Giorgos Karagounis

Panathinaikos and loan to Apollon Smyrnis

Karagounis began his professional career in 1996 when he signed on loan for Apollon Smyrnis from Panathinaikos. In his first couple of years with the Athens-based club, he already showed signs of his talent as a very energetic player in the centre of midfield who could also score goals. After two seasons with Apollon, he returned to his parent club Panathinaikos in 1998, the club where he learned his trade. At Panathinaikos he became a fixture in the first team for the next five years. Although Panathinaikos did not win the Alpha Ethniki title during his spell due to several controversial reasons, including a ball-fixing scandal, the team was always a title contender, and had good runs in both the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup, with Karagounis scoring important goals for the team. He scored 6 times in 24 league matches during his first season with the Greens, and in the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League, he appeared in all 12 of Panathanaikos' games, scoring a memorable goal from a free kick against Manchester United at Old Trafford. The following season, at the Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, Karagounis scored a wonderful goal against Arsenal, beating David Seaman with a header to help his team reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Inter Milan

In the summer of 2003, Karagounis left Panathinaikos to join Italian Serie A club Inter Milan. During his first season with Inter, he was not a regular starter…

Early years

Karagounis captained Greece's entry to the 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, and the team came very close to winning, losing 1–0 to Spain in the final. After that, he soon became a regular on the national team. He made his first full international appearance against El Salvador in 1999 and went on to appear in 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification.

UEFA Euro 2004 and beyond

The highlight of his international career was undoubtedly winning the UEFA European Championship for Greece at Euro 2004. He was a key player for Greece and famously scored the first goal of the tournament against Portugal, a stunning long-range shot that shocked the hosts and gave Greece the confidence they needed to win the game and progress in the tournament. After winning Euro 2004, Karagounis continued to play on a regular basis for Greece in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification and UEFA Euro 2008. On 26 March 2008, Karagounis participated in a Greece–Portugal friendly match in Düsseldorf. This proved to be somewhat of a highlight of his international career, as he scored two almost identical well-placed free kicks to give Greece a 2–1 victory. Karagounis, as a captain of Greece, contributed to the nation's qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. As captain, he led Greece to its first win in a World Cup match with a 2–1 win against Nigeria. On 8 October 2010, against Latvia, Karagounis reached 100 international appearances, equaling…

As a midfielder, Karagounis was short in stature, standing at 5 feet nine inches. He was largely known for his tough, gritty play on the field. He gained many comparisons to "The General", Mimis Domazos. Karagounis was known for his dribbling, and creative passing, especially the accuracy of his long passes. Karagounis was described as a "dogged worker in the midfield and a deliverer of fine set plays". During his career he was one of the finer set piece exponents in Europe. His dribbling was noted as one of his strengths, with Karagounis able to win his own free kicks as well as provide a sometimes-laboured attack with bursts of energy. He also possessed a shooting ability from distance and combined his varied attacking talents with an aggression in midfield that made him able to win the ball back, as well as produce with it at his feet.

Karagounis was born in Pyrgos. He grew up in Ampelonas, Elis. He started playing football in Ampelonas FC and then to Paniliakos F.C. He was discovered by Juan Ramón Rocha in 1990 and encouraged his family to send him to the Panathinaikos academy.