Sokratis Papastathopoulos
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sokratis Papastathopoulos | ||
| Height | 1.83 m 6 ft 0 in | ||
| Position(s) | Centre Back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | AEK Athens FC | ||
| Number | 15 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of December 4, 2006 | |||
Sokratis Papastathopoulos was born on June 9 1988 in Kalamata. He is a Greek football player currently playing for AEK Athens FC. He is regarded as the next big thing in Greek football. He plays at centre back but can also play as a defensive midfielder. Comparisons are already being made between him and Tony Adams (footballer) while AEK fans already consider him as the next Stelios Manolas. In the summer of 2006 he was linked with a move to Wigan Athletic F.C. while other big clubs such as Juventus F.C. and Chelsea F.C watched him closely. Papastathopoulos is under contract with AEK until June 2008.
Papastathopoulos made his debut for AEK in the 2005-2006 Greek Cup against PAS Giannina. AEK won this game 3-0 with Sokratis scoring the first goal of the game.
During the 2006-2007 Greek Super League, Papastathopoulos managed to make 14 appearances whilst competing against the likes of Bruno Cirillo, Traianos Dellas and Vaggelis Moras.
In AEK's UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 campaign, Papastathopoulos managed to play in 3 out of AEK's 6 group games. In these games where Sokratis played, AEK managed 1 win (the famous 1-0 victory of A.C. Milan), 1 draw (the 2-2 away draw with R.S.C. Anderlecht) and one loss (the 3-1 away defeat to Lille OSC). Unfortunately, AEK missed out to progress to the round of 16 by 1 point.
At the 2007 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship in Austria, Papastathopoulos was captain of the Greek side but controversially missed out on the final against Spain due to a suspension. Sokratis picked up his second yellow card of the tournament against Germany in the semi-final, following up on his first yellow card against Austria in the group stage. The Hellenic Football Federation tried to appeal the yellow card to UEFA but were rejected. The match referee of the Germany game, Kevin Blom, apologized to Papastathopoulos for giving him the yellow, as it was later shown on video that it was not a booking. Papastathopoulos was a key figure of Greece's defensive line and was sorely missed in the final.