We never got to see Vassilis Hatzipanagis, who was called “football’s Nureyev” by his beloved Iraklis fans. He retired in 1990 at the age of 37 years but this video clip will convince many that he was truly Greece’s Maradona.
He was born in the Ukraine and represented the USSR’s U-21 but returned to his land of origin in 1975.
At FC Iraklis he became a legend known for his amazing dribbling skills and vision when it came to passing. With his short, stocky build, and curly hair the comparisons to Maradona are obvious.
” Hatzipanagis who was later voted the best football player in Greek history with his unique style attracted huge audiences to Iraklis games. He had an immediate impact upon his arrival as he was involved in all 4 goals of Iraklis in Greek Cup final of 1976, a 6-5 penalty win (4-4 in regular time) against Olympiakos, either by creating goals or scoring them. ”
He never made the move away from Iraklis despite interest from many of the big European clubs because the club board feared that fans would riot. On the international arena, he represented Greece only once in a friendly against Poland because FIFA ruled thereafter that participation in the USSR junior teams rendered him ineligible.
Hatzipanagis was nominated by the Hellenic Football Association as the greatest Greek footballer for the in UEFA’s 50th anniversary.
We now discover him after two decades. From the Guardian’s TheSportBlog >>
2 comments on “Video: Vassilis Hatzipanagis, the Greek Maradona”
I enjoyed this post so much
you know, if Milla didn’t play 1990 WC, he would ritre unnoticed globally
There were a lot of wonderful players who retired un-noticed globally. One of them is what we consider him the local Garinchia (in Saudi).
His name is “Yousif Thenian”. He had incredible skills, careless attitude. Kinda like Romario attitude. His peak was in 1988, 1990 when Saudi didn’t qualify to WC. He played important role in winning Asia cup 88 and 96.
He missed 94 WC as he was banned. He made it to 98 WC and scored a goal, but he was already too old in a weak team, so he made it queit.
There are 10s of YouTubes for him, not a single one covers well his best moments, but here is a flavour of him
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtBXuGMU9n8
(first 2 minutes only)
and this one longer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gforTGkEpt8
and others
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAuqoys78R4
he is called the fruit of saudi football (he was very funny)
or the mercury (for his skills), or the tiger (for his goals)
Thanks N.Waleed, for the info on Yousif Thenian. Will check out the video footage on him. There is so much talent in the world which we never get to hear about or see.