Theodoros Zagorakis

Theodoros Zagorakis is a retired football player from Greece whose playing position is midfielder. Also a former captain of the Greek’s national team, he last played in the Super League Greece for the Thessaloniki-based PAOK Football Club.

Zagarokis was born on October 27, 1971 in Lydia, a small Greek village in the city of Kavala. He was only 17 years old when he began his senior career in football. In 1988, he signed up with the local football club, Kavala, where he was given the position of defensive midfielder.

After the 1992-93 season ended, Zagorakis transferred to PAOK FC which was based in Thessaloniki. For four years, he was a star in the club, appearing 155 times with a record of 10 goals. Many local and international clubs took notice of him, and in 1998, he transferred to England to play for the Licester City FC to win the 2000 League Cup. After his disappointment with the club for not fielding him more often, he returned to Greece in 2000 to play for AEK Athens where he won the 2002 Greek Cup.

In 2004, he transferred to Bologna FC in France but was released in the summer of the following year. In 2005, he returned to Greece to play for PAOK FC with a €2 million yearly contract and was welcomed back by his fans. Finally, he retired in 2007 after almost two decades of football career.

Zagorakis is the most capped Greek player with a total of 120 caps, netting 3 times for his county. He is also a former captain of the national team and led his squad to win the 2004 UEFA European Football Championship. During the event, he was also recognized as the Player of the Tournament and his team was given the award of Team of the Tournament.