It is not uncommon, not only for the football field but in the life of everyone in general, since more or less everyone had or has a nickname to follow them. And not everyone chooses it for themselves, of course. Others are the godfathers, taking inspiration from anything. One's appearance, height, habit, place of origin, anything.
This is how it happens, it always happened basically, in Greek football as well, where over the years dozens, if not hundreds, of nicknames have been recorded for footballers. We, indicatively, select thirty of them, explaining the reason why each one came out, at least according to the prevailing views.
Dimitris Saravakos: The baby face was what defined his nickname: "Little". The years passed but Saravakos remained the same, as if time had not touched him, something that can be said even for today. As if time did not touch him, however, he was also competitive, since he always remained a class player, with the result that from one point onwards they called him "the great little one of Greek football".
Lakis Nikolaou: He wrote history as one of the best players of AEK, but he also wrote well in the school exams, since along with his football career he also studied medicine. So it was rather normal to call him a "doctor".
Velimir Zaets: The rabbit". That was his nickname and it's not something he got stuck in Greece but that's how he came from Yugoslavia, apparently because that means his name in Croatian.
Grigoris Georgatos"He's crazy, the nail is crazy", shouted the Olympiacos fans, seeing him do amazing things, especially in his first term in their team, in the '90s, with everyone being able to understand why.
Nikos Anastopoulos: As in the case of Saravakos, so here, the nickname came out of his appearance. "Anastos" always wore a mustache and this resulted in him being called "mustache". There was also "Nicholas", of course, but that was because of his name and he can not consider it a nickname. Moustakias, then, and a goal scorer until the end of his career, which was basically identified with Olympiakos, with whose jersey he lived great moments.
Dusan Bajevic: It originates from Mostar, Bosnia, which crosses the Neretva River. His mansion style inside - but also outside - on the field, resulted in Bajevic becoming "the prince of Neretva".
Lazaros Christodoulopoulos: He started his career at PAOK, he was one of the fans' favorites, to ruin everything in 2001. Liverpool showed interest in acquiring him, the Thessalonians never said "yes" to the transfer, Christodoulopoulos said that he prefers to become a builder rather than return to PAOK and so since then he is the… builder of Greek football.
Tassos Mitropoulos: Here the appearance did not play a role in getting the nickname out, but the way he plays and his character. Mitropoulos was not stuck anywhere, he could enter the phase in any way, he could even more easily stare at someone or fight with him, so it was not long before the nickname: Rambo came out.
Christos Dimopoulos: Most have identified him with Panathinaikos, with whom he won titles and did important things in Europe as well, scoring that goal that was essentially what qualified him for Juventus in Turin in November 1987. Earlier, however , Dimopoulos played for PAOK, with whom he also won the championship and with whose jersey he had once and more specifically in 1982, 11 goals against AEK in four matches. And somehow, the fans of his team christened him "killer".
Mimis Domazos: In the opinion of many, he is perhaps the top Greek footballer of all time. Others will agree, others will disagree. What everyone agreed on, however, was that Domazos, in addition to being a player, was also a leader, while he had an amazing style on the field. Thus, it was not long before he was baptized a "general" and remained so either with the jersey of Panathinaikos, or with AEK, or with the national team of Greece.
Nikos Sarganis: On October 15, 1980 for the qualifiers of the 1982 World Cup, Greece got a great victory over Denmark with 1-0 in Copenhagen, with Dino Koui as the scorer. It was not this big protagonist of the night, however, but Sarganis. The Greek goalkeeper made a mythical appearance and σε flew where he needed to repel or block, resulting in the nickname Σα Sarganis was now the "Phantom" and so everyone called him, until the end of his career.
Nikos Kostenoglou: Even today, whenever he makes statements, he will find a way to mention religion, love for the Lord, faith. Kostenoglou could easily have been a priest if he had not become a footballer, so it is not surprising that he is called "Father".
Thomas Mavros: "Who, who, who, the Black God", was the slogan that vibrated New Philadelphia in the 80's, when in the stone years of AEK, the Black was the one who held high the minds of the fans of the Union. And because they wanted to tie "God" with "Thomas", the first scorer in the history of Greek football became "Thomas". Good.
Giannis Kallitzakis: A defender you did not want to get involved with, as can be confirmed by Ian Ras, who suffered from OAKA at Panathinaikos-Juventus in October 1987. Able to do everything to stop the opponent and ready at any moment for … Tsabouka, was named "Ninja" by the reporters of the greens.
Thanasis Kolitsidakis: For some years he was a duo with Kallitzakis in the defense of Panathinaikos and that was not good at all for the opponents. On the one hand the "Ninja", on the other the "Conan the barbarian", both because he had long hair and -mainly- because either the ball or the player was passing. Both together, never. And the one who hurt, usually, was the player. Not the ball…
Demis Nikolaidis: Player, goal scorer, fan, leader, but τός short. That was Demis' nickname and everyone can understand why.
Joseph Vancic: He was 1,98m tall, was physically tied and for many years was the most reliable goalkeeper of the Greek league, not allowing opponents to score. It was not easy to do, after all, since the Pole… hid the hearth with his physique. Physical body that referred to a mountain, as was his nickname from one point onwards.
Vassilis Hatzipanagis: Those who caught him, know. Those who did not catch him, can only watch at least one video from his years in the stadiums, to find out with what style and ease… he danced his opponents. Capable of exposing any defender who approached him, Hatzipanagis went down in history as the "Nureyev" of Greek football, by the famous dancer.
Nikos Vamvakoulas: Usually playing with his socks down, both at Olympiakos and Panathinaikos, his slender legs looked even farther than they were. Slim, but also resilient, since he could get to where it seemed impossible to cut the ball, Vamvakoulas, one of the most beautiful guys who ever went through the Greek courts, went down in history as… Tiramola.
George Dionis: His speed was his main characteristic as a footballer and this can be confirmed by the Ajax players, who are still trying to stop him in that race in Amsterdam, giving the assist to Christoph Vazeha. Somehow, Donis was renamed… train, while it is one of the cases of players who had two nicknames. The other was "Mubarak", because of his resemblance to the former president of Egypt.
George Koudas: Origin from Thessaloniki, a career at PAOK, a life in Macedonia since the transfer to Olympiakos -cause… of war for the fans of the northern biceps- was never completed, so Koudas became Alexander the Great. Everyone understands the reason. He was also a leader, after all, winning the championship with PAOK.
Takis Economopoulos: Those who caught him while playing say that he was able to fly to make a rebound. In the left window of the hearth, on the right, possibly στα in both together if needed. And after "flying", either with the jersey of Panathinaikos or with that of the national team, it went down in history as "the bird".
Stratos Apostolakis: Everyone learned about him with the jersey of Olympiacos and then everyone - even those who were not involved in football - learned that he went to Panathinaikos, since his transfer caused a stir. So much so that the Super Cup was postponed between the two teams because the climate was more tense than it should have been. Even if the match took place and… was chased by the fans, however, they would probably not catch him, since his nickname was "turbo".
Daniel Batista: No special analysis is needed to understand why it was named "Gullit of the poor". Just look at a photo of Batista and one of the great Dutch ace of that time.
George Sideris: One of the most legendary figures of Olympiacos, Sideris went down in history as "Fontakas". It was simply a variation of "Fotakas", which was the nickname of his father, Fotis Sideris.
Costas Eleftherakis: It is said that with the ball on his feet he could develop a speed that was reminiscent of a deer, so that was his nickname. He was also a craftsman, of course, but his speed impressed everyone, so he remained like a "deer".
Andreas Mouratis: In 1948, a huge American warship called "Missouri" anchored in the port of Piraeus. It was what he needed, as it seems, for the nickname of the Olympiacos player, since he was very strong and he endured a lot. As an American warship one thing…
Felix Borja: Do you remember the striker from Ecuador that Olympiacos acquired in the summer of 2006? He came to Greece as the "cobra", but left early and without having "bitten" anyone…
Christos Polyzos: From the stories we read and we were impressed… In the years that Polyzos became famous in Greek football with the Corinthian jersey that he had promoted to the First National, the American series "Courage and Charm" broke on Greek television. And with his hair referring to one of the protagonists of the series, Polyzos acquired the nickname… "Caroline".
Trajan: Dellas: Unlike Demis Nikolaidis, Dellas was (that is) tall. Very. And if we calculate the mansion style, we can understand why from one point onwards "Tray" stepped aside and what prevailed was the "Colossus".