Dimitris Saravakos

Panionios

Saravakos started his professional career at Panionios where, at the age of 16, on 26 December 1977, he made his debut in the championship against Egaleo. In his second season at Panionios, he won the Greek Cup in 1979 defeating the then champion, AEK Athens by 3–1. During the 1981–82 season, Saravakos had the most productive year in the club as he scored 13 goals in the league, while his performances also made him an international. In his last year with Panionios he scored 10 goals in 28 appearances. On May 19, 1984, Panionios played a barrage match for their stay in the division against PAS Giannina, which was decided at the extra time with Saravakos scoring in the 104th minute and giving the lead to Panionios who prevailed by 2–0. In total, he played in Panionios for seven years, recording 132 appearances and 35 goals in the league.

Panathinaikos

On 22 June 1984, Saravakos was transferred to Panathinaikos for 60 million drachmas. In addition to Saravakos, he also acquired Velimir Zajec and the addition of the latter in combination with the presence of Juan Ramon Rocha, made the midfield of the team particularly creative, thus the attacking virtues of Saravakos were fully exploited. During his first year at Panathinaikos, he was the second top scorer in the league. He scored his first goal for Panathinaikos on September 23, 1984, against OFI. On 25 November 1984 he scored his first goal in Athenian derby against AEK in a 3–2 win. On 20 February…

Saravakos was a key member of Greece, with whom he competed between 1982 and 1994. He is fourth top scorer in the history of the national team with 22 goals in 78 appearances. He was part of the team that claimed qualification for the UEFA Euro 1988 and contributed to the great success of qualifying for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States. He also played for the Mediterranean team in the 1983 Mediterranean Games in Casablanca, Morocco, where on 11/9/83 he scored the team's second goal in a 2–1 against Libya. In 1983 he participated in 4 matches with the Olympic team.

Saravakos was one of the most popular and charismatic players of Greek football. He possessed excellent technical training and footballing intelligence, with a strong emphasis on finishing, game development and a keen ability to score goals, being regarded as one of the most effective takers in all foul and penalty kicks.

His father Thanasis was also an international footballer of Panionios.