 Charisteas in 2008 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1980-02-09)9 February 1980 (age 46) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Strymoniko, Greece | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Forward | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1997–2002 | Aris | 87 | (19) | ||||||||||||||
| 1998–1999 | →Athinaikos (loan) | 7 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2005 | Werder Bremen | 66 | (18) | ||||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Ajax | 31 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Feyenoord | 28 | (9) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2010 | 1. FC Nürnberg | 57 | (8) | ||||||||||||||
| 2009 | →Bayer Leverkusen (loan) | 13 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2010 | Arles-Avignon | 6 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Schalke 04 | 4 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Panetolikos | 24 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013 | Al-Nassr | 7 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 330 | (74) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2011 | Greece | 88 | (25) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Angelos Charisteas (Greek:Άγγελος Χαριστέας,pronounced[ˈaɲɟelosxariˈste.as]; born 9 February 1980) is a Greek former professionalfootballer who played as aforward.
At club level he played forAris Thessaloniki,Werder Bremen,Ajax,Feyenoord,Bayer Leverkusen,Schalke 04,Arles-Avignon, andAl-Nassr. In 2004, he won the double with Werder Bremen,[1] earning Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal medals[2] and was also the club's Sportsman of the Year.[1] With Ajax, Charisteas also won the Dutch Cup and the Dutch Super Cup.[2]
Internationally, he was capped 88 times byGreece, scoring 25 goals. He was a member of theUEFA Euro 2004 winning team, scoring three goals, including the winning goal in thefinal against the hosts Portugal, which was considered as the greatest triumph of the nation.[2] He also represented Greece atUEFA Euro 2008 and the2010 FIFA World Cup.
In 2019, Charisteas was also a political deputy in the region ofCentral Macedonia.[1]
After a few years playing for amateur club Strimonikos Serron,[3] Charisteas eventually started his professional career with Greek sideAris Thessaloniki. It was during his first season at Aris that Charisteas started making a name for himself, scoring twice in nine matches as they won the Greek second division in 1997–98. Charisteas started well in his first season in the Greek top league and got further noticed when he scored twice in the local derby against Thessaloniki rivalsPAOK. The striker made twelve appearances in theAlpha Ethniki – six as a substitute – before a loan atAthinaikos in 1998–99. He returned to Aris the following season and made his European debut in aUEFA Cup defeat byCelta de Vigo at the age of 19. Charisteas was continuously developing and in the 2000–01 season, where he scored seven goals.
On 29 January 2002, Charisteas joinedBundesliga sideWerder Bremen, signing a four-year contract valid from the summer,[4] having been watched by scouts from a number of Europe's leading sides.[citation needed]
Werder Bremen Sporting director,Klaus Allofs attested "Angelos is strong header of the ball, very fast and has good tactical behaviour".[4]
At the club, he scored with regularity between 2002 and 2005.[2]
The transfer fee paid to Aris was reported as €3 million.[5] He had a successful first season scoring nine goals in 31 appearances in the Bundesliga and two goals from four games in the UEFA Cup.
In the2003–04 season, Werder Bremen won the Bundesliga and theGerman Cup with Charisteas scoring four goals from 24 appearances.
On 29 September 2004, Charisteas contributed a goal in his side's 2–1 win againstValencia in theChampions League.[6] In total, he scored five goals in 11 matches for Werder Bremen the 2004–05 season.
In December 2004, Charisteas moved to the Netherlands to play forAjax for a reported fee nearly €5 million.[5] Greece managerOtto Rehhagel had publicly urged Charisteas to try to move to another club during the January 2005 transfer window, in order to get more first-team action. Ajax fitted the bill, as they were hoping to find a replacement forSwedish international strikerZlatan Ibrahimović, who had been sold toJuventus. Charisteas made his Ajax debut on 23 January 2005 againstFC Utrecht and scored his first goal four days later againstSC Heerenveen. However, he only managed three more games all season. Charisteas netted home eight goals in the 2005–06 season, which included a late winner againstVitesse Arnhem. Charisteas missed Greece's crucial match in the World Cup qualifying due to a head injury received after colliding withArsenal'sKolo Touré in a Champions League match which Ajax lost 2–1.
Under new Ajax managerHenk ten Cate, Charisteas was the 5th striker behindKlaas-Jan Huntelaar,Ryan Babel,Markus Rosenberg, andRydell Poepon. Ten Cate explained this by saying that Charisteas is a great striker for the4–4–2 formation, but not for the4–3–3 formation, which is played for Ajax.
Despite stating that he was only interested in a move to England or Germany, Charisteas signed for arch-rivalsFeyenoord inRotterdam on 31 August 2006, the final day of the summer transfer window. This move caused a great deal of agitation in Rotterdam with parts ofThe Legion, stating that they did not want an Ajax player at their club, protesting the move atDe Kuip with the chant "Wij willen geen neus." (translated as: "we don't want a nose," nose being derogatory slang for Ajax players) and demanded that chairmanJorien van den Herik resign. Despite the protests, Charisteas made his debut for Feyenoord on 10 September againstSparta Rotterdam and played the full game. He eventually scored his first goal for his new club in his tenth game. Although he seemed to have convinced some fans at a certain point, Charisteas never enjoyed a good relationship with Feyenoord supporters. He finished the season having played a total of 28 games for Feyenoord, netting nine goals.
On 6 July 2007,1. FC Nürnberg confirmed a deal with Feyenoord to sign Charisteas on a four-year deal worth €2.5 million.[7] He scored his first two official team goals in a 6–0 victory against fourth division clubSC Victoria Hamburg.
At the beginning of the 2009–10 season, he returned to the newly promoted Nürnberg. His first goal of the season came on 12 March 2010, when he scored the winning goal in the 1–2 away win againstHertha BSC, helping Nürnberg to avoid the relegation, beforeOtto Rehhagel called him up to the Greece national team for the2010 World Cup.
On 2 February 2009, he was loaned out toBayer Leverkusen until the end of the season,[7] helping the team to reach the final of the German Cup.
On 10 August 2010, Charisteas signed forArles-Avignon, along with teammateAngelos Basinas.[8][7] He made his debut on 21 August 2010 in a 1–2 away defeat againstToulouse.[9] Charisteas made a total of seven appearances, scoring no goals, before his contract was terminated on 26 November 2010.
On 30 January 2011,Schalke 04 formalized his arrival. Charisteas signed a contract on 30 June 2011, until the end of the season. In his debut match for Schalke, he scored the second goal in a 2–1 home win againstEintracht Frankfurt. It was his first touch of the ball, having been on the pitch for only 52 seconds. On 13 April 2011, Charisteas reached the semi-finals of the2010–11 UEFA Champions League with Schalke, beating in the quarter-finals the defending championInter Milan, Charisteas replaced the BrazilianEdu in the 32nd minute of the second half.
On 21 May 2011, Charisteas won the German Cup with Schalke 04.
On 27 July 2011, Charisteas joinedPanetolikos, newly promoted to theSuper League,[10] signing a one-year contract. His first goal of the season came on 14 September 2011 when he scored the winning goal in the 1–0 home win againstAsteras Tripolis.
After interest from Inter Milan, reported in the newspaperCorriere dello Sport, on 17 February 2013, Charisteas signed a one-and-a-half-year contract withAl-Nassr FC. Charisteas played his debut in the final of the2012–13 Saudi Crown Prince Cup againstAl-Hilal FC on 22 February 2013. After 90 minutes penalties had to be taken and Charisteas missed the fourth.
After having been a regular player for the Greek U21 side, Charisteas made his international debut in February 2001 in a 3–3 draw againstRussia. His impact was immediate as he scored two of the goals for Greece that day. His prolific goal scoring continued, eventually helping his team qualify for theEuro 2004.
During the victorious Euro 2004 campaign, Charisteas scored three goals: one in the group stage againstSpain, one againstFrance in the quarterfinals and the winning goal against the host countryPortugal in the final on 4 July, securing himself a permanent place in the history of the sport.[11] The win against Portugal was also considered as the greatest triumph of the nation.[2]
His contribution to the team and his impact in the competition was further recognised when he was named in the Euro 2004 All-star Team and he was also nominated for the2004 Ballon d'Or award, where he finished 11th in votes.
In January 2007, Charisteas told Dutch football magazine Voetbal International that winning Euro 2004 was an unbelievable experience which he would not swap for all the money in the world: "Even in 50 years time, everybody will remember that I scored the goal which made Greece the champions of Europe. We wrote history and my life changed completely at that point."
Charisteas scored three goals forEuro 2008 qualifying rounds, helping Greece to automatically qualify for the competition with two games left. He would go on to be one of the few Greece players who performed well at Euro 2008, scoring the defending champions' only goal of the tournament in the 2–1 defeat to Spain. He scored 4 goals for his country in the2010 FIFA World Cup qualification.
Charisteas was included in the squad that travelled to South Africa for the final tournament, where he played one game. In that competition, he was the only Greece player to participate in two European Championships and a World Cup (others sharing this distinction:Giourkas Seitaridis,Kostas Katsouranis,Georgios Karagounis and the goalkeeperKostas Chalkias).
Charisteas received another call-up on 8 October 2011 for the qualification match against Croatia. On 11 October 2011, he scored the winning goal in the 85th minute in Georgia, securing a 2–1 victory which sent Greece automatically to the UEFA Euro 2012 With this goal, Charisteas score in three qualifiers for European Championship and for three consecutive World Cups, became the only player to reach that distinction in the Greece national team.
Charisteas also became the second top scorer for theGreece national team with 25 goals, four fewer than the retiredNikos Anastopoulos.[12]
Charisteas played primarily as a target man.[2]
On 29 August 2019, Charisteas became sporting director of his former club Aris Thessaloniki.[13][14] He initially worked loosely as a player agent, and obtained a UEFA B license before registering to acquire further coaching certificates.[1]
In 2019, Charisteas was elected to the Regional Parliament of Central Macedonia and he was re-elected in 2023.[1] He has served as Deputy Regional Governor of Digital Policy of the Region of Central Macedonia and he is currently serving as Deputy Regional Governor for Volunteering and Youth Affairs of Central Macedonia.
During his time as a footballer, Charisteas was known to play theBouzouki in his spare time.[15]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Aris | 1997–98 | Beta Ethniki | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 |
| 1998–99 | Alpha Ethniki | 12 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 | |
| 1999–2000 | Alpha Ethniki | 21 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 2 | |
| 2000–01 | Alpha Ethniki | 28 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 10 | |
| 2001–02 | Alpha Ethniki | 19 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 6 | |
| Total | 89 | 19 | 29 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 119 | 24 | ||
| Athinaikos | 1998–99 | Beta Ethniki | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| Werder Bremen | 2002–03 | Bundesliga | 31 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 39 | 15 |
| 2003–04 | Bundesliga | 24 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 32 | 7 | |
| 2004–05 | Bundesliga | 11 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 18 | 6 | |
| Total | 66 | 18 | 11 | 6 | 12 | 4 | 89 | 28 | ||
| Ajax | 2004–05 | Eredivisie | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 4 |
| 2005–06 | Eredivisie | 17 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 9 | |
| 2006–07 | Eredivisie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 31 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 38 | 13 | ||
| Feyenoord Rotterdam | 2006–07 | Eredivisie | 28 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 36 | 11 |
| 1. FC Nürnberg | 2007–08 | Bundesliga | 24 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 31 | 11 |
| 2008–09 | 2. Bundesliga | 14 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 1 | |
| 2009–10 | Bundesliga | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 | |
| Total | 57 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 67 | 13 | ||
| Bayer Leverkusen (loan) | 2008–09 | Bundesliga | 13 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 2 |
| Arles-Avignon | 2010–11 | Ligue 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Schalke 04 | 2010–11 | Bundesliga | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| Panetolikos | 2011–12 | Super League Greece | 24 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 4 |
| Al-Nassr | 2012–13 | Saudi Premier League | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| Career total | 330 | 74 | 38 | 15 | 29 | 8 | 397 | 97 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greece | 2001 | 7 | 4 |
| 2002 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 10 | 3 | |
| 2004 | 15 | 6 | |
| 2005 | 10 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 6 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 12 | 6 | |
| 2009 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 3 | 1 | |
| Total | 88 | 25 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 February 2001 | Theodoros Vardinogiannis Stadium,Heraklion, Greece |  Russia | 2–3 | 3–3 | Friendly |
| 2 | 3–3 | |||||
| 3 | 28 March 2001 | Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece |  Germany | 1–1 | 2–4 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier |
| 4 | 6 October 2001 | Old Trafford, Manchester, England |  England | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier |
| 5 | 2 April 2003 | Windsor Park,Belfast, Northern Ireland |  Northern Ireland | 1–0 | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualifier |
| 6 | 2–0 | |||||
| 7 | 11 June 2003 | Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, Athens, Greece |  Ukraine | 1–0 | 1–0 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualifier |
| 8 | 3 June 2004 | Rheinpark Stadion,Vaduz, Liechtenstein |  Liechtenstein | 2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 9 | 16 June 2004 | Estádio do Bessa,Porto, Portugal |  Spain | 1–1 | 1–1 | UEFA Euro 2004 |
| 10 | 25 June 2004 | Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal |  France | 1–0 | 1–0 | UEFA Euro 2004 |
| 11 | 4 July 2004 | Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal |  Portugal | 1–0 | 1–0 | UEFA Euro 2004 |
| 12 | 17 November 2004 | Karaiskákis Stadium,Piraeus, Greece |  Kazakhstan | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier |
| 13 | 2–0 | |||||
| 14 | 30 March 2005 | Karaiskákis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece |  Albania | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier |
| 15 | 11 October 2006 | Bilino Polje,Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina |  Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1–0 | 4–0 | UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier |
| 16 | 6 June 2007 | Pankritio Stadium,Heraklion, Greece |  Moldova | 1–0 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier |
| 17 | 13 October 2007 | Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1–0 | 3–2 | UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier |
| 18 | 6 February 2008 | GSP Stadium,Nicosia, Cyprus |  Finland | 1–1 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 19 | 18 June 2008 | Wals Siezenheim Stadium, Salzburg, Austria | Spain | 1–0 | 1–2 | UEFA Euro 2008 |
| 20 | 6 September 2008 | Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg,Luxembourg |  Luxembourg | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier |
| 21 | 11 October 2008 | Karaiskákis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece | Moldova | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier |
| 22 | 3–0 | |||||
| 23 | 15 October 2008 | Karaiskákis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece |  Switzerland | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier |
| 24 | 25 May 2010 | Stadion Schnabelholz,Altach, Austria |  North Korea | 2–1 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 25 | 11 October 2011 | Mikheil Meskhi Stadium,Tbilisi, Georgia |  Georgia | 2–1 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier |
Werder Bremen
Ajax
Bayer Leverkusen
Schalke 04
Al-Nassr
Greece
Individual
