21 Facts About Giourkas Seitaridis

Georgios "Giourkas" Seitaridis is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a right-back and occasionally as a centre-back.

Giourkas Seitaridis has last played in 2013 for Greek Superleague side Panathinaikos, having played previously at PAS Giannina, Porto, Dynamo Moscow and Atletico Madrid.

Giourkas Seitaridis is a former member of the Greece national team, for which he made a total of 72 international appearances, scoring one goal.

Giourkas Seitaridis was part of their team which won Euro 2004, for which he was voted into the Team of the Tournament.

Giourkas Seitaridis made a total of 40 league appearances with PAS Giannina, scoring 5 goals.

Giourkas Seitaridis was spotted by Athens-based club Panathinaikos, and on 12 January 2001 he signed a 5-year contract with them for a total fee of 300 million drachmas.

Giourkas Seitaridis helped the Dragoes win the Portuguese SuperCup and Intercontinental Cup of that year.

Soon however, Giourkas Seitaridis began to show his discomfort at the club, failing to settle in Moscow, and claimed the reasons he wanted to leave was that the weather was different from his native Greece and that he could not adapt to the cold.

Giourkas Seitaridis was sent off in the first half of his debut game, in the La Liga opening match away to Racing Santander on 27 August 2006.

Giourkas Seitaridis scored his first goal for Atletico the following year, on 21 July 2007, in a game against Gloria Bistrita for the Intertoto Cup.

In November 2007, Giourkas Seitaridis damaged his achilles tendon in a match against UD Almeria, which meant he needed to undergo surgery.

Two weeks later on 13 May 2009, it was announced that Giourkas Seitaridis was released by Atletico a year before his contract was to expire, with a statement on the club's official website reading "Giourkas Seitaridis is therefore free to negotiate with other clubs who may be interested in signing him".

On 10 September 2009, the last day of the Greek transfer period for free agent players, Giourkas Seitaridis signed a 4-year deal with Panathinaikos, returning to the team after five years.

Giourkas Seitaridis played for a second time in an away game against Asteras Tripoli, staying on the pitch a full 90 minutes.

Giourkas Seitaridis is a former Greece under-21 international, making his debut on 6 October 2000, in a 2002 UEFA Under-21 Championship qualifier against Finland under-21.

Giourkas Seitaridis participated at the finals of the 2002 UEFA Under-21 Championship in Switzerland, where his team was eliminated from the group stage, having collected one point in three games.

Giourkas Seitaridis made his international debut with the senior team on 13 February 2002, in an international friendly match against Sweden.

Giourkas Seitaridis helped Greece qualify to the UEFA Euro 2004 in Portugal for the second time in history, and was one of the key players during Greece's successful campaign, a win that shocked the footballing world as Greece were considered outsiders before the tournament started.

Giourkas Seitaridis won a penalty at the first match against Portugal as he was knocked down by Cristiano Ronaldo.

Giourkas Seitaridis scored his debut international goal on 2 June 2007 against Hungary in a Euro 2008 qualifying match, helping the Greece national team to qualify to the UEFA Euro 2008 championship.

Giourkas Seitaridis played twice in the disappointing Euro 2008 campaign for Greece, having been injured during the second game against Russia.