Takis Ikonomopoulos

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Panagiotis ("Takis") Ikonomopoulos (born October 19, 1943) is a former football (soccer) goalkeeper from Greece.

In 1964, a month after coach Stjepan Bobek arrived at Panathinaikos, Takis Ikonomopoulos was transferred to Panathinaikos from Proodeftiki. He was nicknamed the bird after his impressive flings and had a glorious career wearing the colors of PAO.

While playing for Panathinaikos, he managed to keep the opponents from scoring for 1,088 minutes (in a span of 13 consecutive games - a record for Greece which he still holds!). He kept a clean slate from January 17, 1965 until May 9, 1965 - when he was finally beaten. Takis Ikonomopoulos' places him in spot number 19 in the World's Top Division Goalkeepers of all time with the longest Time without conceding a Goal (the second highest for Greece, ranking at world spot 38 is Vasilis Konstantinou of Panathinaikos who went 988' without giving up a goal Dec. 30, 1979 - Mar. 16, 1980 )

Ikonomopoulos had set up a gym at home and used to put extra hours of training there. One of the boys who used to hang out and watch the bird train was Giannis Kyrastas.

Besides Proodeftiki and Panathinaikos, Ikonomopoulos also played for Apollon Athens and Panachaiki. After retiring as a football player, he went on to work with Panathinaikos as a goalkeeping coach.

In 2002, Takis Ikonomopoulos became responsible for coaching Panathinaikos' first team during the four last matches of the season -- after coach Sergio Markarian had been barred from entering any stadium for 40 days following an incident with Olympiakos Piraeus FC.

[edit] External links

• World's Top Division Goalkeepers of all time with the longest Time without conceding a Goal

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