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Dimitris Salpigidis
Personal information
Full name Dimitris Salpigidis
Date of birth August 18, 1981 (1981-08-18) (age 29)
Place of birth Thessaloniki, Greece
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7 12 in)
Playing position Striker / Right winger
Club information
Current club PAOK
Number 9
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2006 PAOK 103 (50)
1999–2000 → Larissa (loan) 7 (0)
2000–2002 → Kavala (loan) 43 (25)
2006–2010 Panathinaikos 112 (46)
2010– PAOK 22 (9)
National team
2005– Greece 44 (6)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the
domestic league only and correct as of 22 January 2010.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2010

Dimitris Salpigidis, sometimes transliterated as Salpingidis, (Greek: Δημήτρης Σαλπιγγίδης, (born 18 August 1981, Thessaloniki) is a Greek football striker. He plays for PAOK FC and the Greek national team.


Playing career

Salpigidis started his career through the youth ranks of PAOK FC, the team he supported as a child. Acknowledging his potential and in order to gain much needed experience, the team soon loaned him for two successive seasons to Kavala FC where he finished top scorer of the Second Division. His plea for a return to PAOK FC was granted by his mentor, Angelos Anastasiadis and he became an integral part of the team.

Despite playing out of position as a right midfielder he managed to earn a place in the starting line-up, just a few months after returning from loan. Plagued with financial problems, the next season saw the club experiencing an exodus of its top players such as striker Ioannis Okkas and ex-Newcastle United forward Giorgos Georgiadis, Salpigidis, at the age of 21, then became first-choice striker and captain of the team. The 2003–2004 season proved to be the best in many years, as the club finished an unexpected 3rd, qualifying for the Champions league, despite running on a very low budget. His significance for PAOK FC was such that in the summer 2004 he was given permission to miss a match with the Greek Olympic team so that he could participate in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers against Maccabi Tel Aviv. The elimination at the hands of the Israeli team, followed by the sack of coach Anastasiadis and subsequent financial turmoil hit the team badly, resulting in his exodus less than 2 years later. He went onto score 50 goals in 103 games for PAOK FC becoming the league's top scorer in his final season.

In the summer of 2006, as the club's president Giannis Goumenos was desperate to cash in, he was openly chased by Olympiakos, AEK and Panathinaikos. Salpigidis publicly refused the offer of bitter rivals Olympiakos despite being the most profiting one among the three. On August 16, after a lengthy negotiation period, he finally agreed to sign a 4-year contract to Panathinaikos. He transferred for a fee of €1.8 million, with PAOK additionally receiving 3 players (Sandor Torghelle, Kostas Chalarambidis and Athanasios Tsigas). This was the third most expensive transfer between Greek teams at that time, estimated at €5 million. Although it was an important financial boost to the then-heavily debted club, this transfer caused heavy turmoil amid PAOK fans, branding Salpingidis a traitor and ungrateful to the pains they had taken to keep him in the club. This tense situation brought about the demise of Goumenos' troubled presidency soon after.

After four very successful seasons with Panathinaikos (including a double-winning 2009–2010 season), in the summer of 2010 Salpigidis refused what was said to be a very lucrative contract, to join his boyhood club once again. On 16 June 2010, it was officially announced that he signed a four-year contract with PAOK FC, after his contract with Panathinaikos had expired. In 9/1/2010, he scored his 100th goal on the Greek Superleague against Asteras Tripolis with a header.

International career

Salpigidis has made 44 appearances and scored six times for the Greece national football team, including the winning goal in the away leg of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification play-offs against Ukraine, which sent Greece through to the final tournament.[1][2]

On June 17, 2010, in a 2010 FIFA World Cup group stage match against Nigeria, he scored Greece's first ever World Cup goal with a shot from outside the area deflected off in Lukman Haruna.[3]

Club statistics

Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Greece League Greek Football Cup Europe Total
1999–00 PAOK Superleague 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1
1999–00 AEL 1964 FC Football League 7 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
2000–01 Kavala Football League 15 5 0 0 0 0 15 5
2001–02 Kavala Football League 28 20 0 0 0 0 28 20
2002–03 PAOK Superleague 15 3 1 1 2 1 18 5
2003–04 PAOK Superleague 29 16 1 0 4 0 34 16
2004–05 PAOK Superleague 29 14 1 1 4 2 34 17
2005–06 PAOK Superleague 30 17 2 1 6 3 38 21
2006–07 Panathinaikos Superleague 27 14 4 2 8 3 39 19
2007–08 Panathinaikos Superleague 30 15 3 3 7 4 40 22
2008–09 Panathinaikos Superleague 34 12 2 0 12 3 48 15
2009–10 Panathinaikos Superleague 28 5 8 1 13 6 49 12
2010–11 PAOK Superleague 19 6 3 1 9 2 32 9
Career total 291 127 25 10 66 25 383 162

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 5 February 2008 Nicosia, Cyprus  Czech Republic 1–0 Win Friendly Match
2. 1 April 2009 Heraklion, Greece  Israel 2–1 Win 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier
3. 18 November 2009 Donetsk, Ukraine  Ukraine 0–1 Win 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier
4. 17 June 2010 Bloemfontein, South Africa  Nigeria 2–1 Win 2010 FIFA World Cup
5. 11 August 2010 Belgrade, Serbia  Serbia 0–1 Win Friendly Match
6. 12 October 2010 Athens, Greece  Israel 2–1 Win UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

Honours
PAOK FC

* Greek Football Cup: 2002–03

Panathinaikos

* Super League Greece: 2009–10
* Greek Football Cup: 2010

Individual

* Greek Super League top scorer: 1

2006

* Greek Footballer of the year: 2

2008, 2009

References

1. ^ "ΕΘΝΙΚΕΣ ΟΜΑΔΕΣ > Εθνική Ομάδα Ανδρών" (in Greek). Hellenic Football Federation. http://www.epo.gr/ethniki/men/men6.asp. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
2. ^ "Greeks earn Donetsk shock". ESPN. 2009-11-18. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=284576&cc=5739. Retrieved 2009-11-19.
3. ^ Fletcher, Paul (2010-06-17). "Greece 2–1 Nigeria". BBC Sport (BBC). http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/matches/match_19/default.stm. Retrieved 2010-06-17.

Dimitris Salpigidis, Sport Show 2007

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