Alexandros Tziolis

Alexandros Tziolis

Personal information
Full name	Alexandros Tziolis
Date of birth	(1985-02-13) 13 February 1985 (age 27)
Place of birth	Katerini, Greece
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current club	Monaco
Number	38
Youth career
1995–2002	Apollon Litochorou
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002–2005	Panionios	61	(3)
2005–2010	Panathinaikos	116	(6)
2009	→ Werder Bremen (loan)	15	(1)
2010–2011	Siena	13	(0)
2010–2011	→ Racing Santander (loan)	10	(0)
2011–2012	Racing Santander	12	(0)
2012–	Monaco	3	(0)
National team‡
2001–2005	Greece U21	12	(6)
2005–	Greece	32	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7 May 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 26 May 2012

Alexandros Tziolis (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Τζιόλης) (born 13 February 1985 in Katerini) is a Greek international footballer who plays for AS Monaco FC.

Club career

Early club career

Tziolis began his playing career as a teenager in a local team called Apollon Litochorou. He played there for about 7 years and in 1995, a Panionios scouter spotted his talent and brought him to Athens. He was an integral part of Panionios team for 3 seasons, playing 61 matches and scoring 3 goals. As a result, Panathinaikos F.C.offered Panionios 650.000€ and signed him.

Panathinaikos

Tziolis has been established as a first team player for Panathinaikos after replacing the big-name but disappointing Igor Biscan during the 2006–2007 season. The lack of titles for Panathinaikos put Tziolis in the center of criticism alongside with his team-mate Loukas Vyntra. For both players, though, this criticism could be considered unfair since they were neither big-money signings of the club nor did they receive the biggest contracts. By the end of 2007–2008 season Tziolis was close to his exit from Panathinaikos but the new manager Henk Ten Cate chose to keep him. After being mostly neglected at the beginning of 2008–2009 season, Tziolis was included in the team in November and was MVP in the epic 3–0 win in Germany against Werder Bremen for the UEFA Champions' League, where he also scored the third goal for Panathinaikos. According to some Greek sport newspapers, he avoided to celebrate the victory with the fans, embittered by the recent criticism he received. Since ten Cate shows his preference to 4–3–2–1 tactics, he is expected to gain more opportunities in the first XI at the expense of Marcelo Mattos. He has since established himself as a valuable member of the squad, linking well with team-mates Gilberto Silva and Simao Mate Junior.

Werder Bremen

On 7 January 2009, Panathinaikos agreed terms with Werder Bremen and Tziolis will go on loan at the German club for at least 6 months, for a fee of €300.000. After those months, Werder Bremen has the right to fully obtain Tziolis for a fee of €1.6m.^[1][2]

Tziolis played a regular role in Bremen's midfield and helped the club to make the UEFA Cup final against Shaktar Donetsk, on 20 May 2009. In the final, he came on as a substitute for Peter Niemeyer in the 103rd minute. After having nearly scored the equalizing goal when Bremen where a goal behind, the team lost the final of the last UEFA Cup edition to Shaktar with a final score of 2–1. Tziolis also featured in Bremen's 1–0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup final the same season, where Tziolis won his first ever trophy in professional football.

AC Siena

In January 2010 he signed for the Italian Serie A club AC Siena on 29 January 2010.^[3] He made his debut in the Serie A on 7 February 2010 against Sampdoria. Tziolis was a regular for Siena, but the team wasn't able to avoid relegation to the Serie B.

Racing Santander

In August 2010, it was confirmed that the Spanish La Liga side Racing Santander had agreed to take Tziolis on a one year loan deal. Then after a successful league campaign for the 2nd half of the season they signed him from Siena for an undisclosed fee.

International career

After representing his country 12 times for the under-21 side, Tziolis made his international debut for Greece on 21 January 2006 in a friendly match against South Korea. He was a part of the defending European champions at UEFA Euro 2008, where he played once, when he came on as a substitute in a 1–2 loss to Spain in the group-stage.

He was also part of the squad that participated to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He played every minute of the tournament for his country, including their first ever World Cup win over Nigeria on 17 June 2010.

Playing style

Tziolis is a tall defensive midfielder, good in air, with powerful long shots. He plays a "silent" role in the game, and he tends to occupy the role of a deep-lying playmaker more than a defensive stopper. His crisp passing and physical strength are also positive aspects of his game.

Honours

Team

Werder Bremen

• German Cup: 2008–09
• UEFA Cup: Runners-up 2008–09

Panathinaikos

• Greek Championship: 2009–10
• Greek Cup: 2009–10, Runners-up 2006–07

Individual

• Greek Young Footballer of the year: 2004

References

External links

• Racing Santander official profile (Spanish)
• BDFutbol profile
• 2010 FIFA World Cup profile
• Alexandros Tziolis at National-Football-Teams.com
• Alexandros Tziolis – FIFA competition record
• Transfermarkt profile

Greece squads v t e Greece squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Nikopolidis 2 Seitaridis 3 Patsatzoglou 4 Spyropoulos 5 Dellas 6 Basinas (c) 7 Samaras 8 Giannakopoulos 9 Charisteas 10 Karagounis 11 Vyntra 12 Chalkias 13 Tzorvas 14 Salpigidis 15 Torosidis 16 Kyrgiakos 17 Gekas 18 Goumas 19 Antzas 20 Amanatidis 21 Katsouranis 22 Tziolis 23 Liberopoulos Coach: Rehhagel v t e Greece squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 Chalkias 2 Seitaridis 3 Patsatzoglou 4 Spyropoulos 5 Moras 6 Tziolis 7 Samaras 8 Papadopoulos 9 Charisteas 10 Karagounis (c) 11 Vyntra 12 Tzorvas 13 Sifakis 14 Salpigidis 15 Torosidis 16 Kyrgiakos 17 Gekas 18 Ninis 19 Sokratis 20 Kapetanos 21 Katsouranis 22 Malezas 23 Prittas Coach: Rehhagel