Angelos Messaris
Angelos Messaris ( Greek Άγγελος Μεσσάρης , * 1910 in Cape Town , South Africa ; † June 6, 1978 in Athens , Greece ) was a Greek football player .
Career
Born in Cape Town in 1910, the striker returned to Athens with his parents in 1927 and initially played for Goudi, the oldest football club in Athens. During one of his games he was noticed by the then coach of Panathinaikos Athens , who campaigned for Messari's signing. So he moved to Panathinaikos in 1930 and, despite his very young age, saw himself as the leading player of his new team.
With Panathinaikos Messaris won the first all-Greek championship of the club in 1930. June 1st, 1930, will not be forgotten when Messaris scored two goals and prepared three more in an 8-2 win over arch-rivals Olympiacos Piraeus . Even if it looked at the time as if Messaris was about to embark on a great career, it came to an abrupt end. The reason for this was a conflict between Angelos Messaris and Apostolos Nikolaidis . Messaris wished to enroll at the University of Athens, but failed three times in this attempt, although he was an excellent student. Messaris speculated that the influential Nikolaidis caused the rejections to get him to focus only on the sport. Messaris then made the momentous decision for the club to end his career at the age of just 22. The supporters were appalled by this decision, and hundreds of people went to his property to change his mind. Messaris was not deterred, however, and stuck to his decision. So it was that Messari's last game was the 2-0 defeat on April 23, 1931 against local rivals AEK Athens .
Even though he was only active for Panathinaikos for a short time, Messaris, who scored a total of 53 goals, managed to build a myth around his name that continues to this day.
Messaris, who died in 1978, is still regarded today as one of the most popular players of all time at Panathinaikos and as the best Greek player in the period before World War II; his funeral was watched by thousands of spectators.
title
- Greek master : 1930
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Messaris, Angelos |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Greek soccer player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1910 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cape Town |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 6, 1978 |
| Place of death | Athens |