Kyriakos Papadopoulos

Football player infobox
playername = Kyriakos Papadopoulos

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fullname = Kyriakos Papadopoulos
nickname = Kyri
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1992|2|23
cityofbirth = Katerini
countryofbirth = Greece
height = height|meter=1.83
currentclub = Olympiacos
clubnumber = 92
position = Defender
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 2007-
clubs = Olympiacos
caps(goals) = 2 (0)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals)
pcupdate = August 27, 2008
ntupdate =

Kyriakos Papadopoulos (born 23 February 1992 in Katerini) is a Greek footballer currently playing for Greek club Olympiacos and is also part of the Greek national youth team. He plays as a central defender. He was signed from Svoronos Katerinis and was promoted from the Olympiacos youth team in July 2007. He has so far featured in four Olympiacos pre-season friendlies, three league games and three Greek cup games.

In the summer of 2007, Papadopoulos was invited on trial to train with the Espanyol youth team during the pre-season, with a view to giving the player a role in the team. However, Papadopoulos performed well enough for the club's management staff enough to fast-track him and promote him to the first team, and offered him a contract immediately.

However, Olympiakos scouts were also aware of the prodigy's talents,and especially the former Manager of Olympiacos Mr. George Louvaris was quick to secure a deal with Papadopoulos' father Nikos Papadopoulos,thus bringing him to Piraeus.

The 2007/2008 season has been very promising for Papadopoulos. He made his competitive debut for Olympiacos in the Greek Superleague as a substitute during a 3-1 win over Atromitos on December 2 2007 [ [http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=231267&cc=5901 Match Statistics] "ESPN Soccernet" December 2, 2007. Accessed December 28, 2007.] , thus becoming the youngest player to ever play in the Greek league. He also made the substitutes bench in the Champions League against Real Madrid and Lazio, and has featured in several Greek Cup games. Had Papadopoulos featured in any Champions League games, he would have smashed the record for the youngest player to ever compete in the competition by nearly two years.

International career

He was called for duty for the U-19 Greece team to participate in the Elite round of the UEFA U19 Championships. He participated in all three group games against Moldova, Netherlands and Russia, helping Greece finish top and qualify for the finals.

Papadopoulos featured at the heart of the Greek defence in the finals tournament and was partners with team-mate Konstantinos Lambropoulos. He was instrumental in keeping a clean sheet against the Czech Republic, as well as good performances against England and Italy. His performances attracted attention from scouts of teams such Manchester United and Nottingham Forest, Arsenal FC and Chelsea FC [ [http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11688_3852412,00.html Greek starlet in demand] , Sky Sports] ] , who were impressed with the defender's maturity in a competition in which he was the youngest player by 13 months.He eas also one of the 10 most talented plater in europe as considered by uefa.xocom [ [http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/news/kind=1/newsid=733525.html uefa.com - UEFA European U-19 C'ship] .]

Otto Rehhagel is also said to have been impressed with the youngster's performances, and has met with EPO officials to talk about moving Kyriakos to the senior team. [ [http://www.daynews.gr/?type=1&cat=55&id=93134 DayNews.gr : ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΟΣ >> Τους τρέλλανε όλους ο μικρός] .]

References