 Sifakis withGreece | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michail Sifakis | ||
| Date of birth | (1984-09-09)9 September 1984 (age 41) | ||
| Place of birth | Heraklion,Crete, Greece | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1999–2002 | OFI | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2002–2007 | OFI | 105 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | Olympiacos | 2 | (0) |
| 2008–2012 | Aris | 80 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | Charleroi | 10 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | Atromitos | 11 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | Levadiakos | 25 | (0) |
| 2015–2017 | Kortrijk | 16 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | Samsunspor | 6 | (0) |
| Total | 255 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 2004–2005 | Greece U21 | 15 | (0) |
| 2005–2012 | Greece | 15 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Michalis Sifakis (Greek:Μιχάλης Σηφάκης; born 9 September 1984) is a Greek former professionalfootballer who played as agoalkeeper.
Born inHeraklion, Greece, Sifakis started playingfootball at the age of 9. His first team wasAtsalenios.
In 1999 Sifakis was transferred toOFI where he played with the B squad of OFI until 2002. In 2002, he signed his first professional contract with the club. He played for OFI until 2007 and participated in 112 matches in the Greek championship and cup.
In 2007, the teamOlympiacos made an offer for Sifakis, which was accepted by OFI, and he played as a replacement of the national goalkeeperAntonis Nikopolidis. During the season 2007–2008 his team won the Greek championship, theGreek Cup and theGreek Super Cup. And then he continued to be the replacement.[1]
In 2008,Aris made an offer to OFI and Sifakis was transferred to the club. During the season 2008–2009 Sifakis participated in 27 league and cup matches. He participated in all league games of the 2009–2010 season. In the season 2009–2010, he participated with Aris in the final ofGreek Cup, losing againstPanathinaikos by 1–0. His reaction in the goal, a long-distance shot by Leto, was very slow and his performance is questionable. In the season 2010–2011 he passed the group stage of theEuropa League with Aris and were then eliminated byManchester City ofRoberto Mancini, at Round of 32 of the competition. In the following season (2011–2012) he had some medical problems that kept him away from some Aris and national squad's matches.[2] In April 2013 Sifakis demands through his lawyers 988.000 euros from the almost bankrupt Aris, although his unpaid wages are 188.000.[3][4]
Newly promoted Jupiler Pro League sideCharleroi are set to sign Michalis Sifakis on a free transfer after the Greek 'keeper severed ties with Aris at the end of last season. Part of Greece's UEFA EURO 2012 contingent this past summer, Sifakis replacedKostas Chalkias midway through Greece's Group A clash with theCzech Republic and carried the mantle for the national team until Greece were eliminated by Germany in the quarter-finals. Sifakis should have plenty of competition at the club as other 'keepers in the squad includeParfait Mandanda, the brother of Marseille and France shot-stopperSteve Mandanda. Failing to sign anywhere all summer long, Greece manager Fernando Santos forced to leave Sifakis, as well as other players yet to sign with a club, out of the Greece squad for the recent World Cup Qualifiers againstLatvia andLithuania.[5]
Eventually in September 2012, after theEuro 2012 withGreece national team, Sifakis signed a 1-year contract with Belgian teamCharleroi, wearing number 1.
In the summer of 2013, Sifakis returned to Greece by signing a 1-year contract withAtromitos.[6] In his first interview as a member of the club, he stated that"Atromitos is one of the few teams for which I would have returned to Greece and it is true that only a few days ago I wasn’t even considering it". Furthermore,"The fact that Atromitos is in a phase of development is something which I am very pleased with, especially at a time when everything in our country is going in the other direction".[7] He made his debut at 17 August against a draw 2–2 withErgotelis.On 27 May 2014, Atromitos announced the end of his contract, after a year with the club.[8]
On 12 September 2014, Sifakis penned a one-year deal with fellowSuper League Greece sideLevadiakos.[9][10]
The 30-year-old International has signed a two-year-contract withKortrijk and the Belgian club has officially announced the move. Sifakis, who played forCharleroi during the 2012–2013 season, will have a Greek teammate, asThanasis Papazoglou has also joined Kortrijk.[11][12]On 23 September 2015, he made his debut with the club in a game against K Olsa Brakel forBelgian Cup.Michalis Sifakis made his BelgiumJupiler League debut for Kortrijk on 2 April 2016 in a scoreless draw at home toRoyal Mouscron-Péruwelz. On 30 April 2016, he kept the third clean sheet in 5 appearancesthis season in a game againstStandard Liège.[13]He started the2016–17 Belgian Cup as a starter, while in the2016–17 Jupiler League was a substitute. On 24 January 2017, he made his debut in the League, in a 3–0 away loss againstGenk.
On 6 August 2017, Sifakis signed a year contract withTFF First League clubSamsunspor.[14][15]On 10 December 2017, Michalis Sifakis made his league debut for Samsunspor, keeping a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw away toDenizlispor. On 14 May 2018, he mutually solved his contract with the club.
In 2004, Sifakis was called for theGreece national under-21 football team. He played 15 games with the U21 selection.He was member of Greece national team during2005 FIFA Confederations Cup.
In 2009, Greece's national team coach,Otto Rehhagel, invited Sifakis to help thenational team qualify for the South Africa2010 FIFA World Cup. On 14 October, he contributed to his team's victory against Luxembourg. He was also part of the squad for the final tournament.
Under coachFernando Santos, Sifakis played most of his country'sUEFA Euro 2012 qualifying matches.
Following an injury to regular goalkeeperKostas Chalkias inGreece' second game ofEuro 2012, against theCzech Republic, Sifakis was substituted into the game to replace him and he remained the starting goalkeeper for the rest of the tournament, as Greece reached the Quarter finals of the competition.
Sifakis is the son of formerOFI goalkeeperMyron Sifakis, best known for his performance in the1987 Greek Cup Final, which earnedOFI their first and to this date only major trophy. His brother isVasilis, also a goalkeeper.
| Club | Season | League | Cup[A] | Continental[B] | Others[C] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| OFI | 2002–03 | Alpha Ethniki | 4 | 0 | – | – | – | 4 | 0 | |||
| 2003–04 | Alpha Ethniki | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 15 | 0 | |||
| 2004–05 | Alpha Ethniki | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 29 | 0 | |||
| 2005–06 | Alpha Ethniki | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 31 | 0 | |||
| 2006–07 | Super League Greece | 30 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 33 | 0 | |||
| Total | 105 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 112 | 0 | ||
| Olympiacos | 2007–08 | Super League Greece | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| Aris | 2008–09 | Super League Greece | 24 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 27 | 0 | ||
| 2009–10 | Super League Greece | 30 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 35 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11 | Super League Greece | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | – | 35 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12 | Super League Greece | 4 | 0 | – | – | – | 4 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 80 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 102 | 0 | ||
| Charleroi | 2012–13 | Belgian Pro League | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 11 | 0 | ||
| Atromitos | 2013–14 | Super League Greece | 11 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 17 | 0 | |
| Levadiakos | 2014–15 | Super League Greece | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 25 | 0 | |
| Kortrijk | 2015–16 | Belgian Pro League | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 11 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17 | Belgian Pro League | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 10 | 0 | |||
| Total | 16 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | ||
| Samsunspor | 2017–18 | TFF 1. Lig | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 7 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 255 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 302 | 0 | ||
In 2009, the Greek Professional Players Association honored Sifakis with theFair Play award for his professionalism and ethos, due to his calm and non-violent reaction to a confrontation with a fan in the opening game of the2009–2010 Greek season away atIraklis. During the match, Sifakis was approached by an Iraklis fan who had run onto the pitch and began to verbally abuse him. Sifakis did not react and the stewards eventually intervened, removing the fan from the pitch. In the years 2010 and 2011, he was awarded fromPSAP as the best goalkeeper in Superleague.
Olympiacos
Individual
Greece squads | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||
