Nikos Anastopoulos


Nikos Anastopoulos is a Greek former football player, one of the most prolific strikers in the Greek league during the 1980s and widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the history of Greek football. With 29 goals he is the all-time top scorer for the Greek national football team. He is considered as one of the greatest players in Olympiacos history, where he scored 159 goals in 291 official games for the Greek powerhouse and won the Bronze Boot as the third scorer in Europe in the 1982–83 season. Since retiring as a player he has become a football manager. He is the current manager of Kalamata.

Club career

Anastopoulos was born on 22 January 1958. He started his career at Dafni before transferring to Panionios with whom he debuted in the Alpha Ethniki in the 1977–1978 season. Thanks to Anastopoulos, Panionios won the Greek Cup in 1979 upsetting AEK 3–1. His debut in European competition was also impressive as he scored twice against Twente Enschede of Holland and once against IFK Göteborg in the Cup-winners' Cup. His performance brought an immediate transfer offer from Twente as well as other Greek and foreign clubs. Finally, in 1980, he went to Olympiakos Piraeus.
As an Olympiakos player, Anastopoulos, also known as "Moustakias", won top scorer honours in 1982–1983 season, 1983–1984 season, 1985–1986 season and 1986–1987 season. His goal-scoring exploits in 1982–1983 won him the Bronze Boot as third scorer in all Europe.
In 1987, Anastopoulos left Greece to play for Avellino in Italy. Though he performed well in the Italian Cup, he failed to score a single goal in Serie A and returned to Greece the following season.
After coming close to signing with AEK, Anastopoulos chose to return to Panionios. He later played for Olympiakos, Ionikos and closed out his career with Olympiakos after the 1993–1994 season.

International career

On 21 September 1977 Anastopoulos participated for the first time in the National Football Team of Greece and during his playing career he was capped 75 times scoring 29 goals – more than any other Greek international. He was a member of the Greek squad in the finals of Euro 1980 and scored the only Greek goal of that competition with a header against Czechoslovakia.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1GSP Stadium, Strovolos, Cyprus1–01–1Friendly
2Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy1–11–3UEFA Euro 1980
3Charliaou Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece1–02–1Friendly
4Charliaou Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece1–22–31982 FIFA World Cup qualification
5Nikos Goumas Stadium, Athens, Greece1–01–2Friendly
6Stade Municipal, Luxembourg1–02–0UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying
7Stade Municipal, Luxembourg2–02–0UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying
8Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece1–11–3Friendly
9Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary1–03–2UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying
10Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece1–02–2UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying
11Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece2–22–2UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying
12Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece1–01–3Friendly
13Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, Athens, Greece1–01–1Friendly
14Tsirio Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus2–02–0Friendly
15Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece1–02–1Friendly
16Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece2–12–1Friendly
17Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel1–02–0Friendly
18Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece1–11–41986 FIFA World Cup qualification
19Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece1–02–0Friendly
20Lech Stadium, Poznan, Poland1–11–2UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying
21Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece2–02–1UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying
22Makario Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus4–24–2UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying
23Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece1–03–1UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying
24Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece3–13–1UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying
25Steaua Stadium, Bucharest, Romania1–02–2Friendly
26Varsity Stadium, Toronto, Canada2–03–01988 Matthews Cup
27Varsity Stadium, Toronto, Canada3–03–01988 Matthews Cup
28Varsity Stadium, Toronto, Canada1–01–01988 Matthews Cup
29BJK İnönü Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey1–11–3Friendly

Managerial

Honours

As player