Giorgos Koudas

Giorgos Koudas (Greek: Γιώργος Κούδας; born 23 November 1946) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He spent his entire career in PAOK. Due to his fierce competitiveness and his Macedonian heritage, his nickname was Alexander the Great.

Giorgos Koudas
Koudas in 2006
Personal information
Full name Georgios Koudas
Date of birth (1946-11-23) 23 November 1946
Place of birth Thessaloniki, Greece
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1958–1963 PAOK
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1963–1984 PAOK 504 (134)
International career
1967–1982 Greece 44 (4)
Managerial career
1987 Iraklis
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Club

Born in Agios Pavlos, Thessaloniki, Koudas began playing football for PAOK where he made his first-team debut in December 1963, aged 17.[1] Koudas, nicknamed Alexander the Great, spent his entire football career with PAOK, making 504 appearances in the Alpha Ethniki from 1963 to 1984, and 607 appearances in all competitions (PAOK all-time records).[2] Koudas won two out of nine Greek Cup finals he appeared in and in the 1972 Cup final, he scored both goals as PAOK defeated Panathinaikos 2–1 and earned their first domestic title in club's history.[3]

During the summer of 1966, Olympiacos unsuccessfully tried to acquire Koudas from PAOK, approaching him directly without going into a negotiation with his club. PAOK president Giorgos Pantelakis never gave his consent for the transfer to be completed and for the next two seasons, Koudas participated only in Olympiacos friendly games. In the summer of 1968, he returned to PAOK and led the great team of the 1970s to glorious days. Fueled by this incident, Olympiacos–PAOK rivalry is considered nowadays the fiercest intercity football rivalry in Greece.

He retired in 1984, aged 37, serving for over 20 years at PAOK.[4]

Koudas became even inspiration for a popular song by the Greek songwriter and PAOK supporter Nikos Papazoglou and lyricist Manolis Rasoulis.[5]

International

Koudas made 43 appearances for the Greece national team, scoring four goals, between 1967 and 1982.[6] He appeared at UEFA Euro 1980 in Italy, along with PAOK teammates Konstantinos Iosifidis, Ioannis Damanakis, Ioannis Gounaris and Georgios Kostikos.[7]

After he had retired, Koudas made a final appearance for the national team in a friendly against Yugoslavia on 20 September 1995.[8][9] That made him the oldest international player (at age 48) until George Weah (at age 51) beat the record in September 2018.[10]

Managerial career

Koudas had a short managerial career as the co-manager of Iraklis together with Kostas Aidiniou.[11]

Honours

PAOK

See also

References
  1. "Ο Γιώργος Κούδας μέσα από διηγήσεις" [Giorgos Koudas through narratives] (in Greek). paokfc.gr. 23 November 2015.
  2. Mastrogiannopoulos, Alexander (21 June 2003). "Greece 1983/84". RSSSF.
  3. "Το μεγάλο ρεκόρ του Κούδα" [The great record of Koudas]. Proto Thema (in Greek). 5 May 2017.
  4. Newman, Blair (16 February 2015). "The incredible life and times of Greek hero Giorgios Koudas". These Football Times. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  5. "Η πραγματική ιστορία πίσω από το "Πότε Βούδας – Πότε Κούδας"". mixanitouxronou.gr (in Greek).
  6. Mamrud, Roberto (15 December 2016). "Greece - Record International Players". RSSSF.
  7. Courtney, Barrie (28 March 2007). "European Championship 1980 - Final Tournament - Full Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  8. "Κούδας: Τον τίμησαν όλοι" [Koudas: Everyone was honored]. Makedonia (in Greek). 21 September 1995. Archived from the original on 6 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  9. "National football team individual records and stats". eu-football.info. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  10. "George Weah: Liberia president is 'oldest international' ever". BBC Sport. 13 September 2018.
  11. "Ο Κούδας για την αποχώρηση του". paokmania.gr. 8 July 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
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