Giannis Gaitatzis: Recordman with a shoe

As part of the match between Olympiacos and Fiorentina in the final of 1-0, when last year the Piraeus team achieved a unique success in Greek football, the conference league, one of the athletes of its past, whose name is inextricably linked to it.

« I started coming to Olympiacos from a village between Xanthi and Alexandroupolis, which if I take the map today, I don’t even know where it is, » said Yiannis Gaitatzis, who wore the 196th of the Reds for fourteen and fourteen. Players are impossible to imagine that older athletes lived.

Because what player nowadays could really say what the veteran Thracian said: « When I finally came to Piraeus, I had only one shoe. The other, Olympiacos took me.  »

With these simple, out -of -hearted conversations, Yiannis Gaitatzis at the same time highlights the spirit and general philosophy of the Piraeus team, which as the most popular athletic club in Greece (and not just the football of the men)

The huge form of the story of PAE Olympiakos, Yiannis Gaitatzis was the team until 1999 as with his 346 appearances in official games of the team he had the most (in 1999 he lost this title to Kyriakos Karatidis who had reached 346).

An almost harmonious combination of physical strength and substance. Giannis Gaitatzis was a back … next era

Ideal for all positions

The term « multi -tool », which nowadays are often used abusively, fits into the case of Yiannis Gaitatzis who, when he started playing football, a child still in Xanthi, could be effectively used in all positions except that of the goalkeeper.

Xanthi had two teams in football in the first year of Yiannis Gaitatzis in football, the shield from which Antonis Antoniadis began to be later transferred to Panathinaikos and Orpheus, « a small, nice team with very few fans »

Under the guidelines of Boukovi

To come to Olympiacos, Gaitatzis left his beloved Orpheus Xanthi in 1963, but in the largest team in Greece he was established in place of the extreme right -wing defender, offered by insightful coach Marton Boukovi. But as a multi -tool, Gaitatzis had enormous skills throughout the field on the stadium. That is why during his long course with the Piraeus team, he was sometimes changing positions on the pitch.

Gaitatzis could play effectively in the center by holding a defensive task, and although he was not used to being promoted to the opposing area, for a moon he made a dynamic duet with the legendary George Sideris. Rarely the ball was found in the nets of the opposing team by Gaitatzis himself, who only seven goals counting his assets in the first national championship.

But he may not have had the goal, but he had all the rest, the ones that make the goal. Wearing the leader’s armband a few times, he won 11 titles in his career with Olympiacos – five championships, five cups and one Balkan Cup. He once celebrated the double and that was in 1973.

At Olympiacos, Gaitatzis was established in place of the extreme right -wing defender, offered by insightful coach Marton Boukovi (together in the photo). As a multi-workout, however, Gaitatzis had enormous skills all over the field on the stadium

Power and substance

In the game of Yiannis Gaitatzis you observe an almost harmonious combination of physical strength and substance. It is obvious that the mind of this footballer has always been focused on the game itself and the strategy that his team followed. You could say that Gaitatzis was a useful soldier, a speechless but decisive sergeant from those fighters who seem ready for everything, who do not hesitate to risk, defying the dangers, which perhaps unconsciously, are even ready to sacrifice. A player without a particularly spectacular presence, who never made figures and never represented something that wasn’t. He was a hero and the real heroes never say he is.

At the same time, his no fantasy technique, the handling of the round goddess with his feet, was well, while his body seemed to have impressive strengths, something that was almost zero injuries in the 14 years he played with the Piraeus team. But there you also see the modesty in the character of man. Asked about his great success in making for decades, Recordman, the Olympic player with the most matches on his feet, Gaitatzis always responded (and still responds) that this was a bit of a matter of luck because he was lucky enough to have no injuries. In any case, an extreme defender with sudden promotions in the attack is not a position that athletes who have spent their 30s are easy to keep, but he was able to remain there with stability until his 33rd.

A paradox, perhaps, in the case of Gaitatzis, is his minimum presence in National Greece. He first took place in the 1967 international career, but four years later, in 1971, and while he apparently had a lot to offer, he last played with the National. His participation with National Greece do not exceed 15, a number very small if one takes into account the value and offer of Gaitatzis on the pitch.

Gaitatzis literally plowed Greece by offering his services to small groups, like the one he started with his career

Coach

When Yiannis Gaitatzis hung his shoes, always with Olympiacos, he turned like many former players to football training. He also offered there, but not in teams in the First National League. Gaitatzis literally plowed Greece by offering his services to small groups, like the one from which he began his career.

The first team to take over was Thebes in 1980 and then worked at AE Orchomenou (1981-82 season). Immediately afterwards, he won his group championship at the National Amateur Championship in 1983, as well as the team’s rise to the 3rd National Division. He also passed from AS Lamia, Panargaiakos, AO Sparta (a group with Gaitatzis in the technical leadership led to the Second National Division), by Olympiacos Volou, Aigaleo, Panarkadikos, Atromitos Athens and Ilias.

And in closing, let’s stay in a conversation by Yiannis Gaitatzis, said a few years ago, which shows not only his own love against the largest football club in Greece, but also a reality that only athletes can express: « who is not able to wear ».