Themistoklis "Demis" Nikolaidis (born September 17, 1973, Gießen, West Germany) is the forty second and current president and managing director of AEK Athens FC, and is considered one of the finest footballers Greece has ever produced. In his early childhood and teenage years he lived in the city of Alexandroupoli, in the north-east part of Greece. In a sterling career with Ethnikos Alexandroupolis, Apollon Smyrnis, AEK Athens FC and Atlético Madrid, Nikolaidis earned his reputation as a "born goalscorer", scoring prolifically for club and country. His power, pace and skill on the ball have been widely praised but it was his work-ethic and enthusiasm, perhaps, that propelled him to his exalted status among Greek footballers. is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ... theatre in Giessen Architecture in Giessen Giessen (German spelling Gießen) is a city in the German federal state (Bundesland) of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen district and the Giessen Administrative Region. ... AEK FC, (Greek: – Athlitiki Enosis Konstantinoupoleos), the Athletic Union of Constantinople, known in European competitions as AEK Athens, is a Greek association football club based in the city of Athens, Greece. ... Soccer redirects here. ... Alexandroupoli (also Alexandroupolis, Greek: Αλεξανδρούπολη, Turkish: DedeaÄŸaç) is a city of Greece and the capital of the Evros Prefecture in Thrace. ... This article belongs in one or more categories. ... AEK FC, (Greek: – Athlitiki Enosis Konstantinoupoleos), the Athletic Union of Constantinople, known in European competitions as AEK Athens, is a Greek association football club based in the city of Athens, Greece. ... Club Atlético de Madrid is a Spanish football club based in Madrid. ...

Playing days

In his teenage years he played for Ethnikos Alexandroupolis, the local team of his hometown. The scouts of several teams had seen his progress from these years, earning him a move to Athens. He made his professional debut at the age of 20 at Apollon and soon became a fixture in the first team. He debuted for the Greek national football team on April 26, 1995. His fine performances sparked a bidding war between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos, and the striker's childhood favorite AEK, with Demis refusing to join Olympiakos and forcing his club President to sell him to AEK. With his new side, Nikolaidis excelled, scoring an impressive 177 goals in 266 games, winning three Greek cups and the 1996 Super Cup, as well as topscoring in both the 2001 UEFA Cup and 1999 Greek league. He is the top scorer for Greek teams in European competitions having scored 26 goals in 51 games. He has scored five goals in a match twice and he is the only Greek player to have scored 4 goals in a European match. At AEK, Nikolaidis linked up with some of the great Greek players of his generation, many of whom would join him to lift the UEFA Euro 2004 trophy, including Vassilis Tsiartas, Theodoros Zagorakis, Michalis Kapsis, Grigoris Georgatos, Traianos Dellas, Ilias Atmatsidis, Vassilis Lakis and Kostas Katsouranis, among many others. First international  Greece 1 - 4  Italy (Athens, Greece; 7 April 1929) Biggest win  Greece 8 - 0  Syria (Athens, Greece; 25 November 1949) Biggest defeat  Hungary 11 - 1  Greece (Budapest, Hungary; 25 March 1938) World Cup Appearances 1 (First in 1994) Best result Round 1, 1994 European Championship Appearances 3 (First... is the 116th day of the year (117th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (Greek: Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος,  ), widely known both as Panathinaikos or PAO, is a Greek multisport club based in Athens, Greece. ... Olympiacos CFP is a Greek football club, part of the Olympiacos sports club founded in 1925, which plays in the port city of Piraeus. ... The Greek Football Cup (Greek: ), commonly known as the Greek Cup, is a knockout cup competition in Greek football, run by and named after Hellenic Football Federation. ... The 2000-01 UEFA Cup was won by Liverpool F.C. in a dramatic golden goal final against Deportivo Alavés for their third title in the competition. ... The UEFA Cup (also known as European Cup 3, CE3 or C3) is a football competition for European club teams, organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). ... The Alpha Ethniki (Greek: ; First National Division) is the highest professional football league in Greece. ... Tsiartas: Vassilios Tsiartas has been labelled by many as perhaps one of the most naturally talented Greek footballers of his generation. ... Theodoros Zagorakis (Greek: ) (born October 27, 1971 in Kavala) is the President of PAOK FC, in Thessaloniki, Greece. ... Michalis Kapsis(born on October 18, 1973) is a Greek football player who currently plays for Olympiacos Piraeus and Greek national football team at the position of central defender. ... Grigoris Georgatos (born October 31, 1973), also know as Trelos Karaflos, is a Greek footballer, who typically plays as a defensive or attacking winger for the Greek Championship club Olympiacos. ... Traianos Dellas (Τραϊανός Δέλλας) (born January 31, 1976 in Greece, is a Greek football player. ... Vassilis Lakis (born September 9, 1976 in Thessalonika) is a Greek footballer. ... Konstantinos (Kostas) Katsouranis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος „Κώστας“ Κατσουράνης; born June 26, 1979 in Patras, Greece) is a Greek football player currently playing for SL Benfica, having joined them from AEK Athens FC in June 2006. ...

From his move to AEK in 1995 to 1999 and from 2001 to the Euro 2004 qualifiers, Demis became the Greek national team's main source of goals. He amassed 54 caps, netting 17 times. His debut was in a game against Russia in 26/04/1995. He is amongst the top 5 goalscorers ever for Greece. In 1999, however, along with Michalis Kasapis and Ilias Atmatsidis, Nikolaidis retired from the national team, protesting for injustice in the Greek League. Two years later, though, after the disappointing tenure of coach Vasilis Daniil was brought to an end following a particularly horrendous series of results, he returned to the international fold. In his first game back, Nikolaidis scored in Greece's 2-2 away draw to England during the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. New coach Otto Rehhagel focused his offense around the quick striker and was rewarded with direct qualification to Euro 2004, upsetting Spain. The finals of the 2004 UEFA European Championship, commonly called EURO 2004, were held in Portugal between 12 June and 4 July 2004. ... First international Scotland 0 - 0 England (Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872) Biggest win Ireland 0 - 13 England (Belfast, Ireland; 18 February 1882) Biggest defeat Hungary 7 - 1 England (Budapest, Hungary; 23 May 1954) World Cup Appearances 12 (First in 1950) Best result Winners, 1966 European Championship Appearances 7 (First in... Listed below are the dates and results for the 2002 World Cup qualification rounds for Europe. ... Otto Rehhagel (born August 9, 1938 in Essen) is a German football coach and former football player. ... Euro 2004 Logo The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly called EURO 2004, was held in Portugal between 12 June and 4 July 2004. ...

In 2002, he received an award by the Fair Play committee of UEFA for requesting his goal in the Greek Cup final not to count as it was scored by hand.

A move to Spain

Although he failed to win the league in his time at AEK, Nikolaidis became arguably one of the most beloved players in the club's history. But after quarrelling with owner Makis Psomiadis, later indicted for forgery, and allegedly being assaulted by his bodyguards, Nikolaidis decided the time had come to leave AEK after the 2002/2003 season. Atlético Madrid beat off several other clubs to land the striker's coveted signature. Nikolaidis' first months at the Vicente Calderón were a tremendous success; he scored six goals and formed a fearsome attacking pair with teenage sensation Fernando Torres. However, a series of serious injuries kept him out of the first team for nearly the rest of the season and severely limited his effectiveness at Euro 2004. With Nick Lyberopoulos he is one of the few players that have played with one of the 3 big Greek clubs and has not won any titles. The Vicente Calderón is the home stadium for Club Atletico de Madrid, it is located in the heart of Madrid by the banks of the River Manzanares. ... Fernando José Torres Sanz (born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish football player currently playing for Liverpool. ...

At Atletico number 11 was taken, so he wore number 21 as a tribute to AEK and the Original fanclub.

Euro 2004

Even though struggling with injury, Rehhagel nevertheless included him in his Euro 2004 squad. Greece's new strike force, Zisis Vryzas and Angelos Charisteas, played well enough but Nikolaidis still figured consistently in the team, coming off the bench in all three group games before starting against France, against whom he was desperately unlucky not to score, and leading Greece to a tremendous shock victory. After that fine performance, however, Nikolaidis succumbed to a serious injury and did not even dress for Greece's last two games. Without a doubt, he accomplished much during his international career but there are some who wonder if his contribution could not have been greater had an injury and a poor run of luck not conspired against him. Zisis Vryzas (born November 9, 1973 in Kavala) is a striker fot the Greek national team and PAOK FC. Vryzas got his start at Greek sides Skoda Xanthi and PAOK before moving onto AC Perugia in Italy. ... Angelos Charisteas (Greek: ; IPA: ) (born February 9, 1980 in Strimoniko,Serres) is a Greek football striker who currently plays for Feyenoord Rotterdam. ...

Back to AEK

With AEK struggling terribly in the wake of Psomiadis' corruption and the prospect of relegation to the fourth division looming, Nikolaidis retired at the relatively reasonable age of 31. His next move, supported by the hard core AEK fans, was to establish a consortium of businessmen and purchase AEK, as he had always dreamed. Becoming the club's president, Nikolaidis, and technical director Ilija Ivic, a former teammate, made several clever signings and fought ferociously for the league title, finishing third when many had expected a mid-table performance. In his second year as president, after signing two current Greece Under-21 players, as well as adding former star Vasilis Lakis (which was later was given free transfer to PAOK), Ukrainian international striker Oleg Venglinskyi and one time Inter centre back Bruno Cirillo, AEK achieved Champions League qualification. Apart from the improvement of the economic standards and the athletic performance of AEK, Nikolaidis is determined to decrease the hooligan actions in football. He believes that if a fan wants to attend a football game, they must respect the fans of the opposite team and not produce violence. Oleg Venglinskyi (more often spelled Venglinsky). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Honours

AEK Athens Current season AEK F.C., (Greek: – Athlitiki Enosis Konstantinoupoleos), the Athletic Union of Constantinople, known in European competitions as AEK Athens, is a Greek association football club based in the city of Athens, Greece. ...

• Greek Cup: 1997, 2000, 2002
• Greek Super Cup: 1996

Greece The Greek Football Cup (Greek: ), commonly known as the Greek Cup, is a knockout cup competition in Greek football, run by and named after Hellenic Football Federation. ... The Greek Super Cup (Greek: ) is a Greek association football competition, which takes place in an annual match between the Super League champion team and the winners of the Greek Cup. ...

• European Championship: 2004

Individual The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the mens national football teams governed by the UEFA. Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the European Nations Cup, changing to the name European Football... The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly called Euro 2004, was held in Portugal between June 12 and July 4, 2004. ...

• Greek Championship best Greek player: 1997, 1998, 2002
• Greek Championship Top Goalscorer: 1999
• UEFA Cup Top Goalscorer: 2001
• FIFA’s Fair Play Committee Award: 2002

Greek Footballer of the Year an annual title awarded to the best Greek football (soccer) player of the year. ... The UEFA Cup (also known as European Cup 3, CE3 or C3) is a football competition for European club teams, organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). ... The 2000-01 UEFA Cup was won by Liverpool F.C. in a dramatic golden goal final against Deportivo Alavés for their third title in the competition. ... This article is about the international association football organization. ...

Personal life

Demis is married to one of the most successful Greek singers Despina Vandi who was also born in Germany and grew up in Greece. They have a daughter called Melina, and a son called Giorgos. Despina Vandi (Greek; Δέσποινα Βανδή) (born Despina Malea, 22 July 1969, near Stuttgart-Tübingen, West Germany, now Southern Germany) is a Greek singer famous mainly in Greece and Cyprus with moderate international success too (mainly in Europe). ...

Trivia

• Nikolaidis scored Greece's 500th goal on October 6, 2001 in a match against England.

v • d • e Greece squad - 2004 UEFA European Championship Winners (1st Title) 1 Nikopolidis • 2 Seitaridis • 3 Venetidis • 4 Dabizas • 5 Dellas • 6 Basinas • 7 Zagorakis • 8 Giannakopoulos • 9 Charisteas • 10 Tsiartas • 11 Nikolaidis • 12 Chalkias • 13 Katergiannakis • 14 Fyssas • 15 Vryzas • 16 Kafes • 17 Georgiadis • 18 Goumas • 19 Kapsis • 20 Karagounis • 21 Katsouranis • 22 Papadopoulos • 23 Lakis • Coach: Rehhagel