Michalis Konstantinou

Michalis Konstantinou (born February 19, 1978 in Paralimni, Cyprus) is a cypriot football striker who currently plays for Olympiacos in the Greek Championship. He also plays for the Cyprus national football team, and is already the all-time leading scorer with 24 goals in 52 appearances.

An absolute hero at his former club Iraklis FC, Michalis Konstantinou is a powerful Cypriot striker who reportedly turned down offers from a number of leading clubs to sign for his boyhood team, Panathinaikos FC. However, he subsequently joined their city rivals Olympiacos in 2005.

He got his start in professional football playing for Cypriot side Enosis Neon Paralimni FC,for whom he scored 17 goals in 25 games in the 1996/97 season and became top goal scorer of Cypriot Championship. Picked up by Iraklis in Greece in 1997, Konstantinou proved a huge hit, his four seasons produced a total of 60 goals in 119 appearances and he also played in the UEFA Cup.

The spearhead of the Cypriot attack, he made his international debut against Albania in August 1998 and subsequently averaged almost a goal every other game in his first 35 caps. His first two goals came on the 10th of February 1999 against San Marino at Tsirion stadium (final score 4-0). His blossoming coincided with his nation's vast improvement as a footballing force, although they failed to reach the play-offs for either the 2000 or 2004 UEFA European Championship. He scored also 2 goals against the Republic of Ireland in 2006.

In 2001, signed in a deal which took three Panathanaikos FC players to Iraklis, Konstantinou transferred to Panathinaikos for €11.3 million. It was an extraordinary move, but many believed that the young Cypriot striker was more than gifted enough to justify Panathanaikos's dramatic bid of €11.3m - the most ever paid for a Cypriot player.

The added pressure did not faze Konstantinou; with Panathinaikos, he had the opportunity to play in the UEFA Champions League, and he earned praise for his role in the team's performance there. He scored a majestic effort in the Camp Nou in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg defeat by FC Barcelona. His impressive goal was thought to be Panathinaikos' ticket to the semi-finals, as they needed to conceide 3 goals afterwards to be eliminated. Unfortunately for Konstantinou's team, Barcelona did deliver and won 3-1.

Furthermore, Panathinaikos fans were getting anxious that all the money they've spent didn't translate to silverware.

His second season proved less stellar, injury restricting his involvement to 21 league games and it was then that Konstantinou's popularity amongst Panathinaikos fans received its most lethal hit.

Konstantinou tried to turn things around, with a Man of the Match performance in the 2003/04 Greek Cup final after scoring twice, but he was not so prolific in the league - registering just five times. Thus, he failed to tie his name with the club's only successes this decade.

In 2004/05 he had a very good season, with 15 goals, even as Panathinaikos lost the title to Olympiacos. Konstantinou even scored against Olympiacos to give his team the 1-0 win, but it was deemed as too little, too late for the €11.3 million signing and his contract was not renewed.

Olympiacos CFP jumped at the chance and Konstantinou signed a three-year deal with the The Champion & Cup Winner, on July 14, 2005.

As an Olympiacos player he won with his team the Double for 2005/06 and doubled his personal collection - the first being with Panathinaikos. At the Greek Cup final in 2005/06, where Olympiacos beat AEK Athens 3-0, Konstantinou scored Olympiacos' first goal. He also notably scored a late strike to make it 1-2 in the early season league victory of Olympiacos against AEK FC (final score 1-3) and a crowd-pleaser against his former team, Panathinaikos, to make it 3-1 (with the match ending 3-2).


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