Who is who of Dimitris Salpingidis

After trying his luck at wrestling, Dimitris Salpingidis joined the football academy of Giorgos Koudas in 1995, following spells at Akadimia Zachou and Asteras Ampelokipon Thessalonikis. He was recruited by PAOK youth teams at the age of 16 and, two years later, he signed his first contract as a professional player.

On 30 September 1999, 18-year old Salpingidis capped his PAOK debut under Dutch head coach Arie Haan with a goal against against Lokomotivi Tbilisi (UEFA Cup 1st round). Later, he went on loan at Larissa and Kavala in order to gain playing time. In the summer of 2002, head coach Angelos Anastassiadis requested Salpingidis’ return to the squad. His first after-loan season ended with PAOK winning the Greek Cup at the expense of Aris.

In 2003-04, he enjoyed his first full season at PAOK and, being a member of the starting eleven, he went on to score 16 league goals. In the following season, he netted 17 goals and was the league’s top scorer. In the summer of 2006 he was transferred to Panathinaikos and stayed there for four years, winning the domestic league-cup double in 2009-10.

In the summer of 2010, Salpingidis rejected the prospect of extending his Panathinaikos’ contract wishing to return to the club of his heart. Since then and until the end of the 2014-15 season, he added 221 matches and 51 goals to his PAOK career. Meanwhile, he is third in the all-time appearances list in the UEFA Europa League.

His international career

Dimitris Salpingidis has been a member of Greece’s national squads since 1998. He played his first match with Greece U19 on 1 March 1998 – a 2-1 victory over Cyprus for the Euro U19 qualifying stage. He earned his first senior cap by Otto Rehhagel, on 17 August 2005, in an away friendly 2-0 defeat by Belgium.

On 18 November 2009, in Donetsk “Donbass Arena”, Salpingidis scored the only goal of the play-offs against Ukraine –a historic netter, that sealed Greece’s second ever qualification to the World Cup finals. In South Africa, the PAOK striker scored another milestone goal: the first ever of Greece in world finals: it was the equalizer against Nigeria, in a match that Otto Rehhagel’s men went on to win, recording their first ever victory in a World Cup.

Salpingidis was also on target during the Euro 2012 finals, scoring in the opening match of the competition against Poland and in the quarterfinal 4-2 loss to Germany. He was also a member of the Greece team that participated in the FIFA World Cup finals of 2014. He has a total of 13 goals in 82 caps and is a co-captain of the national squad.