 Mantzios in 2008 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Evangelos Mantzios | ||
| Date of birth | (1983-04-22)22 April 1983 (age 42) | ||
| Place of birth | Athens, Greece | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | PAO Rouf | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1996–2001 | Kallithea | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2001–2005 | Panionios | 55 | (11) |
| 2005–2011 | Panathinaikos | 90 | (23) |
| 2008 | →Eintracht Frankfurt (loan) | 10 | (1) |
| 2010 | →Anorthosis (loan) | 14 | (9) |
| 2010–2011 | →Marítimo (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2011–2012 | OFI | 22 | (7) |
| 2012–2013 | Baku | 8 | (2) |
| 2013 | Atromitos | 7 | (1) |
| 2013–2017 | Levadiakos | 101 | (34) |
| 2018 | Apollon Smyrnis | 6 | (0) |
| 2019 | Olympiacos Volos | 8 | (7) |
| 2019–2020 | Levadiakos | 15 | (6) |
| 2020–2022 | PAO Rouf | 6 | (2) |
| Total | 343 | (103) | |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2005–2009 | Greece | 7 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 8 August 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 19 January 2009 | |||
Vangelis Mantzios (Greek:Βαγγέλης Μάντζιος; born 22 April 1983) is a Greek former professionalfootballer who played as aforward. He is the current technical director ofAgios Ierotheos F.C. Academies.
After establishing himself as one of the most talented young strikers in Greece during the first few years of his career atPanionios, Mantzios earned a transfer to Greek giantsPanathinaikos in 2005.
In his first four seasons with Panathinaikos, Mantzios proved to be an important player, whether playing from the start or as a substitute – in total, scoring 18 goals in 68Greek Super League matches and five goals in 20 European matches. One of his most notable achievements was scoring four goals in eight matches in the2008–09UEFA Champions League, helping Panathinaikos finish top of its group, ahead ofInter Milan,Werder Bremen andAnorthosis Famagusta FC.
In his last two seasons though, Mantzios struggled for playing time, with some tough new competition at the striker position, as Panathinaikos brought in prominent foreign strikersDjibril Cissé (Greek Super League top scorer in 2009–10 and 2010–11),Sebastián Leto andSidney Govou, while generally employing a one-striker system. As a result, Panathinaikos sent Mantzios out on loan, to Anorthosis in 2009–10 (six goals in 14 games) and Portuguese clubMarítimo in 2010–11 (only one match played, due to a knee injury).
Manztios' contract with Panathinaikos expired at the end of the 2010–11 season, and during the summer transfer period he joined Super League clubOFI on a one-year contract. In 2011–12, Manztios was OFI's leading scorer with seven goals in 22 Super League matches.
In his last season though, Mantzios joinedBaku for a total of 8 matches, before he returned to Greek Super League forAtromitos.
At the beginning of the 2013–14 season, he signed forLevadiakos F.C. for a two-year contract. On 18 August 2013, he made his debut with the club by scoring one goal in a 2–2 home draw againstPanthrakikos.
In May 2013, Mantzios was awarded $280,000 fromFK Baku byFIFA over unfulfilled contract obligations.[1]
After his two years spell in Levadiakos, who got relegated, he came close to agree on moving toPlatanias, though the club attacked to Mantzios for not following the oral agreement they had and eventually the deal didn't close. After that event, Mantzios was approached byVeria. On 1 July 2015, the two sides made an oral agreement,[2] and both sides will sign the contract in a due course.
After various rumours concerning the future of the player, Mantzios renewed his contract with Levadiakos for €300,000 till the summer of 2017.[3][4] He started the2015–16 season by scoring the only goal in a 1–0 away win againstIraklis, following by two goals in the 2–1 home win againstAsteras Tripoli. On 3 October 2015, he named man of the match giving the victory to his club in a 3–1 away win against Panthrakikos by scoring two goals and giving one assist.[5] With these two goals he became the all-time top scorer of the club with 26 goals. On 18 October 2015, in the 7th day of the Greek Super League, with a penalty kick equalizing the score in a 2–2 home draw againstPanetolikos.[6]
On 23 December 2015, his excellent performance in the first half of the2015–16 season, attracts the interest of many clubs.Greek clubOlympiacos F.C. will probably make a move in January transfer window, as the experienced international will be an excellent replacement ofAlan Pulido.[7] To complete this transfer, Olympiacos is willing to offer Levadiakos except from money the Comorian international forwardEl Fardou Ben Nabouhane, who arrived in Piraeus fromVeria last summer but has not make a single appearance with the club yet.[8] On 17 February 2016, Mantzios' penalty kick allowed Levadiakos to salvage a 1–1 draw with Atromitos for the postponed 16th matchday of Greek Super League.[9] On 20 February 2016, Mantzios' penalty kick allowed Levadiakos to escape with a 1–0 home win againstkalloni.[10] By scoring in that game Mantzios has achieved an excellent 11/11 record at penalties in the Super League Greece.The all-time record stands since season 1989-90, when Hungarian star of OlympiacosLajos Detari extended its record to 14/14.[11] On 19 March 2016, he scored giving the lead to his club in a 2–2 away draw againstSkoda Xanthi.[12] On 17 April 2016, he scored in a 3–0 home win againstAEK Athens for the last day of the2015–16 season.[13]
On 25 September 2016, he scored in a 2–1 home win againstKerkyra It was his first goal for the2016–17 season.On 4 December 2016, a drug substance that was taken under medical treatment in June 2016 gave the player a positive doping control after a 4–0 away loss against champions Olympiacos. Through his attorney-at-law, Yannis Marakakis, the 33-year-old striker stressed among other things that he was unaware of the composition of the drug he was given for treatment and that the "controversial" substance was taken out of the "non-race" period without offering a competitive advantage to the international player. Within the next few days he is expected to be summoned to the ESCAN Disciplinary Committee.[14] As a result of the doping control result, the player did not play since 12 February 2017.[15] At the end of the season he solved his contract with Levadiakos, having 109 appearances (36 goals, 10 assists) in all competitions.
After six months on 10 January 2018, he signed a contract withGamma Ethniki clubEgaleo for the rest of the2017–18 season for an undisclosed fee, but it was not certain if he could play with the club due to legal issues with the ESCAN Disciplinary Committee.[16][17] On 19 June 2018, he signed a contract with Super League clubApollon Smyrnis.[18] On 24 January 2019, he signed a year contract with third tier-Football League Greece clubOlympiacos Volos,[19] but on 26 June 2019, he returned to his former clubLevadiakos F.C.[20] He was waived at the end of the season & then signed forPAO Rouf which he played for two seasons inGamma Ethniki.
He announced his retirement from football on 31 August 2022 & he has since been working as the technical director of theAgios Ierotheos F.C. Academies. It was later revealed that he was banned again from competing after he tested positive forOxilofrine. The punishment from the ESCAN Disciplinary Committee was set at 7 years.
Mantzios made his debut forGreece in a2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying match againstGeorgia in October 2005. His most recent cap came in a friendly match againstItaly in November 2008.
