| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Dimitrios Karagiozopoulos | ||
| Date of birth | (1961-02-04)4 February 1961 (age 64) | ||
| Place of birth | Meliki,Imathia, Greece | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Center back,defensive midfielder,striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1978 | Filippos Melikis | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1978–1981 | Veria | ||
| 1981–1993 | AEK Athens | 231 | (19) |
| 1993–1994 | Apollon Athens | 18 | (0) |
| Total | 249 | (19) | |
| International career | |||
| 1978 | Greece U19 | ||
| 1979–1987 | Greece Mediterranean | ||
| 1983 | Greece U21 | ||
| 1984 | Greece Olympic | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1998–2000 | AEK Athens (assistant) | ||
| 1998 | AEK Athens (caretaker) | ||
| 2000 | AEK Athens (caretaker) | ||
| 2000–2001 | Veria | ||
| 2002–2003 | P.A.O. Rouf | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Dimitris "Takis" Karagiozopoulos (Greek:Τάκης Καραγκιοζόπουλος; born 4 February 1961) is aGreek former professionalfootballer who played asdefender, mostly forAEK Athens. He is famous and beloved to AEK fans for his 12-year presence and for scoring the historic "golden" goal againstOlympiacos on 7 May 1989, giving theChampionship to AEK after 10 whole years.[1]
Karagiozopoulos started playing football for Filippos Melikis and in 1978 he was transferred toVeria, where he played in the position ofstriker. In 1981 he signed forAEK Athens,[2] playing in the attack for the first two years, until the then coach of AEK, the lateZlatko Čajkovski converted him to the position of defender, after his serious injuryPetros Ravousis. Together withStelios Manolas made an excellent defending duo. He played with AEK for twelve years, winning threeChampionships aCup, aSuper Cup and aLeague Cup. He was a footballer who was distinguished for his intelligence, composure in his game, his very good technique for a defensive player, while he was also a specialist in penalty kicks. He never belonged to the "stars" of AEK, but he was a very useful "tool" for the team for twelve whole years, while he was at times one of its leaders. He had a total 231 appearances in league games with 19 goals, 47 cup games with six goals and 11 appearances in Europe. In 1993 he left AEK and transferred toApollon Athens where he ended his career.
On 7 May 1989, AEK played one of the most important games in their history, in an away match against Olympiacos at theOlympic Stadium, for the penultimate game of the 1988–89 season.[3] AEK had the opportunity with a victory or a draw to win the championship after 10 rough years. On the other hand, Olympiacos had a huge budget and although they only wanted a victory, were considered to be the favorite, since they were in excellent condition and played at home. Olympiacos entered the game dynamically, put a lot of pressure on AEK and lost several chances. As time passed, the pressure of the "red and whites" increased, but the goalpost ofIkonomopoulos stayed intact. At the 83rd minute, when AEK counterattacked Karagiozopoulos, who entered the game as a sub, combined 2 times withOkoński, starting from the area of AEK to the area of Olympiacos. Finally, he dribbledAlexiou, shoot with his left foot and sent the ball into the net and the fans of AEK in "heaven".[4] This was one of the most important goals in the history of AEK as the 0–1 remained until the end and found the "yellow-blacks" champions. Never before has an AEK player been so closely associated with achieving a specific goal. Regardless of the rest of his career in the team, Karagiozopoulos is one of the most beloved players of all time to the friends of AEK, only thanks to that "golden" goal.[5]
Karagiozopoulos played in theGreece's youth team[6] in 1978. He played in the Greek mediterranean team[7] in 1979, atSplit and in 1987 inLatakia. In 1983 he played withU21 team[8] againstDenmark. He was also a member of the team that played in the1984 pre-Olympic tournament.
After the end of his career, Karagiozopoulos was initially involved in coaching and was on the bench of the AEK Athens, as an assistant coach for the two years. He even had to serve as the first head coach for some matches. In November 1998 after the dismissal ofDragoslav Stepanović and before the hiring ofOleg Blokhin, he was the coach of the team for three league matches, while he was also on the bench as the first coach in the tragic elimination fromPoseidon Michaniona for the cup. In January 2000, he also replacedLjubiša Tumbaković for a match, beforeGiannis Pathiakakis was hired.
Later Karagiozopoulos dealt with the science he has studied as a professor ofphysical education, while he deals with coaching only on an amateur level. The years after the end of his playing career until today, has a very active participation in the association of veteran football players of AEK.[9]
| Season | Club | League | Cup | Europe | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| 1981–82 | AEK Athens | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 |
| 1982–83 | 29 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 2 | |
| 1983–84 | 27 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 3 | |
| 1984–85 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 1 | |
| 1985–86 | 25 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 3 | |
| 1986–87 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 3 | |
| 1987–88 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 1 | |
| 1988–89 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |
| 1989–90 | 21 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 2 | |
| 1990–91 | 29 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 7 | |
| 1991–92 | 13 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 1 | |
| 1992–93 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 | |
| Career total | 231 | 19 | 53 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 295 | 26 | |
AEK Athens
