Grigoris Georgatos

Grigoris Georgatos
Personal information
Full name Grigorios Georgatos
Date of birth (1972-10-31) 31 October 1972
Place of birth Piraeus, Greece
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Positions
Youth career
1984– Aetos Patras
–1990 Ethnikos Patras
1990–1991 Panachaiki
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1995 Panachaiki 120 (22)
1995–1999 Olympiacos 106 (22)
1999–2002 Internazionale 38 (3)
2000–2001 → Olympiacos (loan) 20 (5)
2002–2003 AEK Athens 29 (7)
2003–2007 Olympiacos 68 (5)
Total 381 (64)
International career
1995–2001 Greece 35 (3)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Grigoris Georgatos (Greek: Γρηγόρης Γεωργάτος; born 31 October 1972) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a left-back. He was nicknamed the “Greek Roberto Carlos” and "the crazy bald" (Greek: "ο Τρελός φαλακρός") due to his highly-aggressive play on the pitch and his shaved hairstyle.

Club career

Early career

He began his career in 1991 at Panachaiki when his skills were first noticed in the Alpha Ethniki. After four and a half seasons in December 1995, he was transferred to Olympiacos. He came to the club playing as an attacking midfielder. He had to "fit" in the same line-up as Predrag Đorđević, so Dušan Bajević had he return to left-back. He gradually impressed with his performances lifting three consecutive championships with them from 1996 to 1997, when he finished as the side's top scorer despite his defensive role.

Internazionale

In the 1998–99 season, while playing in a UEFA Champions League match against Juventus, Georgatos caught the eye of Italian club Inter Milan, signing him in the 1999–2000 season for €7 million.[1] He settled well in Serie A, playing 28 matches and scoring 2 goals for Inter.

Despite that, the following season he returned to Olympiacos for a season-long loan, as he was sad and missed his family, house and Athens city.[2] After his loan was over, he returned to the Serie A, with Georgatos choosing to rejoin Inter after losing his first-team place at the club from Piraeus.

Although he returned to Inter, he could not get back into the first-team because of an injury that kept him out for a while, playing only 10 matches and scoring 1 goal that season. With his second spell in Italy being unsuccessful, Georgatos expressed his desire to return to Greece. He asked to return to Olympiacos, but the red-whites refused as they had just signed Stylianos Venetidis who also played in the same position.[3]

AEK Athens

The boss of AEK Athens Chrarilaos Psomiadis, noticing the disire of Georgatos to return to his homeland took the opportunity and on 22 July 2002 he brought him to the club for a fee of €3 million[4][5] There he was reunited with Bajević, as well as many teammates with the national team, such as Ilias Atmatsidis, Theodoros Zagorakis, Vasilios Tsiartas and Demis Nikolaidis. Due to the presence of Michalis Kasapis as the main left-back, Georgatos was used mainly as left midfielder to fin tin the squad.[6] In his first season at the club he played 23 games as AEK finished third and also featured in four of the club's six UEFA Champions League matches. His performances with AEK gained the favour of the supporters, despite his red and white past. The following season, he scored six goals in six games but was unsettled at AEK in December 2003 he terminated his contract, paying his own release clause in order to return to Olympiacos.[7]

Olympiacos

In January 2004 he signed for Olympiacos[8] and his first season of his third spell, he helped them finish at second place. During his spell at the club he won another three Championships and two Cups. In 2006 Georgatos expressed his intention to end his career at Olympiacos when he signed a one-year contract until July 2007, retiring at the end of the season.

International career

He first appeared for Greece in a Euro 1996 qualifier against San Marino in September 1995. He prematurely retired from international football in September 2001, following a reported dispute with coach Otto Rehhagel. Georgatos played 35 times and scored 3 goals in total for Greece.

After football

After the end of his career, Georgatos initially enacted with the administration of Panachaki, while since 2013 he was one of the heads of the Olympiacos academies.[9] From the summer of 2015 to the summer of 2016, he worked as the sports director of the Olympiacos with responsibility for the first team's competitive department.[10]

Style of play

Georgatos was known as an offensive fullback with an excellent crossing ability; his combative style at left back earned him the nickname, "the Greek Roberto Carlos."[11][12]

Career statistics

Club

[13]

Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Greece League Greek Cup Europe Total
1991–92 Panachaiki Alpha Ethniki 30 4
1992–93 26 3
1993–94 28 5
1994–95 Beta Ethniki 26 7
1995–96 Alpha Ethniki 10 3
Olympiacos 17 2
1996–97 33 6 7 0 2 0 42 6
1997–98 30 2 2 0 8 2 40 4
1998–99 26 12 6 2 9 1 41 15
Italy League Coppa Italia Europe Total
1999–2000 Internazionale Serie A 28 2 6 1 - - 34 3
Greece League Greek Cup Europe Total
2000–01 Olympiacos Alpha Ethniki 20 5 9 2 6 0 35 7
Italy League Coppa Italia Europe Total
2001–02 Internazionale Serie A 10 1 - - 2 0 12 1
Greece League Greek Cup Europe Total
2002–03 AEK Athens Alpha Ethniki 23 2 7 0 8 1 38 3
2003–04 6 5 0 0 3 0 9 5
Olympiacos 13 1 5 2 0 0 18 3
2004–05 25 3 7 1 8 0 40 4
2005–06 22 1 3 0 3 0 28 1
2006–07 Super League Greece 8 0 1 0 3 0 12 0
Country Greece 343 61
Italy 38 3
Total 381 64

International

Greece national team
Year Apps Goals
1995 4 0
1996 0 0
1997 6 0
1998 5 0
1999 11 3
2000 7 0
2001 2 0
Total 35 3

Honours

Olympiacos

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Όταν η Ίντερ έδωσε 2,5 δις δραχμές και αγόρασε τον Γεωργάτο". sport24.gr.
  2. ^ "INTERVIEW GEORGATOS: "HOME-SICKNESS FOR GREECE BECAME HOME-SICKNESS FOR INTER"". Inter Official Site. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Γρηγόρης Γεωργάτος: Ήθελε πάντα να επιστρέψει στον Ολυμπιακό". contra.gr.
  4. ^ "Δεσμοί... ΑΕΚ". contra.gr (in Greek).
  5. ^ "Οι «χρυσές» μεταγραφές στο ελληνικό ποδόσφαιρο - Οι παίχτες που τίναξαν τη μπάνκα από Αναστόπουλο έως Πρίγιοβιτς". pentapostagma. 18 January 2019.
  6. ^ "Γρηγόρης Γεωργάτος". aekpedia.com.
  7. ^ "Ποτέ δεν άντεξε μακριά από τον Ολυμπιακό". sport24.gr (in Greek). Online. 2 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Έριξε άγκυρα στο Λιμάνι". tanea.gr. 17 December 2003.
  9. ^ Sport24.gr Ο Γρηγόρης Γεωργάτος μέσα από 20 φωτογραφίες.
  10. ^ Γιώργος Περπερίδης (30 June 2015). "Νέος Αθλητικός Διευθυντής ο Γεωργάτος". Sport24. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  11. ^ "The art of crossing in Serie A". La Gazzetta dello Sport. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  12. ^ Fabio Monti (8 January 2000). "Georgatos, una cura per vincere la nostalgia" (in Italian). Il Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  13. ^ Grigoris Georgatos at National-Football-Teams.com
  14. ^ "Οι «Golden Eleven» του Θρύλου!". ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΟΣ - Olympiacos.org (in Greek). 5 June 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2023.

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