 Ninis withGreece in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sotirios Ninis | ||
| Date of birth | (1990-04-03)3 April 1990 (age 35) | ||
| Place of birth | Himarë, Albania | ||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder,right winger | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2000–2001 | Apollon Smyrnis | ||
| 2001–2003 | Giannis Pathiakakis Academies | ||
| 2003–2006 | Panathinaikos | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2006–2012 | Panathinaikos | 100 | (11) |
| 2012–2014 | Parma | 14 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | →PAOK (loan) | 12 | (0) |
| 2014–2016 | Panathinaikos | 23 | (0) |
| 2016–2017 | Charleroi | 25 | (4) |
| 2017 | Mechelen | 2 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 7 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | Hapoel Ashkelon | 21 | (4) |
| 2020–2022 | Volos | 40 | (1) |
| 2023 | PAS Giannina | 9 | (0) |
| 2023–2024 | A.E. Kifisia | 9 | (1) |
| Total | 262 | (21) | |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2006–2008 | Greece U19 | 14 | (3) |
| 2008–2010 | Greece U21 | 8 | (2) |
| 2008–2015 | Greece | 33 | (3) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 15 May 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 14 November 2025 | |||
Sotiris Ninis (Greek:Σωτήρης Νίνης;Albanian:Sotir Nini; born 3 April 1990) is a Greek former professionalfootballer who played as anattacking midfielder and aright winger. Ninis was formerly a member of theGreece national team.
Ninis was born inHimara, Albania to ethnicGreek parents.[1][2][3]
Ninis began his career in 2004 as a youngster in Panathinaikos' football academies, joining from the academy ofApollon Smyrnis. On 22 December 2006, the club directors offered him a five-year contract and just two weeks after that day, on 7 January 2007, Panathinaikos coachVíctor Muñoz selected him in the main squad for the match againstEgaleo at theOlympic Stadium. His outstanding performance earned him the title of the Superleague MatchdayMVP. He became the second youngest player ever to wear the club's shirt in a league match, at the age of sixteen (the first was Kostas Antoniou − 15-years old – in 1978). In February 2007, he officially rejected a call to play for theAlbanian Under-21 national team. On 15 February 2007, Ninis became the youngest player to participate with a Greek football team in a European cup match, againstLens in France. On 18 February, Ninis lead Panathinaikos in a 4–1 win over rivalsAEK Athens in the Olympic Stadium. Ninis scored one goal and assisted two others. On 6 July, Ninis signed a professional contract with Panathinaikos.
The2007–08 season was marred by injuries and non-selection. After coming on as a substitute againstOlympiacos in the first game of the season, Ninis was hit by several injuries, a hamstring injury followed by stomach muscle injuries ruled him out of action for three months. It is thought that these injuries arose due to burnout from playing too many games at a young age. He eventually returned in December, but was not part of the Panathinaikos first team for the remainder of the 2007–2008 season. This decision by Panathinaikos coachJose Peseiro was heavily criticised by all Panathinaikos fans. Despite this, in December 2007, Ninis won theHFF Young Player of the Year, as voted by fellow players and managers. Ninis is the youngest player to have won this award.
The2008–09 season began well for Ninis. New managerHenk ten Cate featured Ninis regularly in Panathinaikos' pre-season training. He repaid this faith through his performances against teams such asCharleroi Having entered the pitch at half-time, Ninis assisted three goals and scored one, aiding Panathiniakos to a 5–1 victory against the Belgian club. On 11 August 2008, it was revealed that ten Cate had selected Ninis to be one of the new captains of Panathinaikos, along with fellow playersDimitris Salpingidis andGilberto Silva. Ninis is the youngest ever player to be chosen as captain of Panathinaikos, at the age of 18 years and 125 days. On 23 September 2008, Ninis extended his contract with Panathiniakos for an additional four years to 2012, with a €10 million buy-out clause into the agreement for any foreign team wanting to buy him, rising to €17 million for a Greek side.
In February 2010, Ninis made his best appearances with Panathinaikos and generally in his personal career so far in the knockout stage of theUEFA Europa League againstAS Roma. That days, Roma was in great form and was second inSerie A. Having played well in the first match, in OAKA, he helped his team win 3–2. However, inStadio Olimpico in Roma, he did better, than any other time before. He won a penalty, whichDjibril Cissé converted to equalizer for Panathinaikos, then the Greek young attacking midfielder scored from 28 meters and in the stoppage time of the first half he made a great pass to Djibril Cissé, who did not have a problem to score.
In September 2011, Ninis suffered an injury and did not make his return until March.[1]
On 20 May 2012, he played his last match with Panathinaikos in the2011–12 Superleague Greece playoffs final against AEK and was replaced by substituteGiorgos Karagounis in the 70th minute. In total, Ninis made 137 appearances for Panathinaikos, scoring 15 goals.
In March 2012,Parma presidentTommaso Ghirardi announced he had signed the Greek midfielder for the summer.[4]
After a disappointing 2012–13 season in which he only made 14 appearances for Parma, Ninis returned to his homeland on-loan toPAOK.[5] His contract was terminated by mutual consent in August 2014.[6]
On 6 November 2014, Ninis signed a new contract with Panathinaikos for two-and-a-half years.[7]
On 18 January 2016, Charleroi announced the acquisition of Sotiris Ninis for the next two years, with the attacking midfielder leaving to Panathinaikos for the second time in his career.[8]
On 10 September 2017, Ninis signed for one year atMaccabi Petah Tikva F.C. of theIsraeli Premier League as a free agent, after being released fromKV Mechelen a week earlier.[9][10]
In October 2018, Ninis joinedLiga Leumit sideHapoel Ashkelon.[11] On 8 October 2018, he scored on his debut after coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 win overHapoel Kfar Saba.[12]
On 18 November 2022, Ninis signed two-year contract withPAS Giannina.[13][14]
Ninis played withGreece national under-19 football team in theUEFA European Under-19 Football Championship in Austria, where he scored the equaliser againstGermany, assisted two others and helped his team to progress to the final.[15] Ninis was eventually selected by UEFA in the "U19 names to note", containing the best eleven players of the 2007 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. He was selected as the right midfielder in a 4–4–2 formation. Also he was selected by Uefa as the MVP of this tournament.
Ninis returned to duty for the Under-19 Elite qualifying round of the European Championships, after making his senior international debut. He was a key player in games against Moldova and the Netherlands, particularly impressing in the latter game. He assisted one goal, and scored the match winner from 12 yards as he kept Greece's hopes of qualification alive.
On 8 September 2009, Ninis scored the equaliser against theEngland U21 team in a match that finished 1–1.[16]
Ninis was officially called up byGreece coachOtto Rehhagel on 16 May 2008 for the game againstCyprus on 19 May.[17] This was Ninis' first ever senior call-up and offers him a chance to stake a claim for the Euro 2008 squad. Ninis, who impressed as Greece reached the final of last year's UEFA European Under-19 Championship, expressed his delight at the news, saying: "It's a dream come true and an extra motivation to work even harder and improve myself. I'm very happy."
On his debut Ninis scored the opening goal of the games versus Cyprus in the fifth minute, after a solid pass by Dimitris Salpingidis, Ninis slotted the ball underneathAntonis Georgallides and into the back of the net making the perfect debut and start for his country and becoming the youngest ever scorer for Greece with 18 years and 46 days, breakingKostas Eleftherakis' old record by 244 days. Ninis also won the Man of the Match award for his performance.[18] He was, however, omitted from Greece's provisionalEuro 2008squad by coach Otto Rehhagel on 20 May.
On 1 June 2010, Otto Rehhagel named his official 23-man squad for the2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Ninis made the cut despite limited appearances for Greece. He was used twice, as a substitution in the matchesagainst Nigeria and Argentina.[19] He is also the youngest player to have been selected by Rehhagel, at just 20 years of age.
On 2 September 2011, Ninis scored the winning goal in a qualifying match for theUEFA Euro 2012 against Israel, in Tel Aviv.
Ninis'FIFA profile states he "possesses a dizzying range of skills to go with sublime vision, an electrifying change of pace and fearsome long-range shooting skills".[20] He normally plays centrally as a creative midfielder, but can also play on the right.[4]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Europe[a] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Panathinaikos | 2006–07 | Super League Greece | 14 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 3 |
| 2007–08 | Super League Greece | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2008–09 | Super League Greece | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 | |
| 2009–10 | Super League Greece | 26 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 6 | |
| 2010–11 | Super League Greece | 24 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 4 | |
| 2011–12 | Super League Greece | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 2 | |
| Total | 100 | 11 | 14 | 3 | 25 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 143 | 15 | ||
| Parma | 2012–13 | Serie A | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| PAOK (loan) | 2013–14 | Super League Greece | 12 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 1 |
| Panathinaikos | 2014–15 | Super League Greece | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 |
| 2015–16 | Super League Greece | 7 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 | |
| Total | 23 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 2 | ||
| Charleroi | 2015–16 | Belgian Pro League | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 |
| 2016–17 | Belgian Pro League | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 2 | |
| Total | 25 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 4 | ||
| Mechelen | 2016–17 | Belgian Pro League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2017–18 | Belgian Pro League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | 2017–18 | Israeli Premier League | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Hapoel Ashkelon | 2018–19 | Liga Leumit | 21 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 4 |
| Volos | 2020–21 | Super League Greece | 21 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| 2021–22 | Super League Greece | 19 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 1 | |
| Total | 40 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 1 | ||
| PAS Giannina | 2022–23 | Super League Greece | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| A.E. Kifisia | 2023–24 | Super League Greece | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| Career total | 262 | 21 | 31 | 5 | 35 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 333 | 28 | ||
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 May 2008 | Patras, Greece |  Cyprus | 2–0 | Friendly | |
| 2 | 2 September 2011 | Bloomfield Stadium,Tel Aviv, Israel |  Israel | 1–0 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualification | |
| 3 | 11 September 2012 | Pireaus, Greece |  Lithuania | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying |
Greece squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
