Demis Nikolaidis
Nikolaidis with AEK FC
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Themistoklis Nikolaidis | ||
| Date of birth | 17 September 1973 | ||
| Place of birth | Gießen, West Germany | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1992–1993 | Ethnikos Alexandroupolis | 39 | (14) |
| 1993–1996 | Apollon Smyrnis | 80 | (38) |
| 1996–2003 | AEK Athens | 189 | (125) |
| 2003–2004 | Atlético Madrid | 22 | (6) |
| Total | 330 | (183) | |
| National team | |||
| 1995–2004 | Greece | 54 | (17) |
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Honours
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| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Themistoklis "Demis" Nikolaidis (Greek: Θεμιστοκλής "Ντέμης" Νικολαΐδης) (born 17 September 1973 in Gießen, West Germany) was the forty second president of AEK Athens F.C., 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.
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 Smyrnis. His fine performances sparked a bidding war between Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, and the striker's childhood favorite AEK Athens, with Demis refusing to join Olympiakos and forced his club president to sell him to AEK. At AEK, Nikolaidis linked up with some of the great Greek players of his generation, including Vassilis Tsiartas, Theodoros Zagorakis, Michalis Kapsis, Grigoris Georgatos, Traianos Dellas, Vassilis Lakis. With his new side, Nikolaidis excelled, scoring on his debut against Ionikos. During his time with AEK, Demis managed to win three Greek cups and the 1996 Super Cup, he was the topscorer in the 1999 Greek league and second scorer in the 2001 UEFA Cup (1 goal behind topscorer Dimitar Berbatov). 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. Having scored a total of 21 goal in the UEFA Cup he is one of the competition's all-time topscorers. At AEK he scored an impressive 190 goals in 266 games(including European, cup and domestic league games) making him the fourth highest goalscorer for the club and a legend amongst the fans. On 24 March 2002, the International Committee for Fair Play awarded him with the Fair Play Award, an honorary diploma for his conduct in the Greek Cup Final on 8 May 2000, between the teams of AEK Athens and Ionikos, when Nikolaidis informed the referee he had used his hand to score a goal that had been allowed as valid.
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