Thanos Petsos

Early career

Petsos started his football career at the age of eight for Düsseldorf 99 SC. In 2001, he was lured away to professional club Bayer Leverkusen. He progressed through the youth system and was part of the team that finished runner-up in the Under 19 Bundesliga in 2010. He made his debut for the Leverkusen reserve team in March 2010. He made seven more appearances in the 2009–10 season while continuing to play for the under-19 team. He made his Bundesliga debut on 24 April 2010 against Hannover 96. With a Leverkusen contract running until 2014, Petsos was loaned out to 1. FC Kaiserslautern for one season in 2010. He made his full Bundesliga debut for the club on 13 November 2010 against VfB Stuttgart being played as a right back. In April 2011, it was announced his loan to Kaiserslautern would be extended for the following 2011–2012 season. He made a total of 42 appearances for the club.

Greuther Fürth

In 2012, Petsos signed for newly promoted SpVgg Greuther Fürth on a three-year deal. He made his debut for the club on 18 August 2012 in a DFB-Pokal match against Kickers Offenbach, he then went on to make his Bundesliga debut on 31 August 2012 against Mainz 05. He went on to make a total of 15 appearances for the club.

Rapid Wien

On 15 July 2013, Petsos joined Austrian Bundesliga club Rapid Wien on a three-year agreement. He made his debut for the club on 27 July 2013 against Wiener Neustadt. On 3 May 2015, in a 2–2 draw away to SK Sturm…

Petsos decided to represent the country of his origin Greece from youth level. He has played for the under-17 team, the under-19 team and the under-21 team. On 5 August 2011, he was called up to the senior team for the first time by manager Fernando Santos for the friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and three days later he made his international debut. After almost four years, on 3 September 2015, he was called up from manager Kostas Tsanas for the Euro 2016 qualifier matches against Romania and Finland, but was injured in a training session of the national team. Following examination at the hospital, it was found he had suffered a partial rupture of the medial collateral ligament forcing him to be out of action for a month and to miss two matches of the national team, according to the Greek medical team.

Petsos is a technically proficient player who also contributes defensively. Born in Düsseldorf, he primarily plays as a central defensive midfielder, though in Germany he has also played as a right-back and a centre-back. His playing style includes a shooting technique.

Riga FC

Latvian Higher League: Runner-up 2022 Bayer 04 Leverkusen

Bundesliga: Runner-up 2010–11