against Scotland, Austria and Slovakia. In the latter game, when Greece only needed a point, he played an attacking game for a 2–0 victory and explained: "We played to win, because we must never allow expedience to come into the picture for such young players. Football should be joyful and that's the idea we are trying to instill in them."[citation needed]
Nioplias lead Greece to the final of the U19 European Championship after remaining unbeaten in their group which featured Spain, Portugal and the host nation Austria. Greece than beat Germany 3:2 in the semi-final with a 90th minute header after Greece had a player sent off in the 60th minute. The final between Spain (who beat France in the other semi-final) and Greece was played on the 27/07 and Greece lost 1–0 despite a convincing second half display.
Greece Under 21s
Nioplias was named coach of the Greece national under-21 football team in September 2007 after his success with Greece National Under 19 Football Team in Austria.
Panathinaikos
Nioplias was appointed as the Panathinaikos FC head coach, alongside with Krzysztof Warzycha on the 8th of December 2009, immediately after the former manager, Henk ten Cate, was released.[3] Nioplias stated: "It is a great honour for me to be the manager of Panathinaikos. Starting from today, we are getting to work. My goal is to achieve with the team as the manager, what i 've achieved as a player. He managed to win both the 2009–10 Greek Championship and Cup, ending a six-year drought. Nioplias left Panathinaikos on 15 November 2010 "by mutual consent,"[4]
Cyprus
On June 2011 Noplias agreed with Cyprus Football Association to be the manager of Cyprus national football team until the end of UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying and for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification.
Career statistics
As A Player:
As a Manager:
Nat Team From To Record P W D L Win % 
Greece U19 2005 2007 20 11 3 6 55.00 Greece U21 2007 2009 6 4 1 1 66.67 Panathinaikos 2009 2010 28 20 3 5 71.43 - As of 27 April 2010
Honours
As A Player:
OFI Crete FC
- Greek Cup: 1987
- Greek Championship: 1995, 1996
- Greek Cup: 1993, 1994, 1995
As a Manager:
- Greek Championship: 2010
- Greek Football Cup: 2010
- U19 European Championship – Greece Silver Medal.
References
- ^ http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro2012/news/newsid=1640371.html?rss=1640371+Nioplias+to+take+up+Cyprus+challenge
- ^ Mamrud, Roberto (2009-05-01). "Greece – Record International Players". RSSSF. http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/grk-recintlp.html. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
- ^ Club announcement Official Panathinaikos website
- ^ http://www.pao.gr/el/news/clubnews/?itemid=57cf7183-9b4e-4817-bfaa-8bd7d3c1f99c
External links
- Nikos Nioplias at National-Football-Teams.com
Greece squad – 1994 FIFA World Cup 1 Minou • 2 Apostolakis • 3 Kolitsidakis • 4 Manolas • 5 Kalitzakis • 6 Tsalouchidis • 7 Saravakos • 8 Nioplias • 9 Machlas • 10 Mitropoulos • 11 Tsiantakis • 12 Marangos • 13 Karagiannis • 14 Dimitriadis • 15 Karkamanis • 16 Alexoudis • 17 Hantzidis • 18 Karataidis • 19 Kofidis • 20 Atmatsidis • 21 Alexandris • 22 Alexiou • Coach: Panagoulias
Cyprus national football team – Zsengellér (1958–59) · Gavalas (1960–67) · Avraamidis (1968–69) · Wood (1970–71) · Milovanov (1972) · Avraamidis (1972–74) · Iakovou (1974) · Avraamidis (1975) · Talianos (1976) · Krystallis (1976–77) · Lazaridis (1977) · Talianos (1978–82) · Spasov (1982–84) · Iakovou (1984–87) · Charalambous (1987) · Iakovou (1988–91) · Michaelides (1991–96) · Papadopoulos (1997) · Georgiou (1997–99) · Papadopoulos (1999–2001) · Charalambous (2001) · Vukotić (2001–04) · Anastasiadis (2004–11) · Nioplias (2011–) Categories:- 1965 births
- Living people
- Greek footballers
- Panathinaikos footballers
- 1994 FIFA World Cup players
- Greek football managers
- Greece international footballers
- OFI Crete players
- Atromitos F.C. players
- Superleague Greece players
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