Alketas Panagoulias

Alketas Panagoulias (Greek Αλκέτας Παναγούλιας, * May 30, 1934 in Thessaloniki, † June 18, 2012 in Vienna, Virginia, United States) was a Greek football player, coach, and politician.

Career

After graduating, he went in the early 1960s in the United States. There he coached the first Greek American Atlas Soccer Club, an American soccer club for Greek immigrants. With Atlas, he won in 1967, 1968 and 1969, three U.S. Open Cup title.

In the early 1970s Panagoulias came back to his home country. He was assistant coach of the Northern Irishman Billy Bingham for the Greek national team in 1972. A year later he took over the reins in Greece. In his time qualifying for the European Football Championship in 1980 falls in Italy, where Greece was eliminated as a group last. After the European Championships in 1981, he took over the major Greek club Olympiakos Piraeus. He stayed for two years and was able to get two Greek championship.

From 1983 to 1985 he was coach of the football team in his second home in USA. In 1984 he participated in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles as coach of the U.S. Olympic Team in part. He resigned from the United States as a group Last in the preliminary round.

In 1985 he returned to Greece. He took over for two seasons again Olympiakos and 1987 could again enjoy a championship title. From 1987 to 1990 he coached the club with which he had already been active as a player, Aris Thessaloniki. Two years after the end of the contract with Aris, he took again the Greek national team and led them to their first finals appearance in a World Cup, at the FIFA World Cup 1994 in the USA. The team lost all three games and could not even score a goal. The last two coach stations were 1996-1998 and 1998-1999 Iraklis Thessaloniki Aris Thessaloniki. After he retired from football and became a politician.

He was a member of the City Council of Thessaloniki and was a candidate for the Greek Parliament and the European Parliament as the representative of Greece. In addition, he was FIFA Instructor and had some offices in the U.S. football hold. He was the father of two children, son and daughter.

Death

After a short illness he died on June 18, 2012 in his residence in Vienna ( Virginia) .. The Greek national team, which played on 22 June 2012 during the European Football Championship against Germany, Panagoulias played to honor with crape.

Achievements

• Greek champion: 1982, 1983, 1987