Nikos Machlas

OFI Crete

Machlas began his career with OFI, where he made his debut in February 1991 against Panionios. He stayed at the club for six seasons. He had the Dutchman Eugène Gerards as a coach at OFI.

Vitesse

Machlas signed for Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem in 1996 from Greece. He scored a disappointing 8 goals in 29 games in his first season in the Eredivisie, but in his second season he scored 34 goals in just 32 games, a feat which earned him the European Golden Boot for the 1997–98 season. He scored 60 goals in 92 matches for Vitesse.

Ajax

Machlas joined Eredivisie giant Ajax Amsterdam in June 1999 for a then-club record $8.6 million. Despite netting 38 goals in 74 Eredivisie league games spread over three seasons, Machlas' goalscoring record was not deemed prolific enough for the demanding Ajax fans and coaching staff. The team went through a transition as poor results meant Machlas had to endure three coaches in as many years. His place as striker became threatened by coach Ronald Koeman's preference for the younger strikers Zlatan Ibrahimović and Mido. His 12 goals in the 2001–02 season were nevertheless important in the run toward the first league title for Ajax in four years. Ajax also won the KNVB Beker that season, meaning they achieved the "double". At the start of the 2002–03 season, Koeman made it clear to Machlas that there was no future for him anymore in the first team of Ajax and was thus relegated to training and playing matches with…

Machlas won 61 caps for the Greece national team and scored 18 goals. He also scored a crucial goal against Russia that led Greece to 1994 FIFA World Cup at only 20 years of age. He started each of Greece's group games in the USA though they lost all three, to Argentina, Nigeria and Bulgaria and failed to score a goal. He played his last game for Greece against Cyprus in May 2002.

International

Scores and results list Greece's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Machlas goal.

Ajax

Eredivisie: 2001–02 KNVB Cup: 2001–02 APOEL

Cypriot First Division: 2006–07 Cypriot Cup: 2007–08 Individual

Eredivisie top scorer: 1997–98 European Golden Boot: 1998