They called him a Greek Maradona, they called him "Nureyev of the ball", they called him an artist. Vassilis Hatzipanagis, when he had the ball at his feet then it was like painting a masterpiece. There has not been and there will not be easily another Greek player with this ability with the ball on his feet.
However, there were some moments in his career when he was wronged by the circumstances or he wronged himself. "Vasia" nevertheless, continues to be the best Greek player of all time, a "magician" who, unfortunately, far fewer than those who really deserved were lucky enough to see his magic.
He was born on October 26, 1954 in Tashkent, in the former USSR. His first two teams were in the current capital of Uzbekistan. He even scored several times with the Pakhtakor jersey, something that in 1975 led him to wear the jersey of the young people of the USSR national team.
In the same year, shortly before he turned 21, he came to Thessaloniki and Iraklis. He had just opened his eyes to the European Cup winner Dynamo Kiev and France Football paid a full tribute to him for that match. Olympiacos had made an official offer of 10 million drachmas, but transfers were not common in the Soviet Union, with Hercules winning the race, since his grandmother and aunts lived in the city.
A thousand people greeted him at the train station. He made his debut with the "Old" jersey like today 46 years ago in Veria. Three thousand were the followers of Hercules who traveled to see him. For the next 15 years until he retired, the Kaftatzogleio Stadium was filled with fans of Iraklis, PAOK and Aris, because everyone wanted to see "Vasia" up close. The "magician" had just his second year in the team, a huge contribution to winning the only domestic title of Hercules's team in its long history.
In 1976, Iraklis eliminated Panathinaikos and went down to Athens to face Olympiakos in New Philadelphia. The match that followed was one of the most exciting in the history of the institution. The regular match ended 2-2 with Hatzipanagis opening the scoring in the 25th minute, passing the entire defense of "Piraeus". In overtime he gave his team the lead again, but the game ended 4-4 and led to penalties. He may have missed the penalty there but his teammates did their best and Iraklis was crowned Greek Cup winner for the first and so far only time in his history.
Due to his participation in the small national teams and in the Olympic team of the Soviet Union, his big dream to play in the National Team of Greece never came true. Only in a friendly and in a match in his honor did he manage to wear it and not in an official match. As he had stated in the newspaper "Ta Nea", "It is my greatest bitterness that I did not play in the national team of Greece, which is the mirror for every player. "I now believe for sure that I even paid for the political views of my father, who was a leftist until the end of his life."
The same thing happened with Hercules. Back then contracts were something like "lifelong" contracts and it was not easy to leave a team. All the clubs in Athens wanted him, but also teams abroad, such as Arsenal. But in the end he remained forever in "Giraios".
He played his last game with the "blue and whites" in October 1990. On November 9 of the same year he announced that he was retiring. Perhaps the most important game of his career was in 1984 in New Jersey, USA. There he competed in the Mixed World against the New York World. The Greek expatriates flooded the stadium to see the "Vasia" teammate with names such as Franz Beckenbauer, Kevin Keegan, Peter Silton and Felix Magath.
He may have wronged himself and he was wronged, but no one can deprive Vassilis Hatzipanagis of the title of "Magician", who when he entered the stadium, the fans went for a walk. Everyone wanted to see the artist with the rich hair that could "dribble even on the phone booth". Words often do not reach…
Source: Edaily