Kostas Katsouranis

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Kostas Katsouranis
Personal information
Full name	Kostantinos Katsouranis
Date of birth	June 26, 1979 (age 27)
Place of birth	Patras, Greece
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Nickname	Katsou, Kostas
Playing position	Defensive Midfielder
Club information
Current club	SL Benfica
Number	8
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1996-2002 2002-2006 2006-	Panachaiki AEK Athens SL Benfica	96 (11) 112 (49) 22 (5)
National team2
2003-	Greece	33 (3)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of March 19, 2007. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of October 11, 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Konstantinos „Kostas” Katsouranis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος „Κώστας“ Κατσουράνης; born June 26, 1979 in Patras, Greece) is a Greek football player currently playing for SL Benfica, having joined them from AEK Athens FC in June 2006. Primarily a defensive midfielder, he is a versatile player that can also perform as a central defender or a forward. In Greece Katsouranis is regarded as one of the best Greek footballers of his generation.

Contents 1 Greek Posterboy 2 Move to AEK 3 AEK Athens FC 4 Greek National Team 5 SL Benfica 6 Personal life 7 External links

[edit] Greek Posterboy

He was only 17 when he debuted in the 1996/97 season for the Patras-based club Panachaiki. He spent six seasons at the club and by the third was already a starter. In the 2002–03 season he earned a transfer to one of the domestic giants of the Greek league, AEK Athens.

[edit] Move to AEK

When his contract with Panachaiki expired, Katsouranis decides that it's time to move forward to a bigger club. He open negotiations with Panathinaikos. Eventually his current coach Fernando Santos and former of Panathinaikos, decides to sign the Portuguese Carlos Chaínho a player he knew when both were in FC Porto, meanining the transfer will never be finalized despite the negotiations.

Then Olympiacos approaches. The following talks with Giorgos Louvaris the vice president of Olympiacos seems to finally reach an agreement, but Louvaris suggested Katsouranis to wait until the president Sokratis Kokkalis returns from a business trip to USA for the final negotiations.

Finally AEK Athens former president Chrysostomos Psomiadis take advantage on the situation and convinces the promising midfielder to sign a three year contract with AEK.

[edit] AEK Athens FC

Coming off the bench and making an impressive performance in a single game for the Greek league, Kostas immediately became an integral part of the club. His continuing progress in top-level will soon make him the team's best player and a first team regular in Greece.

The 2004/05 season would perhaps be one of Katsourani's finest seasons with the club, as he scored 12 times from the position of the defensive midfielder leadind the club to a hard battle for the title. AEK managed to finished third when many had expected a mid-table performance. Werder Bremen expressed strong interest for the Greek international but Kostas together with president Demis Nikolaidis decided to reject the offer.

In the 2005/06 he led the club to a second place finish in the league and brought them into the UEFA Champion's League. After the season he left and followed former coach Fernando Santos to SL Benfica for a fee of 3.8 million euros.

[edit] Greek National Team

Katsouranis was one of the key factors in Greece's triumph at the European Championships of 2004. Many consider him one of the best talents to arise from Greece.

Katsouranis has also captained Greece on several occasions.

[edit] SL Benfica

Katsouranis signed a 4 year contract with Portuguese side SL Benfica on 23 June 2006 and completed his move to another top European club after have successfully played for AEK Athens FC. Giorgos Karagounis is another Greek player who arrived in SL Benfica a year earlier. When he arrived in June, he said "Even if Fernando Santos or Karagounis were not here I still would have joined. Benfica to me is one of Europe's top clubs and they proved that in the UEFA Champion's League. I am here to achieve that same objective and joining Benfica can only help my International career also." Katsou was also called up after the world Cup to play against England with fellow Benfica team mate Giorgos Karagounis. In his first Portuguese derby, against FC Porto, he scored for Benfica with a header following a corner kick, this is the second goal he has scored for Benfica in the league in just a few matches.

[edit] Personal life

Married to Effie since July 2004, in Greece they have their own mansion in Athens. Currently, they live in Lisbon, Portugal. He also drives a modest Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

[edit] External links

• Kostas Katsouranis Tactical Formations at Football-Lineups.com

• Bio

	Greece squad - UEFA EURO 2004 Champions
1 Nikopolidis | 2 Giourkas | 3 Venetidis | 4 Dabizas | 5 Dellas | 6 Basinas | 7 Zagorakis | 8 Giannakopoulos | 9 Charisteas | 10 Tsiartas | 11 Nikolaidis | 12 Chalkias | 13 Katergiannakis | 14 Fyssas | 15 Vryzas | 16 Kafes | 17 Georgiadis | 18 Goumas | 19 Kapsis | 20 Karagounis | 21 Katsouranis | 22 Papadopoulos | 23 Lakis | Coach: Rehhagel

SL Benfica - Current Squad
1 Moreira | 2 P. Correia | 3 Anderson | 4 Luisão | 5 Léo | 6 Petit | 7 M. Ferreira | 8 Katsouranis | 9 Mantorras | 10 Rui Costa | 11 Miguelito | 12 Quim | 15 P. Jorge | 16 Beto | 18 Manú | 20 Simão | 21 Nuno Gomes | 22 Nélson | 23 David Luiz | 25 N. Assis | 26 Karagounis | 27 Derlei | 28 J. Coimbra | 30 Miccoli | 31 Moretto | Manager: Fernando Santos