Takis Fyssas
Greek footballer
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Takis Fyssas (Greek: Τάκης Φύσσας, born 12 June 1973) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a left back. After his retirement he served as the sporting director of the Greece national team.
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Fyssas as a member of the Greek staff at Euro 2012 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Panagiotis Fyssas | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 12 June 1973 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Athens, Greece | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Left back | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Panathinaikos (Strategy consultant & ambassador) | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| Panionios | |||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1990–1998 | Panionios | 150 | (9) | ||||||||||||||
| 1998–2003 | Panathinaikos | 123 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 2003–2005 | Benfica | 30 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2005–2007 | Hearts | 53 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Panathinaikos | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 363 | (16) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2007 | Greece | 60 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
From 1999 to 2007, he earned 60 caps for the Greece national team. He was part of the team which won Euro 2004.
Club career
Panionios
Fyssas started his career in the Panionios youth academy, achieving his senior debut in the 1990–91 season. After eight seasons in Nea Smyrni, which included a Greek Football Cup triumph.
Panathinaikos
He signed for Athens club Panathinaikos in 1998. The increased exposure Fyssas received playing at the Spiros Louis ensured a rapid elevation to the Greece national side and he made his debut against Finland in 1999. Fyssas also made his first UEFA Champions League appearance while with the Greens, in the 2000–01 season.
Benfica
In December 2003, he moved to Lisbon with Benfica, where he was to stay for a season and a half, helping Benfica claim the 2003–04 Portuguese Cup and 2004–05 Primeira Liga. On 25 January 2004, he was on the bench for a 1–0 away win against Vitória de Guimarães, a game overshadowed by the sudden death of his teammate Miklós Fehér. He scored a goal on the final of Portuguese Cup that season, that gave them the victory against FC Porto.
Hearts
After being allowed to leave Benfica in the summer of 2005, Fyssas made the surprise decision to move to Scotland with Hearts, despite reported interest from England and Germany. He collected his fourth career winners medal in his first season with the Tynecastle side, when they defeated Gretna in the 2005–06 Scottish Cup final. His first and only Hearts goal came in a league game against Motherwell on 9 December 2006.[1] He became a popular member of the Hearts team and will always be remembered fondly for his celebrations after clinching a place in the UEFA Champions League. He left the Edinburgh club at the end of the 2006–07 season to move back to Panathinaikos.
Panathinaikos
In his second Panathinaikos term, he played just a couple of games and he silently decided to retire from football.
International career
Fyssas played 60 matches for Greece national team and he scored four goals. He was one of the key players for team that won the Euro 2004 championship in Portugal, a win that shocked the footballing world as Greece were considered 100–1 outsiders before the tournament started.
After retirement
Fyssas after his retirement entered into the staff of Panathinaikos Youth Departments serving as technical director. Then he was hired to the Greece national team, helping Otto Rehhagel for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the new coach Fernando Santos after Rehhagel retired in 2010. He also served as sporting director of the Greece national team until 2024.[2]
In May 2019 Fyssas, was nominated as a candidate for Greece's New Democracy Party at the Greek legislative election, but he failed to get elected.
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Panionios | 1990–91 | Alpha Ethniki | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| 1991–92 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 1992–93 | Beta Ethniki | 3 | 0 | |||||||||
| 1993–94 | Alpha Ethniki | 18 | 2 | |||||||||
| 1994–95 | 28 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 1995–96 | 32 | 3 | ||||||||||
| 1996–97 | Beta Ethniki | 28 | 0 | |||||||||
| 1997–98 | Alpha Ethniki | 29 | 1 | |||||||||
| 1998–99 | 11 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Total | 150 | 9 | ||||||||||
| Panathinaikos | 1998–99 | Alpha Ethniki | 18 | 3 | ||||||||
| 1999–00 | 24 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 2000–01 | 25 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 2001–02 | 20 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 2002–03 | 27 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 2003–04 | 9 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Total | 123 | 6 | ||||||||||
| Benfica | 2003–04 | Primeira Liga | 14 | 0 | ||||||||
| 2004–05 | 16 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Total | 30 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Heart of Midlothian | 2005–06 | Premier League | 32 | 0 | ||||||||
| 2006–07 | 21 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Total | 53 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Panathinaikos | 2007–08 | Super League Greece | 7 | 0 | ||||||||
| Career total | 363 | 16 | ||||||||||
International goals
- Scores and results list Greece's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fyssas goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 February 2002 | Kleanthis Vikelides Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece |  Sweden | 1–1 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 2 | 15 May 2002 | Ethniko Stadium, Rhodes, Greece |  Cyprus | 1–1 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 3 | 2–1 | |||||
| 4 | 29 January 2003 | GSZ Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus | Cyprus | 1–1 | 2–1 | Friendly |
