Decade All Stars 2010-20: Left Back
The search for PAOK’s team of the decade continues on paokfc.gr. It’s the turn of the left-back position. We have a Brazilian and two Greeks in the running for that one place. Only you can decide who it will be.
Traditionally it’s a position which causes a problem for most teams. It’s a well-known fact that talented left-sided players are not in abundance, but PAOK has been fortunate to have some exceptional players in that position in the last 10 years. A clear sign of that is the fact that Razvan Rat did not make the final three, while Adelino Vieirinha was preferred in a midfield role.
The players who will fight it out then, are Alves Lino, who was loved like few others in Thessaloniki, Dimitris Giannoulis, a player who after going out on loan has returned to become one of the best full-backs in the league, and Kostas Stafylidis, who rose from the ranks of the Dikefalos tou Vorra’s youth system to eventually move to the Bundesliga where he continues to play to this day.
Alves Lino
PAOK signed him from Porto at age 32. From January 2009 to July 2014 he was first-team regular and left his mark on the club, earning his place as one of the best foreign players to wear a PAOK shirt.
He played 220 times, scoring 16 goals, while also contributing 41 assists – making his performances a benchmark for those who followed him.
Dimitris Giannoulis
PAOK identified his talent from a young age. After signing him at the age of 18 from Vataniakos, PAOK sent him out on loan to Pierikos, Veria, Anorthosis and Atromitos, and in January 2019 Mr No Brakes returned to Thessaloniki to stay.
In his first six months back, he did not have much playing time due to the incredible Vierinha ahead of him in the pecking order, but after a serious injury picked up by The Leader, Giannoulis went on to establish himself in the starting lineup and put in some excellent appearances.
He has played 48 times, scoring one goal and contributing five assists, also winning last season’s double.
Kostas Stafylidis
He learnt his trade at the PAOK Academy and in 2011 was elevated for the senior squad. He was 18 years of age and usually played as a defensive midfielder. But everything changed after one night in London when former coach Laszlo Boloni threw him in at the deep end against Tottenham. From that moment on, Kostas Stafylidis did not look back.
We managed to appear 44 times for PAOK and scored two goals, while contributing three assists, before Europe’s bigger clubs started to take an interest. Bayer Leverkusen came calling to take him to Germany, where he has remained since and is now considered one of the top left-backs in the league.
Which of these three players will make the final starting XI? Vote now via paokfc.gr!
