Theofanis Gekas
Theofanis Gekas 2013
Theofanis " Fanis " Gekas [ θɛɔfanis ɟɛkas ] (Greek Θεοφάνης Γκέκας, born 23 May 1980, Larissa ) is a Greek football player.
Career
Greece
Gekas started his professional career in his native city of Larisa in the resident second division AE Larisa. After three years he joined in the summer of 2001 to the Athens club Kallithea FC, with whom he in the Alpha Ethniki, the first league, rise in the first year. Up to this point Gekas who scored 30 goals in 87 second-division matches.
Since Gekas scored in the subsequent period with constant regularity gates, the Greek tradition clubs were aware of the striker quickly. So it was that he in 73 encounters in January 2005 moved to Panathinaikos Athens to 32 gates. For Gekas, who scored eight goals in the remaining 15 match days and thus scorer of the season 2004/05, should represent a breakthrough in his career this. In addition to a regular place at Panathinaikos he played himself in the circle of the Greek national team and participated in the 2005 Confederations Cup. With Panathinaikos he came up with 41 inserts and 23 goals. 2006 debuted Gekas in the UEFA Champions League and ended up with 15 goals in the Greek league on the second place in the Greek top scorer.
VfL Bochum
On August 23, 2006, he moved to Germany to return to the Bundesliga VfL Bochum and had ascended with his in the first round scored seven goals in ensuring that the club wintered the year 2007 on a non- relegation zone. From Bochum coach Marcel Koller he was in November 2006, respectfully dubbed because of his performance as "our life insurance". VfL he played with the shirt number 22
On 18 February, 2007 Gekas scored with his two goals in the game at Arminia Bielefeld his first " Bundesliga double header " and brought the VfL on the road to victory in this important away game. His second double was followed on 10 March 2007 at the home game against Borussia Dortmund, which were defeated 2-0. On 8 April 2007 he was able to contribute 04 Leverkusen scored twice for morally important 4-1 away victory at VfL at Bayer. The winning goal to make it 2-1, VfL leaders FC Schalke 04 defeated by on 27 April 2007 in the local derby in Bochum, was his 19th goal in the Bundesliga. On the 32nd Round Gekas scored the opening goal against Hamburger SV. He led with 20 goals on the scoresheet, which were sufficient to be by Stefan Kuntz ( 22 goals in 1986 ) and Thomas Christiansen ( 21 goals in 2003 ) awarded the third player of VfL the top scorer.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
After the 2006/ 07 season Gekas moved from VfL Bochum to league rivals Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Thus VfL took its rightful now reached the relegation call option against Panathinaikos not true. The amount of the payment that was not disclosed.
In the 2007 /08 season Gekas was still one of the basic formation of Leverkusen, scoring eleven goals in 29 games. However, he was not without controversy, since he was accused of not playing team player. After the signing of Patrick Helmes in the summer of 2008, however, Gekas was only third striker behind this and Stefan Kiessling. He came in the group stage in 2008/ 09, although on 15 missions, but only played a total of 167 minutes and scored two goals, which is why he wanted to leave the club.
Portsmouth
On February 1, 2009 Gekas was awarded to the end of the season 2008/09 at Portsmouth, Gekas the long term would have carried an option to purchase loyalty. However Gekas came at 32 Matchday his sole use, when he came on in the 90th minute. This hung well together, among other things, that the coach Tony Adams, who had brought Gekas, a short time later was replaced by Paul Hart.
Return to Leverkusen
For the 2009/10 season Gekas returns to Leverkusen. As Patrick Helmes had suffered a lengthy injury before the season, a place in the storm was free. However, this went to Swiss newcomer Eren Derdiyok, so Gekas not belong to the starting eleven. He was inducted into the Bundesliga six times, and was able to achieve a goal.
Hertha BSC
For the second half of 2009/10 Gekas was awarded in the fall of champion Leverkusen to the first round last Hertha BSC. There he was to help prevent the threat of relegation to the 2nd Bundesliga. In the 5-1 win in the away match against VfL Wolfsburg Gekas succeeded on March 21, 2010 (27th Round ), his first hat-trick in his Bundesliga career. The Berlin also secured an option to bind Gekas contract upon successful relegation. As this failed, he returned to the 2010/11 season formally returned to Leverkusen.
Eintracht Frankfurt
On 19 May 2010, however, Gekas signed a two -year contract with Eintracht Frankfurt. Here he met Ioannis Amanatidis, who played with him in the Greek National Team, and his old Leverkusen coach Michael Skibbe, who was head coach since 2009 at Eintracht. After poor performances in the preparation and in the first season game he was initially a failure Shopping. But on Matchday 3 get him the away match in Moenchengladbach his first two Goals in official matches for Eintracht. Over the next eight games six times he scored the first goal for his team. In addition, during this period he scored five " brace ". In the first half of the 2010/11 season Gekas scored 14 goals in 17 Bundesliga games and was the top scorer.
However, this was offset by a drop in performance in the second half. While he was here, all 17 season games, but scored only two goals. At season's end, the harmony rose from the 2nd Bundesliga, Gekas you remained faithful.
In the 2nd Bundesliga 2011/12 Gekas came in the first round on six goals in 14 games.
Samsunspor
During the winter break of 2011/12 Gekas moved to Samsunspor. On 21 January 2012 at the home game against the league neighbors and Black Sea rivals Orduspor Gekas scored for his new club twice. On February 2, 2012 Gekas scored three goals against second Fenerbahce. In recent games against relegation he was Samsunspor due to a sprained ligaments no longer available. Samsunspor dismounted at the end of the season. This Gekas rose for the third consecutive year, with a club from.
UD Levante
In August 2012, Gekas moved to the Primera División to Levante UD. After only four missions in the league, where he remained without a goal, Gekas broke his contract with the consent of the club in November 2012 prematurely.
Akhisar Belediyespor
For the second half of the season 2012/13 Gekas moved back to Turkey and hired the highly relegation, premier league newcomer Akhisar Belediyespor. Even with Akhisar he succeeded as Samsunspor immediately the breakthrough within the team. He was involved with his 12 goals in 15 league games instrumental in the relegation of his team, which the club secured only on the final day. Through his work he established himself even with the fans as a crowd favorite. After the season his expiring contract could not be extended because of different salary, so Gekas left the club.
Torku Konyaspor
In the last week of the summer transfer window 2013/14 Gekas moved to the Turkish first division club Torku Konyaspor.
National
While Gekas was erected in Kallithea and Panathinaikos as a center forward and played on this position also at VfL Bochum, he acted at the beginning of his national team career under Otto Rehhagel in the Greek selection as a right winger or directly behind the strikers. His first goal for the selection of Greece, he scored on June 2, 2007 with a 2-0 victory over Hungary during the European Championship qualifiers. In the game against Latvia on October 10, 2009 he scored in a 5-2 victory of the Greeks four goals. With a total of ten goals in ten games during qualifying for the 2010 World Cup Gekas was the best striker in the European qualifying groups.
In September 2010, Gekas resigned from the national team. The reasons were his own words " special conditions ". In October 2011, Gekas returned to the national team. His comeback in the national team he was on 7 October 2011, when he came against Croatia in the qualifying match for the 2012 European Football Championship are used. Here he met for the 2-0 win.
Game style
The playing with the number 11 is considered to be right-footed player who has rather little touches of the ball, but often comes to the door in front of his eye for goal and the clever waiting at the level of the offside line.
Find out more
Even after several years in Germany Gekas was the German language is not powerful; He also wanted to learn German. Gekas explained his displeasure by saying that he " will be paid for scoring goals, not for the speeches ."
Awards
- Scorer in the Greek League: 2005
- Scorer in the Bundesliga: 2007
- EFFIFU 2007