Sotiris Kyrgiakos

Kyrgiakos made his first football steps with a local team, Thyella Megalochoriou. It did not take long for him to be recognized. At the start of the 1996–97 season he became a member of the Panathinaikos football academy. He is well known as alani. He lived and played football at the Paiania athletic complex, the club's training ground. In the wake of the 1999–2000 season he became a member of Agios Nikolaos, a second division club and won the respect of president Lampros Maris whom Kyrgiakos considers as his second father. He stayed with Agios Nikolaos for two years and in 2001 he took part in the pre-season camp at OFI. The centre-back injuries at his parent club, Panathinaikos, just before the Third Qualifying round matches with Slavia Prague for the 2000–01 Champions League meant that he had to return to Paiania and become a regular member of the starting line-up. In the 2003–04 season, Kyrgiakos won with Panathinaikos the Greek League and Greek Cup against the eternal rival Olympiacos.

Rangers

The following January, Kyrgiakos joined Rangers during the 2004–05 season with a view to a permanent deal. With his new club, he won a second consecutive championship and also the Scottish League Cup, scoring two goals in the 5–1 win against Motherwell in the final. He initially failed to agree terms with Rangers and held talks with Everton, Portsmouth and Schalke 04 and the Italian club Genoa before finally agreeing a one-year deal with Rangers. He scored a famous…

Kyrgiakos made his senior international debut on 13 February 2002 against Sweden, scoring his first goal against Norway one year later on 13 February 2003. Kyrgiakos was unavailable to Greece for Euro 2004 due to a knee injury, missing out on their historic triumph. He scored three goals during Euro 2008 qualifiers and was selected in the final squad to represent Greece in the final tournament. Kyrgiakos also contributed to the qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In a surprising decision, he announced his retirement from the Greece national team on 13 August 2010. Kyrgiakos ended his international career prematurely with 61 caps and four goals for Greece because of in-fighting within the Greece national team.

Panathinaikos

Alpha Ethniki: 2003–04 Greek Cup: 2003–04 Rangers

Scottish Premier League: 2004–05 Scottish League Cup: 2004–05