Vassilis Hatzipanagis
Encyclopedia
Vassilis Hatzipanagis (born 26 October 1954 in Tashkent
, Uzbekistan
) is a retired football (soccer)
attacking midfield. He played for Iraklis FC in Greek Alpha Ethniki and Pakhtakor Tashkent
in the Soviet Top League
. He also played for Greece
and USSR
.
, a club in Tashkent (a city of the Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan). They wanted to invest in this raw yet refined player, but the law was strict: he had to apply for Soviet citizenship to be eligible for the Soviet top flight. Hatzipanagis made his professional debut at the age of 17.
, Arsenal
, FC Porto and VfB Stuttgart
, the club's board feared the consequences of selling the crowd favourite. So Hatzipanagis stayed at Iraklis until 1990 and made a farewell appearance in a UEFA game against Valencia CF
in October 1991 – on his 37th birthday.
An attacking midfielder with Iraklis FC, he packed in the crowds at Thessaloniki
's Kaftanzoglio Stadium
, where his performances earned him the moniker of 'the footballing Nureyev'. However, the reason he gave for his fancy footwork was simple enough. "When I see defenders in front of me, I want to dribble around every one of them," he once said.
Further recognition did come in June 1984, when he was invited to join a World XI featuring Franz Beckenbauer
, Mario Kempes
, Kevin Keegan
and Dominique Rocheteau
, for a match against New York Cosmos
in New York
. And then, in November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's 50th anniversary, he was selected as Greece's Golden Player of the past 50 years
by the Hellenic Football Federation. http://www.uefa.com/uefa/news/Kind=256/newsId=130150.html Now aged 50, Hatzipanagis said: "It is very touching to see that you are not forgotten, that your contribution is appreciated even after so many years."
He added: "I regret not having been able to wear the Greek national jersey more than once. And I regret not having made a career abroad. I would have liked to play in a better league, to have enjoyed football at that level. If I could turn back the clock, I would do some things differently." Many in Greece regard him as equal to soccer legends such as Maradona or Pelé
.
in the 1976 Olympic
qualifying tournament (at the time USSR fielded a full national team for the Olympics
, as the Soviet Top League
was considered an amateur one). His debut was made in a 3-0 home win against Yugoslavia. He even managed to scoer his team's last goal in his debut. Hazipanagis featured in three more matches (two matches against Iceland
and one Norway
). However, despite being told by national coach Konstantin Beskov that his ability was "way above Greece's level", he turned his back on the Soviet league – where as a left-sided attacker he was considered second only to the great Oleg Blokhin
– to move to the land of his fathers.
Another highlight for Hatzipanagis was his first appearance for the Greek national side
, in a friendly match against Poland
at the Apostolos Nikolaidis stadium
in May 1976. The Athens
crowd were bewitched by the long-haired wonder, who seemed to do whatever he wanted with the ball. Afterwards, however, Hatzipanagis was notified that he was ineligible for international duty having played for USSR. He was recalled, amazingly, for the first 20 minutes of a friendly match against Ghana on 14 December 1999 - a record gap of 23 years in his international career!
Iraklis
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
, Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
) is a retired football (soccer)
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
attacking midfield. He played for Iraklis FC in Greek Alpha Ethniki and Pakhtakor Tashkent
FC Pakhtakor Tashkent
FC Pakhtakor Tashkent is an Uzbek professional football club, based in the capital Tashkent. Pakhtakor means cotton-grower in English.Playing in the Uzbek League since 1992, the club has been the undisputed powerhouse in Uzbekistan since the fall of the Soviet Union, winning eight Uzbek League...
in the Soviet Top League
Soviet Top League
The Soviet Top League since 1970 was officially known as the Supreme League serving as the top division of Soviet Union football since 1936.It was one of the best football leagues in Europe ranking second among the UEFA members in 1988-1989 seasons...
. He also played for Greece
Greece national football team
The Greece national football team represents Greece in association football and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. Greece's home ground is Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus and their head coach is Fernando Santos...
and USSR
USSR national football team
The Soviet Union National Football Team was the national football team of the Soviet Union. It ceased to exist after the break up of the Union...
.
Early life and career
Born to Greek political immigrants to the USSR in October 1954, he was spotted by PakhtakorFC Pakhtakor Tashkent
FC Pakhtakor Tashkent is an Uzbek professional football club, based in the capital Tashkent. Pakhtakor means cotton-grower in English.Playing in the Uzbek League since 1992, the club has been the undisputed powerhouse in Uzbekistan since the fall of the Soviet Union, winning eight Uzbek League...
, a club in Tashkent (a city of the Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan). They wanted to invest in this raw yet refined player, but the law was strict: he had to apply for Soviet citizenship to be eligible for the Soviet top flight. Hatzipanagis made his professional debut at the age of 17.
Iraklis
Hatzipanagis signed for the Thessaloniki club Iraklis, and such was his reputation that he filled the stadium for his first match in December 1975. The Iraklis fans would be one of the reasons this exceptional talent never joined another team, the other being transfer rules which made it very difficult for a Greek player to join a foreign club especially since the Latin American market was more available and reputable. Despite interest from S.S. LazioS.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
, Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
, FC Porto and VfB Stuttgart
VfB Stuttgart
Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart, is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club is best known for its football team, which has participated in all but two Bundesliga seasons...
, the club's board feared the consequences of selling the crowd favourite. So Hatzipanagis stayed at Iraklis until 1990 and made a farewell appearance in a UEFA game against Valencia CF
Valencia CF
Valencia Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football club based in Valencia, Spain. They play in La Liga and are one of the most successful and biggest clubs in Spanish Football and European Football. Valencia have won six La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey trophies, two Fairs Cups which was the...
in October 1991 – on his 37th birthday.
An attacking midfielder with Iraklis FC, he packed in the crowds at Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
's Kaftanzoglio Stadium
Kaftanzoglio Stadium
Kaftanzoglio stadium is a sports stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece. The stadium was built with money donated by the Kaftanzoglou Foundation, hence its name. At the time of its opening on 27 October 1960, the stadium was one of the highest quality stadiums in the Balkans...
, where his performances earned him the moniker of 'the footballing Nureyev'. However, the reason he gave for his fancy footwork was simple enough. "When I see defenders in front of me, I want to dribble around every one of them," he once said.
Further recognition did come in June 1984, when he was invited to join a World XI featuring Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Anton Beckenbauer is a German football coach, manager, and former player, nicknamed Der Kaiser because of his elegant style, his leadership, his first name "Franz" , and his dominance on the football pitch...
, Mario Kempes
Mario Kempes
Mario Alberto Kempes Chiodi is a retired Argentine footballer. His father, Mario, also a footballer, inspired him to play from a young age. At the age of 7, he began playing with a junior team and at 14, he joined La Cuarta de Talleres...
, Kevin Keegan
Kevin Keegan
Joseph Kevin Keegan, OBE is a former international footballer and former manager of the England national football team and several English clubs, most notably Newcastle United....
and Dominique Rocheteau
Dominique Rocheteau
Dominique Rocheteau is a former football striker from France, who is currently the head of the National Commission of Ethics of the French Football Association....
, for a match against New York Cosmos
New York Cosmos
The New York Cosmos were an American soccer club based in New York City, New York and its suburbs. The team played home games in three stadiums around New York before moving in 1977 to Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, where it remained for the rest of its history...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. And then, in November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's 50th anniversary, he was selected as Greece's Golden Player of the past 50 years
UEFA Jubilee Awards
To celebrate the Union of European Football Associations 's 50th anniversary in 2004, each of its member associations was asked by UEFA to choose one of its own players as the single most outstanding player of the past 50 years . The 52 players were known as the Golden Players...
by the Hellenic Football Federation. http://www.uefa.com/uefa/news/Kind=256/newsId=130150.html Now aged 50, Hatzipanagis said: "It is very touching to see that you are not forgotten, that your contribution is appreciated even after so many years."
He added: "I regret not having been able to wear the Greek national jersey more than once. And I regret not having made a career abroad. I would have liked to play in a better league, to have enjoyed football at that level. If I could turn back the clock, I would do some things differently." Many in Greece regard him as equal to soccer legends such as Maradona or Pelé
Pelé
However, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...
.
International career
He was called up to the USSR's Under-19 squad. He was promoted to the senior squad and represented the Soviet UnionUSSR national football team
The Soviet Union National Football Team was the national football team of the Soviet Union. It ceased to exist after the break up of the Union...
in the 1976 Olympic
1976 Summer Olympics
The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and...
qualifying tournament (at the time USSR fielded a full national team for the Olympics
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
, as the Soviet Top League
Soviet Top League
The Soviet Top League since 1970 was officially known as the Supreme League serving as the top division of Soviet Union football since 1936.It was one of the best football leagues in Europe ranking second among the UEFA members in 1988-1989 seasons...
was considered an amateur one). His debut was made in a 3-0 home win against Yugoslavia. He even managed to scoer his team's last goal in his debut. Hazipanagis featured in three more matches (two matches against Iceland
Iceland national football team
The Iceland national football team is the national football team of Iceland and is controlled by the Football Association of Iceland. It has never advanced to the finals of any major international competition....
and one Norway
Norway national football team
The Norway national football team represents Norway in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Norway, the governing body for football in Norway. Norway's home ground is Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo and their head coach is Egil Olsen...
). However, despite being told by national coach Konstantin Beskov that his ability was "way above Greece's level", he turned his back on the Soviet league – where as a left-sided attacker he was considered second only to the great Oleg Blokhin
Oleg Blokhin
Oleh Volodymyrovych "Oleg" Blokhin is a Ukrainian football coach and current head coach of the Ukrainian national team. Blokhin was formerly a standout striker for Dynamo Kyiv and the Soviet national team...
– to move to the land of his fathers.
Another highlight for Hatzipanagis was his first appearance for the Greek national side
Greece national football team
The Greece national football team represents Greece in association football and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. Greece's home ground is Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus and their head coach is Fernando Santos...
, in a friendly match against Poland
Poland national football team
The Poland national football team represents Poland in association football and is controlled by the Polish Football Association, the governing body for football in Poland...
at the Apostolos Nikolaidis stadium
Apostolos Nikolaidis stadium
Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium is a football stadium in Athens, Greece. The stadium, has been the home of Panathinaikos FC and has played for most of the years of its existence, since its foundation back in 1908....
in May 1976. The Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
crowd were bewitched by the long-haired wonder, who seemed to do whatever he wanted with the ball. Afterwards, however, Hatzipanagis was notified that he was ineligible for international duty having played for USSR. He was recalled, amazingly, for the first 20 minutes of a friendly match against Ghana on 14 December 1999 - a record gap of 23 years in his international career!
Club
Pakhtakor- Soviet First LeagueSoviet First LeagueThe Soviet First League was the second highest division of Soviet football, below the Soviet Top League. The division lasted from the inception of Soviet league football in 1936 to the dissolution of the USSR in 1991.-Overview:...
- Winner (1): 1972
Iraklis
- Greek CupGreek football CupThe Greek Football Cup , commonly known as the Greek Cup or for sponsorship reasons the Football Cup OPAP, is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation....
- Winner (1): 1975–76
- Runner up (2): 1979-80, 1986-87
- Balkans CupBalkans CupIn 1961, a Balkans Cup for football clubs from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia was introduced. It was played 27 times...
- Winner (1): 1985
Individual
- Soviet Masters of Sports award
- Master of Sports: 1974
- UEFA Jubilee AwardsUEFA Jubilee AwardsTo celebrate the Union of European Football Associations 's 50th anniversary in 2004, each of its member associations was asked by UEFA to choose one of its own players as the single most outstanding player of the past 50 years . The 52 players were known as the Golden Players...
- Greece's Golden Player: 1954-2003
- September 26, 1982: Vasilis scores from a direct corner kick - 8th minute against Olympiakos (Nikos Sarganis was goalie). Iraklis wins game 3-1. Vasilis went on to score a record breaking 6 goals from direct corner kicks that season.