| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michail Kasapis | ||
| Date of birth | (1971-06-06)6 June 1971 (age 53) | ||
| Place of birth | Athens, Greece | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Left back,left midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1988–1993 | Levadiakos | 126 | (6) |
| 1993–2004 | AEK Athens | 254 | (8) |
| Total | 380 | (14) | |
| International career | |||
| 1989–1994 | Greece U21 | 7 | (0) |
| 1994–2002 | Greece | 37 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2006–2009 | Levadiakos (youth) | ||
| 2009–2010 | Fokikos | ||
| 2010–2011 | AEL Kalloni | ||
| 2011–2012 | Fokikos | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Michalis Kasapis (Greek:Μιχάλης Κασάπης; born 6 June 1971) is aGreek former professionalfootballer who played as aleft back and a later manager. In 1995 he was voted as the second best Greek footballer and as one of the 22 best European players in 2001–02, he played in theEurope XI after he was called by theJohan Cruyff and he is considered one of the best Greek left backs to ever play the game.[1]
Kasapis started his career in 1988, playing forLevadiakos. He played five seasons for the club ofLivadeia, where he became the captain ofGreece U19, before earning a transfer toAEK Athens in the summer of 1993 for 50 million drachmas. In his first season at AEK, he played as a left midfielder, being the only youngster of the roster thatBajević used as a starter and the very next season he played to a left back, where and established himself for the rest of his career. Speed, endurance, spirited play, good crosses and excellent balance in defensive and offensive tasks, were his main characteristics.[2] For a number of years, he had an amazing partnership withToni Savevski, on the left flank of the team. One of the worst moments in his career was his devastating punishment on 5 November 1999, when in a home matchOlympiacos he attacked the match referee Dimitropoulos, in a match that AEK had huge complaints from the referee and was punished for 24 games. After these events he announced his departure from the national team alongsideNikolaidis andAtmatsidis, as a protest against refereeing in Greek football.[3] An important goal of his career was the beautiful goal in November 1997 at a cup match against Olympiacos inNikos Goumas Stadium, in a year when AEK also won the trophy.[4] The greatest moment of Kasapis' career was the call byJohan Cruyff to theEurope XI on 7 November 1995 at theCamp Nou, when in a match for charity where he played with footballers such asMaradona,Romário,Stoichkov andZubizarreta.[5][6][7][8] Kasapis is the first AEK footballer in appearances in European competitions having played 67 times. As a member of AEK he won 1championship, 4cups and 1 Super Cup and at times he was also their captain.[9] In the summer of 2004, he ended his football career, after the difficulties in the administrative and financial situation of the club.[10]
Kasapis got 36 caps forGreece between 27 April 1994 and 2002. In 1999 he withdrew the national team with Demis Nikolaidis and Ilias Atmatsidis, as a protest for refereeing situation that prevailed at the time in Greece. Finally in 2001 he was convinced by the then coachOtto Rehhagel to return to the national team.[11]
He started in 2006 as the coach of the youth team of Levadeakos and continued in 2009 atFokikos for one season, the following season atAEL Kalloni, to return in February 2011 again to the Amfissa team. In February 2013 he assumed the technical leadership ofAO Chalkida. On 5 September 2013 Kasapis returned to the AEK as scout and tactical analyst until July 2021.[12]
AEK Athens
