Hatzipanagis the Greatest!!

[Truth Bearer]

The footballing answer to Nureyev
by Dimitra Pappa from Athens
Vassilis Hatzipanagis dazzled crowds with his dribbling skills



To help mark UEFA's Jubilee, each national association was asked to nominate its most outstanding player of the past 50 years. Greece selected Vassilis Hatzipanagis as their Golden Player.

Football legend has it that a group of Greek defenders once threatened to sue Vassilis Hatzipanagis because "he makes a fool of us on the pitch and we want compensation". Exaggeration aside, Hatzipanagis was the most spectacular player ever to grace Greece's soccer arenas.

'Footballing Nureyev'
An attacking midfielder with Iraklis FC, he packed in the crowds at Thessaloniki's Kaftantzoglio stadium, where his performances earned him the moniker of 'the footballing Nureyev'. However, the reason he gave for his fancy footwork was simple enough. "When I see defenders in front of me, I want to dribble around every one of them," he once said.

Raw yet refined
Born to Greek immigrants to the USSR in October 1954, he was spotted by Pakhtakor, a club in Tashkent (now Uzbekistan). They wanted to invest in this raw yet refined player, but the law was strict: he had to apply for Soviet citizenship to be eligible for the Soviet top flight. After much pressure from Pakhtakor officials, Hatzipanagis's parents finally acceded to the request.

Soviet international
Their son made his professional debut at the age of 17, and was soon called into the USSR's Under-19 squad. He graduated to the senior squad, without playing a game, and represented the Soviet Union in the 1976 Olympic qualifying tournament. However, despite being told by national coach Konstantin Beskov that his ability was "way above Greece's level", he turned his back on the Soviet league – where as a left-sided attacker he was considered second only to the great Oleg Blokhin – to move to the land of his fathers.

Crowd favourite
Hatzipanagis signed for the Thessaloniki club Iraklis, and such was his reputation that he filled the stadium for his first match in December 1975. The Iraklis fans would be the reason this exceptional talent never joined another team. Despite interest from S.S. Lazio, Arsenal FC, FC Porto and VfB Stuttgart, the club's board feared the consequences of selling the crowd favourite. So Hatzipanagis stayed at Iraklis until 1990 and made a farewell appearance in a friendly against Valencia CF in October 1991 – his 37th birthday.

Greece cap
Another highlight for Hatzipanagis was his only appearance for the Greek national side, in a friendly against Poland at the Apostolos Nikolaidis stadium in May 1976. The Athens crowd were bewitched by the long-haired wonder, who seemed to do whatever he wanted with the ball. Afterwards, however, Hatzipanagis was notified that he was ineligible for international duty having played for the USSR at junior levels.

Touched by award
Further recognition did come in June 1984, when he was invited to join a World XI featuring Franz Beckenbauer, Mario Kempes, Kevin Keegan and Dominque Rocheteau, for a match against New York Cosmos in New York. And then, of course, with his nomination as Greece's Golden Player. Hatzipanagis said: "It is very touching to see that you are not forgotten, that your contribution is appreciated even after so many years."

Career regrets
He added: "I regret not having been able to wear the Greek national jersey more than once. And I regret not having made a career abroad. I would have liked to play in a better league, to have enjoyed football at that level. If I could turn back the clock, I would do some things differently."

[Truth Bearer]

Player Milestones

November 22, 1975: Vasilis arrives in Thessaloniki. Fans greet him at 2:00 A.M. at the Thessaloniki train station chanting Vasili Kalosorises! (Welcome Vasilis!).
December 7, 1975: He plays his first game for Iraklis against Atromitos Athens (1-1). The game was held at the National Stadium of Veria.
March 28, 1976: He scores for the first time wearing the Iraklis shirt (69' shot) The first goalkeeper that had to gather the ball from deep inside his nets was Panagiotis Pantelis.
May 6, 1976: The only time Chatzipanagis plays wearing the Greek National Football Team shirt in a friendly game against Poland - Greece wins 1-0.
June 9, 1976: Vasilis Chatzipanagis leads Iraklis to a win over Olympiakos in the Greek Cup final. Vasilis scored two goals for Iraklis (25', 111') The game ended 4-4 in overtime and Iraklis won 6-5 in a penalty shootout.
September 26, 1982: Vasilis scores from a direct corner kick - 8th minute against Olympiakos (Nikos Sarganis was goalie). Iraklis wins game 3-1. Vasilis went on to score a record breaking 6 goals from direct corner kicks that season.
Summer 1984, New York:Vasilis Chatzipanagis joins the World XI in a friendly against New York Cosmos, and represents Greece with Thomas Mavros.
March 2, 1986: Vasilis' scores Iraklis' 1000th goal in the A' Division (the shot went in after the ball hit the crossbar. Iraklis - Olympiakos 3-1)
December 11, 1988: Diagoras Rhodes - Iraklis 2-1. Vasilis scores his last (62nd) goal for Iraklis in a championship game.
December 31, 1988: Iraklis - AEK 0-0. Vasilis plays his last championship game for Iraklis (281 game appearances). After the game even God cried!
September 12, 1990: Iraklis - Niki Volos 4-0. Chatzipanagis scores (penalty 53').
September 19, 1990 - Kaftatzoglio Stadium: Iraklis - Valencia 0-0 for UEFA Cup. This was the first and last appearance for the magician in a European tournament.
December 14, 1999: Greece - Ghana 1-1. A friendly game in honor of Vasilis Chatzipanagis who had his 2nd international cap in 23 years, 7 months and 8 days! Vasilis played for 22 minutes and was replaced by Costas Frantzeskos. The coach for Greece was Vasilis Daniil.

[Mygdonia]

Hatzipanagis was the best Greek footballer I have seen - I have old videos from the old man of olf ARis - Iraklis matches.

How he didnt play for any top Italian club is beyond any solid reasoning.... he was just too good for the Greek league at that time.

[Truth Bearer]

I saw the game in Greece on tv when he played his one game against Poland and what he did to the 2 Polish defenders near the corner the way he flicked the ball over their heads and went through them was amazing!!!
Vassilios Hatizpanagis is the greatest footballer ever to grace the land of the Gods!!!
I saw Domazos,Papaioannou,Mavros,Koudas,Eleutherakis,Liv athinos etc etc back in the 70's I have never seen anyone get close to his mastery!

[Truth Bearer]

Greece UEFA Jubilee Awards

In 2004, to help mark UEFA's Jubilee, each national association was asked to nominate its most outstanding player of the past 50 years. Greece chose Vasilis Chatzipanagis as their Golden Player.

From a total of 9,061 votes, the results were as follows:

Name Votes
1 Vasilis Chatzipanagis 4.104
2 Mimis Domazos 1.982
3. Mimis Papaioannou 817
4. Giorgos Delikaris 526
5. Giorgos Koudas 486
6. Dimitris Saravakos 318
7. Nikos Anastopoulos 156
8. Thomas Mavros 102
9. Giorgos Sideris 101
10. Takis Loukanidis 74
11. Vasilis Karapialis 63
12. Demis Nikolaidis 48

[kostas68]

Originally Posted by Mygdonia

Hatzipanagis was the best Greek footballer I have seen - I have old videos from the old man of olf ARis - Iraklis matches.

How he didnt play for any top Italian club is beyond any solid reasoning.... he was just too good for the Greek league at that time.

Remember that: 1) At his time were allowed only 2 foreign players.He was born in the wrong time and,probably in the wrong place.If he could play in anyone national team he wouldn't stay in Greece more than 3-4 years.
2)He was playing in Iraklis,a team that participated in European competitions very rare and therefore he couldn't gain the required international promotion for such a transfer.
Anyway,Hatzipanagis was a <magician of the ball>.I could say,without any reservation and even it sounds exaggerated that his football craftsmanship was comparable only with Pele's and Maradona's!I saw from him things which i've never seen again by anyone football player except the two above mentioned!
As for his descend,his father was from Cyprus but resided in London and his mother from Constantinople.His father was communist despite his wealth and during a travel he made in Praha in order to visit and help some Greek communist refugees of civil war met his future husband.They got married and later settled in Soviet Union.

[Andrew]

A cousin of a friend of mine ...fanatic fan of Iraklis during Vasia's times ...
each night before going to sleep made the same prayer : "dear god keep Vasia strong and healthy !!"