Angelos Charisteas

At 44 years old, Angelos Charisteas has this physical status:

Angelos Charisteas (born 9 February 1980) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a forward. At club level he has played for Aris Thessaloniki, Werder Bremen, Ajax, Feyenoord, Bayer Leverkusen, Schalke 04, Arles-Avignon, and Al-Nassr. Internationally, he was capped 88 times by Greece, scoring 25 goals.

He was a member of the UEFA Euro 2004 winning team, scoring three goals, including the winning goal in the final against Portugal.

He also represented Greece at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup.

Personal life

During his time as a footballer, Charisteas was known to play the Bouzouki in his spare time.

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Club career

Charisteas began his career with Greek side Aris Thessaloniki after a few years with non-league Strimonikos Serron. Charisteas made a name for himself in nine games as the Greek second division champions the Greek second division dominated in 1997–98. Charisteas started well in his first season in the Greek top league, and he continued his good work against Thessaloniki rivals PAOK, scoring twice. Before a loan at Athinaikos in 1998–99, the striker made twelve appearances in the Alpha Ethniki – six as a substitute – before a loan at Athinaikos. In a UEFA Cup loss to Celta de Vigo at the age of 19, he returned to Aris the following season and made his European debut. Charisteas was on the rise and in the 2000-2001 season, where he scored seven goals.

He was drafted by German Bundesliga side Werder Bremen in the summer of 2002 after being monitored by scouts from several of Europe's best clubs. Aris' transfer fee was estimated at €3 million. He had a fruitful first season in the Bundesliga, with nine goals in 31 appearances and two goals in three games in the UEFA Cup.

Werder Bremen defeated the Bundesliga and the German Cup in 2003–04, with Charisteas scoring four goals in 24 appearances.

Charisteas scored a goal in his team's 2–1 victory over Valencia in the Champions League on September 29, 2004. In total, he scored five goals in 11 matches for Werder Bremen in the 2004–05 season.

Charisteas retired from the Netherlands in December 2004 to play for Ajax for a reported fee of nearly €5 million. In order to get more first-team action, Greece manager Otto Rehhagel had advised Charisteas to move to another club during the January 2005 transfer window. Ajax followed the bill, as they were looking to find a replacement for Swedish international striker Zlatan Ibrahimovi, who had been sold to Juventus, but Ajax paid the bill. Charisteas made his Ajax debut against FC Utrecht on January 23, 2005, scoring his first goal against SC Heerenveen just four days later. However, he only appeared in three more games during the season. Charisteas scored eight goals in the 2005-06 season, with a late winner over Vitesse Arnhem. Charisteas missed Greece's vital match in World Cup qualifying due to a head injury after colliding with Arsenal's Kolo Touré in a Champions League match in which Ajax lost 2–1.

Charisteas was the 5th striker behind Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Ryan Babel, Markus Rosenberg, and Rydell Poepon under new Ajax manager Henk ten Cate. Ten Cate said that Charisteas is a great striker for the 4–4–2 system but not for the Ajax's 4–3–3 formation.

Despite boasting that he was only interested in a move to England or Germany, Charisteas signed for Feyenoord in Rotterdam on August 31, the last day of the summer transfer window. This action sparked a lot of agitation in Rotterdam, Germany's members of The Legion, who said that they did not want an Ajax player to play for their team, and that they did not want an Ajax player at their club, as shown by the chant "Wij willen neus." "We don't want a nose," nose being derogatory slang for Ajax players), is demanded that chairman Jorien van den Herik resign. Despite the demonstrations, Charisteas made his Feyenoord debut against Sparta Rotterdam on September 10 and played the whole game. In his tenth game, he scored his first goal for his new club. Although Charisteas may have persuaded some followers at a certain point, he had never had a positive working relationship with Feyenoord supporters. He played a total of 28 games for Feyenoord, scoring nine goals.

1. On July 6, 2007. FC Nürnberg has agreed to a four-year contract with Feyenoord worth €2.5 million. In a 6–0 victory over fourth division club SC Victoria Hamburg, he scored his first two official team goals.

He returned to Nurember, which had just been promoted to the newly promoted city at the start of the 2009–10 season. He scored the winning goal in Nürnberg's 1–2 away victory over Hertha BSC on March 12, preventing Nürnberg from relegation, before Otto Rehhagel called him up to the Greece national team for the 2010 World Cup.

He was loaned out to Bayer Leverkusen until the end of the season, assisting the team in reaching the final of the German Cup on February 2, 2009.

Charisteas and teammate Angelos Basinas joined Arles-Avignon on August 10th, 2010. In a 1–2 away loss to Toulouse on August 21, 2010, he made his debut on August 21. Charisteas made a total of seven appearances, scoring no goals before his deal was ended on November 26, 2010.

Schalke 04 officially arrived on January 30th, 2011. Charisteas signed a deal on June 30th, 2011--end of the season. He scored his second goal in Schalke's 2–1 home win over Eintracht Frankfurt in his debut match. It was his first touch of the ball after being on the pitch for just 52 seconds. Charisteas defeated Schalke in the quarter-finals of the 2010-11 UEFA Champions League on April 13, 2011, after the Brazilian Edu was replaced in the Brazilian Edu in the 32nd minute of the second half. Schalke 04 and Charisteas secured a result that had never been achieved before.

Charisteas won the German Cup with Schalke 04.

Charisteas joined Panetolikos, who recently promoted to the Super League, on July 27, 2011, for one-year. In the 1–0 home victory over Asteras Tripolis on September 14, 2011, he scored the winning goal in his first goal of the season.

Charisteas completed a one-and-a-half year with Al-Nassr FC after they expressed an interest in Inter Milan. Charisteas made his debut against Al-Hilal FC in the final of the 2012-13 Saudi Crown Prince Cup on February 22nd. Charisteas missed the fourth time after 90 minutes penalties had to be taken, and Charisteas missed the fourth.

International career

Charisteas made his international debut against Russia in February 2001 after being a regular player for the Greek U21 team. His impact was immediate, as he scored two of Greece's goals that day. His prolific goal scoring flourished, eventually helping his team qualify for the Euro 2004.

Charisteas scored three goals in the group's against Spain, one against France in the quarterfinals, and the final goal against Portugal. His contribution to the team and his impact on the sport was highlighted when he was named in the Euro 2004 All-Star Team, where he came in ninth in votes.

Charisteas told Dutch football magazine Voetbal International that winning Euro 2004 was an incredible achievement that would not trade for all the money in the world: "Even in 50 years, everybody will remember that I scored the goal that made Greece the champions of Europe." At that time, I wrote history and my life changed completely."

Charisteas scored three goals in Euro 2008 qualifying rounds, assisting Greece in qualifying for the tournament with two games remaining. He'll continue to be one of the few Greece players to play well at Euro 2008, scoring the defending champions' only goal of the tournament in the 2–1 loss to Spain. In 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, he scored 4 goals for his country.

Charisteas was named in the squad that traveled to South Africa for the final tournament, where he appeared in just one game. He was the only Greece player to play in two European Championships and a World Cup (others not sharing this distinction: Giourkas Seitaridis, Kostas Katsouranis, Georgios Karagounis, and goalkeeper Kostas Chalkias).

Charisteas received another call-up on October 8, 2011 for the qualification match against Croatia. Charisteas scored in three qualifiers for the European Championship and three straight World Cups on October 11, 2011, making him the only Greek national team member to reach that distinction.

Charisteas has also been the second top scorer for the Greece national team, scoring 25 goals and four less than the retired Nikos Anastopoulos.

Post-playing career

Charisteas joined Aris Thessaloniki as the sport's first chief in 2019.

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