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Alexandros Tziolis
Alexandros Tziolis (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Τζιόλης) (born February 13, 1985 in Katerini) is a Greek international footballer, who plays for the Spanish La Liga club Racing Santander on loan from A.C. Siena.
Early club career Tziolis began his playing career as a teenager in a local team called Apollon Litochorou. He played there for about 7 years and in 2002, a Panionios scouter spotted his talent and brought him to Athens. He was an integral part of Panionios team for 3 seasons, playing 61 matches and scoring 3 goals. As a result, Panathinaikos FC offered Panionios 650.000€ and signed him. Panathinaikos Tziolis has been established as a first team player for Panathinaikos after replacing the big-name but disappointing Igor Biscan during the 2006–2007 season. The lack of titles for Panathinaikos put Tziolis in the center of criticism alongside with his team-mate Loukas Vyntra. For both players, though, this criticism could be considered unfair since they were neither big-money signings of the club nor did they receive the biggest contracts. By the end of 2007–2008 season Tziolis was close to his exit from Panathinaikos but the new manager Henk Ten Cate chose to keep him. After being mostly neglected at the beginning of 2008–2009 season, Tziolis was included in the team in November and was MVP in the epic 3–0 win in Germany against Werder Bremen for the UEFA Champions' League, where he also scored the third goal for Panathinaikos. According to some Greek sport newspapers, he avoided to celebrate the victory with the fans, embittered by the recent criticism he received. Since ten Cate shows his preference to 4–3–2–1 tactics, he is expected to gain more opportunities in the first XI at the expense of Marcelo Mattos. He has since established himself as a valuable member of the squad, linking well with team-mates Gilberto Silva and Simao Mate Junior. Werder Bremen On 7 January 2009, Panathinaikos FC agreed terms with Werder Bremen and Tziolis will go on loan at the German club for at least 6 months, for a fee of €300.000. After those months, Werder Bremen has the right to fully obtain Tziolis for a fee of €1.6m.[1][2] Tziolis played a regular role in Bremen's midfield and helped the club to make the UEFA Cup final against Shaktar Donetsk, on 20 May 2009. In the final, he came on as a substitute for Peter Niemeyer in the 103rd minute. After having nearly scored the equalizing goal when Bremen where a goal behind, the team lost the final of the last UEFA Cup edition to Shaktar with a final score of 2–1. Tziolis also featured in Bremen's 1–0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup final the same season, where Tziolis won his first ever trophy in professional football. Panathinaikos return Tziolis returned to Panathinaikos in the summer of 2009. His return however wasn't successful as Tziolis got only little playing time and despite his team was leading by winning his first Greek league and the Greek Cup, Tziolis during the season 2009/2010 make a new move during the winter transfer period in order to get more playing time. AC Siena In January 2010 he signed for the Italian Serie A club AC Siena on 29 January 2010.[3] He made his debut in the Serie A on 7 February 2010 against Sampdoria. Tziolis was a regular for Siena, but the team wasn't able to avoid relegation to the Serie B. Racing Santander In August 2010, it was confirmed that the Spanish La Liga side Racing Santander had agreed to take Tziolis on a one year loan deal. International career After representing his country 12 times for the under-21 side, Tziolis made his international debut for Greece on 21 January 2006 in a friendly match against Korea Republic. He was a part of the defending European champions at UEFA Euro 2008, where he played only once, when he came on as a substitute in a 1–2 loss to Spain in the group-stage. He was also part of the squad that participated to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He played every minute of the tournament for his country, including their first ever World Cup win over Nigeria on 17 June 2010. Playing style Tziolis is a tall defensive midfielder, good in air, with powerful long shots. He plays a "silent" role in the game, and he tends to occupy the role of a deep-lying playmaker more than a defensive stopper. His crisp passing and physical strength are also positive aspects of his game. Honours Team Werder Bremen * German Cup: 2008–09 Panathinaikos (1) * Greek Championship: 2009–10 Panathinaikos (1) * Greek Cup: 2009–10 Panathinaikos * Greek Cup: Runners up 2006–07 Werder Bremen * UEFA Cup: Runners up 2008–09 Individual * Greek Young Footballer of the year: 2004
1. ^ Tziolis jolts to Bremen on loan deal, greece.theoffside.com, 7 January 2009. Retrieved on 2009-01-09.
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