Giorgos Karagounis
Giorgos Karagounis, 2008
Giorgos Karagounis (Greek Γιώργος Καραγκούνης, born March 6, 1977 in Pyrgos ) is a Greek football player. With 131 international matches Karagounis is Greece's most capped player.
Career
Giorgos Karagounis played from 1998 to mid-2003 at Panathinaikos Athens and then moved to Inter Milan. In 2005 he moved from Milan to Benfica. After the 2006/ 07 season his contract with Benfica Karagounis was dissolved and moved back to his home to Panathinaikos Athens with whom he also won the trophy in 2010 next to the championship. After his contract expired, he signed on September 11, 2012 at FC Fulham a contract until the end of the season.
National
His debut in the Greek national was Karagounis on 20 August 1999 in a friendly match against the selection of El Salvador, which Greece 3-0 could decide for themselves. His first goal in the National Dress Karagounis succeeded in his twelfth international match on 5 September 2001 in a World Cup qualifier in Finland, which was the first game of Greece under Otto Rehhagel simultaneously.
As a fixture in Rehhagel's team Karagounis was appointed to the squad for the European Championships in Portugal in 2004 and scored in the opening game against the host team already in the sixth minute the 1-0 lead. Of the six EM encounters Karagounis missed due to yellow-card suspensions two - including the successful for Greece final against Portugal.
In 2005, Karagounis at the Confederations Cup in Germany shares. At the 2008 European Championships in Austria and Switzerland Karagounis also belonged to the root formation of Greece.
On 8 October 2010 Karagounis completed the qualifying match for the 2012 European Championship his 100th game. He was so after Theodoros Zagorakis and Angelos Basinas the third Greek with at least 100 appearances for the national team. Opponent in a 1-0 home win was the selection of Latvia. Also at the European Championships in 2012 he was one of the national squad. In this tournament, he had on 16 June 2012 at the third group game against Russia not only its 120th application, which he drew even with capped player Theodoros Zagorakis but also ensured that as a scorer in a 1-0 victory for the quarter-finals. On 12 October 2012, he graduated from Bosnia and Herzegovina to be 121 international game and has since become the sole record holder.
Title
- Greek champion: 1996, 2010
- Greek Cup winner: 2010
- European Championship: 2004
- Italian Cup: 2005
- Portuguese Super Cup: 2005