Angelos Charisteas

Angelos Charisteas

File:Charisteas.jpg
Personal information
Full name	Angelos Charisteas (Άγγελος Χαριστέας)
Height	1.9 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s)	striker
Team information
Current team	Feyenoord Rotterdam
Number	15
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of June 22, 2005

Angelos Charisteas (Template:Lang-gr) (born February 9, 1980 in Strimoniko,Serres) is a Greek football striker who currently plays for Feyenoord Rotterdam. He is a member of the Greece national football team and played in the 2004 European Football Championship, in which Greece was triumphant. There, he scored 3 goals: one in the group stage against Spain, one against France in the quarterfinals and the winning goal against Portugal in the final. He was also named to the Euro 2004 All-star Team.

Professionally, Charisteas first played for Aris FC, in Greece. It was during this stint at Aris FC, following a move from non-league Strimonikos Serron, that Charisteas proved his worth, scoring twice in nine matches as they won the Greek second division in 1997-98. The striker subsequently made 12 appearances in the Alpha Ethniki - six as a substitute - before a loan at Athinaikos FC in 1998-99. After that he returned to Aris and made his European debut in a UEFA Cup defeat by RC Celta de Vigo at the age of 19. Charisteas was continuously developing and in 2000-01 scored seven goals, his best return in Aris colours. His favorite food is Turkish food and he says he would not mind playing in Turkey.

Having been watched by scouts from a number of Europe's leading sides, he was signed by German Bundesliga side Werder Bremen. Then in 2003-04, Bremen enjoyed a dream of a campaign, winning the Bundesliga - Charisteas scoring four goals - and the German Cup. He was largely a fringe player at Bremen before Euro 2004, and his heroics did not change his status there, as he was the fourth-choice striker at Bremen.

2004-05: Scored five goals in eleven matches for Bremen, before moving to AFC Ajax for a reported €4.5m on a contract until 30 June 2008. Greece national team coach Otto Rehhagel publicly urged Charisteas to try to move to another club during the January 2005 transfer window in order to get first-team action. The deal was logical for both clubs. Bremen wished to raise money and clear payroll in order to make a bid for Monaco striker Shabani Nonda. For its part, Ajax was hoping to find a replacement for Swedish international striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was sold to Italian power Juventus during the beginning of the 2004-05 season. Made his Ajax debut on 23 January 2005 against FC Utrecht and scored his first goal four days later against SC Heerenveen. However, he only managed three more all season.

2005-06: Charisteas had a good season netting home 8 goals which included a late winner against Vitesse. Charisteas missed Greece's crucial match in the World Cup qualifying due to a head injury received after colliding with Arsenal's Kolo Touré in a Champions League match which Ajax lost 2-1.

2006-07: The new Ajax coach Henk ten Cate said that Charisteas was his 5th striker behind Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Markus Rosenberg, Ryan Babel and Rydell Poepon. Ten Cate explained this by saying that Charisteas is a great striker for the 4-4-2-system, but not for the 4-3-3-system which is played in Amsterdam. Despite stating that he was only interested in a move to England or Germany, Charisteas signed for Feyenoord on 31st August 2006, the final day of the summer transfer window.

Honours

Werder Bremen

• German Championship : 2004
• German Cup : 2004

Ajax Amsterdam

• Dutch Super Cup : 2006
• Dutch Cup : 2006

Greece

• Euro : 2004

External links

• Official Ajax player profile