Konstantinos Eleftherakis

Konstantinos Eleftherakis

Konstantinos Eleftherakis ( Greek Κωνσταντίνος Ελευθεράκης , born July 18, 1950 ) is a former Greek football player .

Eleftherakis began his professional career at Fostiras Athens before moving to Panathinaikos Athens in 1968 at the age of 18 . Eleftherakis stayed with Panathinaikos until 1980 and was able to celebrate four championships (1969, 1970, 1972, 1977) and two cup wins (1969, 1977). The highlight of his career was in 1971 when he took part in the final of the European Cup when he lost 0-2 to Ajax Amsterdam at Wembley Stadium in London . Eleftherakis was one of the pillars of his club despite his young age and scored two goals on the way to the final. In the final, the youngest player on the field was 20 years old and attracted the attention of foreign clubs. The Spanish top club Real Madrid offered Panathinaikos the astronomical sum of 35 million drachmas after the lost final, but the then president of the club did not agree to the transfer offer and so the English club FC Everton and Juventus Turin saw the same Made an offer, no chance to sign the young Greek. The low point of his career was a serious knee injury, which he sustained in a championship game in May 1977. As a result, he failed for six months and, as he himself admitted, did not manage to regain his old strength after his recovery.

In 1980 Eleftherakis moved to AEK Athens , where he stayed for one season and then ended his career. Eleftherakis, who also played for the Greek national team, made 331 first division appearances in which he scored 90 goals (including 308 games and 85 goals for Panathinaikos).

Eleftherakis is currently owned by a football academy.

Career

Period	society
until 1968	Fostiras Athens
1968-1980	Panathinaikos Athens
1980-1981	AEK Athens

successes

• Greek master : 1969, 1970, 1972, 1977
• Greek Cup Winner: 1969, 1977
• Supercup: 1970
• Balkan Cup: 1978