View source for Nikos Liberopoulos

{{short description|Greek footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name                = Nikos Liberopoulos
| image               = Liberopoulos.JPG
| caption             = Liberopoulos in 2012
| fullname            = Nikolaos Liberopoulos
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1975|8|4}}
| birth_place         = [[Filiatra]], Greece
| height              = 1.87 m
| position            = [[Forward (association football)|Forward]], [[attacking midfielder]]
| currentclub         = 
| clubnumber          = 
| years1              = 1991–1993
| clubs1              = [[Erani Filiatra]]
| caps1               = 53
| goals1              = 33
| years2              = 1993–1996
| clubs2              = [[Kalamata F.C.|Kalamata]]
| caps2               = 78
| goals2              = 20
| years3              = 1996–2003
| clubs3              = [[Panathinaikos F.C.|Panathinaikos]]
| caps3               = 185
| goals3              = 72
| years4              = 2003–2008
| clubs4              = [[AEK Athens F.C.|AEK Athens]]
| caps4               = 142
| goals4              = 66
| years5              = 2008–2010
| clubs5              = [[Eintracht Frankfurt]]
| caps5               = 50
| goals5              = 10
| years6              = 2010–2012
| clubs6              = [[AEK Athens F.C.|AEK Athens]]
| caps6               = 53
| goals6              = 18
| totalcaps           = 561
| totalgoals          = 219
| nationalyears1      = 1996–1998
| nationalteam1       = [[Greece national under-21 football team|Greece U21]]
| nationalcaps1       = 23
| nationalgoals1      = 15
| nationalyears2      = 1996–2012
| nationalteam2       = [[Greece national football team|Greece]]
| nationalcaps2       = 76
| nationalgoals2      = 13
| nationalyears3      = 1997
| nationalteam3       = Greece military
| nationalcaps3       = 
| nationalgoals3      = 
| medaltemplates      =
{{Medal|Sport|Men's [[Association football|football]]}}
{{Medal|Country|{{fb|GRE}}}} 
{{Medal|Comp|[[World Military Cup]]}}
{{Medal|W|1997|}}
{{Medal|Comp|[[UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship|UEFA European U-21 Championship]]}}
{{Medal|RU|[[1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship|1998]]|}}
}}

'''Nikolaos "Nikos" Liberopoulos''' ({{langx|el|Νίκος Λυμπερόπουλος}}; born on 4 August 1975) is a retired Greek former professional [[Greece national football team|international]] [[Association football|footballer]] who played as a [[Forward (association football)|forward]]. He is famous for his aim-to-goal shot, his innate in-play instincts, and his technical attacking skills. Liberopoulos is a unique player in Greek domestic football, as he is equally adored by fans of both AEK Athens and Panathinaikos. He is the only player to be recorded in the top ten scorers of all time for both these teams. Indeed, after seven seasons at Panathinaikos Liberopoulos scored 103 goals. On 10 May 2012, he reached a milestone 100 goals for AEK Athens after a brace against [[Atromitos F.C.|Atromitos]], making him the only player in history to score a hundred goals for both [[Athens]] clubs (NOTE: this contradicts the tabulated data below, which gives 101 goals for AEK Athens and 87 goals for Panathinaikos. The latter is also in disagreement with data on the Elite Football website: 92 goals at AEK Athens and 76 goals at Panathinaikos<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.elitefootball.com/player/nikos-liberopoulos/22599|title=Nikos Liberopoulos|website=Elite Football}}</ref>). On 8 September 2017, he became the Technical Director of [[AEK Athens F.C.|AEK]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aekfc.gr/newsdetails/neos-technikos-defthyntis-o-nikos-lymperopoulos-50990.htm?lang=en&path=463335758|title = Nikos Lyberopoulos hired as Technical Director < ANNOUNCEMENTS}}</ref>

==Club career==

===Early years===
Liberopoulos started his career football career at the local [[Erani Filiatra]], he then moved to [[Kalamata F.C.|Kalamata]] in 1994. After an impressive debut season in Greece's top division, [[AEK Athens F.C.|AEK Athens]] and [[Olympiacos F.C.|Olympiacos]] tried to sign him during the summer of 1996 yet [[Panathinaikos F.C.|Panathinaikos]] managed to snap him up.

===Panathinaikos===
In summer 1996, he signed for Panathinaikos. With them he reached the semi-final stage of the [[UEFA Champions League]]. Italian clubs, mainly [[Juventus FC|Juventus]] and [[Hellas Verona F.C.|Hellas Verona]] showed interest in hiring him, but his loyalty to Panathinaikos kept him in [[Athens]]. In 2003, Liberopoulos clashed with Panathinaikos' board which eventually led to him leaving the club. While at Panathinaikos he would deliberately misplace passes to his colleague Marco Villa because he saw him as more of a threat than a teammate.

===AEK Athens===
Following his departure from Panathinaikos he was ready to join [[FC Sochaux-Montbéliard|Sochaux]], but he finally chose AEK Athens where he became a formidable offensive player and inspirational leader. He went to score several times against his former team but never celebrated earning the fans' applause and a standing ovation for his action. He helped AEK Athens scoring 79 times in his 195 appearances and earning a top scorer award during the [[2006–07 Super League Greece|2006–07]] season. His most important goals originated from two long range shots, one in a 1–0 win against [[Lille OSC|Lille]] and another in a 4–0 with against [[Olympiacos F.C.|Olympiacos]]. During June 2007, Liberopoulos was offered a lucrative contract with [[1. FC Nürnberg]] worth 4 million euros, which he declined to remain with AEK Athens. Club president, [[Demis Nikolaidis]] had publicly announced his intent to retain Liberopoulos at all costs in an effort to bolster AEK Athens' chances at achieving dominance in the [[Super League Greece|Greek Super League]]. On 7 July 2008, Liberopoulos was released by AEK.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aekfc.gr/index.asp?a_id=74&n_id=4242|title=AEK FC release Liberopoulos|website=aekfc.gr|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080708170457/http://www.aekfc.gr/index.asp?a_id=74|archive-date=8 July 2008}}</ref> German team [[Eintracht Frankfurt]] announced his signing on 13 July 2008.

===Eintracht Frankfurt===
Liberopoulos signed a two-year deal and received the number 10 shirt. He made his [[Bundesliga]] debut for [[Eintracht Frankfurt]], playing the full 90 minutes against [[Hertha BSC]] on 17 August 2008 at the Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt. Liberopoulos scored his first goal against [[1. FSV Mainz 05|Mainz 05]]. He won 55 caps scoring 13 goals in all competitions.

===Return to AEK Athens===
Liberopoulos again signed for AEK Athens in the summer of 2010 and put in an impressive display in AEK's 5–3 win against Australian [[A-League]] club [[Sydney FC]] on 25 July 2010, scoring one goal and setting up two others. Liberopoulos also scored against [[Blackburn Rovers F.C.|Blackburn]] three days later. He made his league debut against [[A.O. Kerkyra|Kerkyra]] and scored his first official goal in a [[UEFA Europa League]] match against [[Hajduk Split]]. On 19 January 2010, in a [[Greek Cup]] match against Panathinaikos he scored two goals leading his team to victory. Liberopoulos was applauded during his substitution later in that game by some of Panathinaikos' fans despite their team's defeat. After the match Liberopoulos said "I have spent seven nice years in Panathinaikos in which I matured as a player. I keep only the positive things, but now for me AEK is my family and I will do everything for the team." and about the Panathinaikos' fans ovation "It means a lot to me. It's a great feeling to be applauded during your substitution. There were some hoots also but even if the whole stadium was hooting at me that would not have changed what I have said earlier about my feelings for Panathinaikos".<ref name="gazzetta statements">{{cite web|last=Athanasiou |first=Nikos |script-title=el:"Λύμπε": "Πιο συγκεντρωμένοι στη ρεβάνς" |url=http://www.gazzetta.gr/football/cup-news/item/130489-%CE%9B%CF%8D%CE%BC%CF%80%CE%B5-%C2%AB%CE%A0%CE%B9%CE%BF-%CF%83%CF%85%CE%B3%CE%BA%CE%B5%CE%BD%CF%84%CF%81%CF%89%CE%BC%CE%AD%CE%BD%CE%BF%CE%B9-%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B7-%CF%81%CE%B5%CE%B2%CE%AC%CE%BD%CF%82%C2%BB |publisher=gazzetta.gr |access-date=20 January 2011 |language=el |date=19 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110123004005/http://www.gazzetta.gr/football/cup-news/item/130489-%CE%9B%CF%8D%CE%BC%CF%80%CE%B5-%C2%AB%CE%A0%CE%B9%CE%BF-%CF%83%CF%85%CE%B3%CE%BA%CE%B5%CE%BD%CF%84%CF%81%CF%89%CE%BC%CE%AD%CE%BD%CE%BF%CE%B9-%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B7-%CF%81%CE%B5%CE%B2%CE%AC%CE%BD%CF%82%C2%BB |archive-date=23 January 2011 }}</ref> On 30 May 2011, Liberopulos won his first trophy in his career with AEK winning the [[Greek football Cup|Greek Cup 2010–11]] against [[Atromitos F.C.|Atromitos]] 3–0 while also scoring the first goal and was awarded [[Most valuable player|MVP]] of the match.

On 16 June 2011, Liberopoulos signed a new one-year deal keeping him at the club until 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aekfc.gr/index.asp?a_id=1355&n_id=6901|script-title=el:Ανακοίνωση|trans-title=Liberopoulos renews contract|language=el|publisher=aekfc.gr|date=16 June 2011|access-date=2 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616154201/http://www.aekfc.gr/index.asp?a_id=1355&n_id=6901|archive-date=16 June 2012|url-status = dead}}</ref> Also, his teammate [[Traianos Dellas]] decided to stay for one year at AEK, in order to stop his professional career with his best friend, Liberopoulos.

On 20 May 2012, he played his last match with AEK against Panathinaikos. A lot of Panathinaikos and AEK fans respected him with a standing ovation when he was exiting the stadium.

==International career==
Liberopoulos played for [[Greece national under-21 football team|Greece U21]] from 1996 to 1998, where in 23 he scored 15 becoming their top scorer. He was also a key member of the team that took part in the final of the [[UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship|European Championship]] in [[1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship|1998]], where they lost to  [[Spain national under-21 football team|Spain]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.uefa.com/under21/match/55296--greece-vs-spain/|title=Greece-Spain Under-21 1998|website=[[UEFA]]}}</ref>

In 1997 he was called to the military team, where he won the [[World Military Cup]] of the same year, scoring in the final against Italy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesm/military.html#97|title=World Military Championship|website=[[RSSSF]]}}</ref>

Liberopoulos appeared 76 times in total for [[Greece national football team|Greece]] scoring 13 goals in the process. His most notable performance in the [[UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying|Euro 2008 qualifiers]] to date was a last-second goal five minutes into stoppage time to grant Greece a 2–1 victory over [[Moldova national football team|Moldova]] on 6 June 2007, which placed Greece at the top of their qualifying division. Liberopoulos has been known on the international scene as a "super sub", coming off the bench many times in the final quarter of games and scoring the decisive goal.

He was a member of the 23-man squad formed by coach [[Otto Rehhagel]] for [[UEFA Euro 2008]].

On 11 September 2009, Liberopoulos announced his retirement from international football,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sport-fm.gr/article/194353|title=Λυμπερόπουλος: "Αποχωρώ από την Εθνική ομάδα"|trans-title=Liberopoulos retires from Greek national team|language=de|publisher=sport-fm.gr|date=11 September 2009|access-date=2 May 2012}}</ref> But he returned to the national squad about a year later when he was recalled by the new coach [[Fernando Santos (Portuguese footballer)|Fernando Santos]].

He was also called for [[UEFA Euro 2012]] by the coach [[Fernando Santos (Portuguese footballer)|Fernando Santos]]. Liberopoulos announced his retirement from international football after Greece lost to German 4–2 in the Euro 2012 quarter finals on 22 June 2012.<ref>{{cite web|title=Greece Duo Announce Retirements|url=http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/eurocup/story/greece-duo-retire-internationals-nikos-liberopoulos-kostas-chalkias-062312|publisher=Fox Soccer|access-date=23 June 2012}}</ref>

==Career statistics==

===Club===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="3"|League
!colspan="2"|Cup
!colspan="2"|[[UEFA|Europe]]
!colspan="2"|Other
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|[[Erani Filiatra]]
|1991–94
|[[Delta Ethniki]]
|53||33||0||0||colspan="2"|–||colspan="2"|–||53||33
|-
|rowspan="4"|[[Kalamata F.C.|Kalamata]]
|1991–94
|rowspan="2"|[[Beta Ethniki]]
|21||5||2||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||23||5
|-
|1994–95
|27||4||4||2||0||0||colspan="2"|–||31||6
|-
|[[1995–96 Alpha Ethniki|1995–96]]
|[[Super League Greece|Alpha Ethniki]]
|30||11||4||2||0||0||colspan="2"|–||34||13
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!78!!20!!10!!4!!0!!0!!0!!0!!88!!24
|-
|rowspan="8"|[[Panathinaikos F.C.|Panathinaikos]]
|[[1996–97 Alpha Ethniki|1996–97]]
|rowspan="7"|Alpha Ethniki
|32||7||6||2||3||2||colspan="2"|–||38||9
|-
|[[1997–98 Alpha Ethniki|1997–98]]
|27||2||4||1||0||0||colspan="2"|–||31||3
|-
|[[1998–99 Alpha Ethniki|1998–99]]
|31||13||5||2||8||3||colspan="2"|–||36||15
|-
|[[1999–2000 Alpha Ethniki|1999–00]]
|26||23||4||3||5||1||colspan="2"|–||30||26
|-
|[[2000–01 Alpha Ethniki|2000–01]]
|26||11||6||3||14||1||colspan="2"|–||39||14
|-
|[[2001–02 Alpha Ethniki|2001–02]]
|17||0||3||1||10||2||colspan="2"|–||28||2
|-
|[[2002–03 Alpha Ethniki|2002–03]]
|27||16||4||2||8||2||colspan="2"|–||32||18
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!186!!72!!32!!14!!48!!11!!0!!0!!266!!97
|-
|rowspan="6"|[[AEK Athens F.C.|AEK Athens]]
|[[2003–04 Alpha Ethniki|2003–04]]
|rowspan="3"|Alpha Ethniki
|27||13||7||3||6||1||colspan="2"|–||40||17
|-
|[[2004–05 Alpha Ethniki|2004–05]]
|28||9||9||3||6||1||colspan="2"|–||43||13
|-
|[[2005–06 Alpha Ethniki|2005–06]]
|27||14||5||2||2||0||colspan="2"|–||34||16
|-
|[[2006–07 Super League Greece|2006–07]]
|rowspan="2"|[[Super League Greece|Super League]]
|29||18||1||0||9||2||colspan="2"|–||39||20
|-
|[[2007–08 Super League Greece|2007–08]]
|30||13||1||0||8||0||colspan="2"|–||39||13
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!141!!67!!23!!8!!31!!4!!0!!0!!195!!79
|-
|rowspan="3"|[[Eintracht Frankfurt]]
|[[2008–09 Bundesliga|2008–09]]<ref name="wf">{{cite web |title=Nikos Liberopoulos » Club matches |url=https://www.worldfootball.net/player_summary/nikos-liberopoulos/2/ |website=worldfootball.net |access-date=23 May 2021}}</ref>
|rowspan="2"|[[Bundesliga]]
|29||9||2||1||0||0||colspan="2"|–||31||10
|-
|[[2009–10 Bundesliga|2009–10]]<ref name="wf"/>
|21||1||3||2||0||0||colspan="2"|–||24||3
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!50!!10!!5!!3!!0!!0!!0!!0!!55||13
|-
|rowspan="3"|AEK Athens
|[[2010–11 Super League Greece|2010–11]]<ref name="wf"/><ref name="sw">{{Soccerway|4542}}</ref>
|rowspan="2"|Super League
|22||7||6||3||5||2||1||0||34||12
|-
|[[2011–12 Superleague Greece|2011–12]]<ref name="wf"/><ref name="sw"/>
|24||7||1||0||4||0||6||3||35||10
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!46!!14!!7!!3!!9!!2!!7!!3!!69!!22
|-
!colspan="3"|Career total
!554!!216!!77!!32!!88!!17!!7!!3!!726!!268
|}

===International===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year<ref>{{NFT player|2637|access-date=23 May 2021}}</ref>
|-
!National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="17"|[[Greece national football team|Greece]]
|1996||{{0}}3||{{0}}0
|-
|1997||{{0}}0||{{0}}0
|-
|1998||{{0}}3||{{0}}1
|-
|1999||14||{{0}}4
|-
|2000||{{0}}9||{{0}}2
|-
|2001||{{0}}7||{{0}}1
|-
|2002||{{0}}2||{{0}}0
|-
|2003||{{0}}1||{{0}}0
|-
|2004||{{0}}0||{{0}}0
|-
|2005||{{0}}4||{{0}}1
|-
|2006||{{0}}5||{{0}}1
|-
|2007||{{0}}7||{{0}}2
|-
|2008||10||{{0}}1
|-
|2009||{{0}}2||{{0}}0
|-
|2010||{{0}}0||{{0}}0
|-
|2011||{{0}}7||{{0}}0
|-
|2012||{{0}}2||{{0}}0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total!!76!!13
|}

:''Scores and results list Greece's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Liberopoulos goal''.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Nikos Liberopoulos
|-
!scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date
!scope="col"|Venue
!scope="col"|Opponent
!scope="col"|Score
!scope="col"|Result
!scope="col"|Competition
|-
|align="center"|1
|14 October 1998
|[[Athens Olympic Sports Complex]], [[Athens]], Greece
|{{fb|GEO}}
|align="center"|2–0
|align="center"|3–0
|[[UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying#Group 2|2000 UEQ]]
|-
|align="center"|2
|rowspan="3"|18 August 1999
|rowspan="3"|[[Anthi Karagianni Stadium]], [[Kavala]], Greece
|rowspan="3"|{{fb|SLV}}
|align="center"|1–0
|rowspan="3" align="center"|3–1
|rowspan="3"|[[Exhibition game|Friendly]]
|-
|align="center"|3
|align="center"|1–0
|-
|align="center"|4
|align="center"|3–0
|-
|align="center"|{{0}}5
|18 December 1999
|[[Trikala Municipal Stadium]], [[Trikala]], Greece
|{{fb|EST}}
|align="center"|2–2
|align="center"|2–2
|Friendly
|-
|align="center"|{{0}}6
|3 June 2000
|[[Stadionul Steaua (1974)]], [[Bucharest]], Romania
|{{fb|ROU}}
|align="center"|1–2
|align="center"|1–2
|Friendly
|-
|align="center"|{{0}}7
|7 October 2000
|Athens Olympic Sports Complex, Athens, Greece
|{{fb|FIN}}
|align="center"|1–0
|align="center"|1–0
|[[2002 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 9|2002 WCQ]]
|-
|align="center"|{{0}}8
|14 November 2001
|Municipal Stadium Kaisariani, Athens, Greece
|{{fb|CYP}}
|align="center"|1–1
|align="center"|1–2
|Friendly
|-
|align="center"|{{0}}9
|7 September 2005
|[[Almaty Central Stadium]], [[Almaty]], Kazakhstan
|{{fb|KAZ}}
|align="center"|2–1
|align="center"|2–1
|[[2006 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 2|2006 WCQ]]
|-
|align="center"|10
|2 September 2006
|[[Zimbru Stadium]], [[Chişinău]], Moldova
|{{fb|MDA}}
|align="center"|1–0
|align="center"|1–0
|[[UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group C|2008 UEQ]]
|-
|align="center"|11
|6 June 2007
|[[Pankritio Stadium]], [[Heraklion]], Greece
|{{fb|MDA}}
|align="center"|2–1
|align="center"|2–1
|[[UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group C|2008 UEQ]]
|-
|align="center"|12
|13 October 2007
|Athens Olympic Sports Complex, Athens, Greece
|{{fb|BIH}}
|align="center"|3–1
|align="center"|3–2
|[[UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group C|2008 UEQ]]
|-
|align="center"|13
|24 May 2008
|[[Stadium Puskás Ferenc]], [[Budapest]], Hungary
|{{fb|HUN}}
|align="center"|2–3
|align="center"|2–3
|Friendly
|}

==Honours==

;AEK Athens
*[[Greek Football Cup|Greek Cup]]: [[2010–11 Greek Football Cup|2010–11]]

'''Greece U21'''
*[[UEFA European Under-21 Championship]] runner-up: [[1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship|1998]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uefa.com/under21/match/55296--greece-vs-spain/|title=Greece 0-1 Spain|website=[[UEFA]]}}</ref>

;Individual
*[[Greek football PSAP awards#Greek Young Footballer of the year|Greek Young Footballer of the year]]: [[1995–96 Alpha Ethniki|1995–96]]
*[[Greek football PSAP awards#Greek Footballer of the year|Greek Footballer of the year]]: [[1999–2000 Alpha Ethniki|1999–2000]], [[2005–06 Alpha Ethniki|2005–06]], [[2006–07 Super League Greece|2006–07]]
*[[Super League Greece|Greek Super League]] [[List of top goalscorers in Super League Greece by season|top scorer]]: [[2002–03 Alpha Ethniki|2002–03]], [[2006–07 Super League Greece|2006–07]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Navboxes
|bg=gold
|fg=navy
|title= Awards
|list1=
{{Super League Greece young footballer of the year}}
{{Super League Greece Greek footballer of the year}}
{{Super League Greece top scorers}}
{{UEFA European Under-21 Championship awards}}
{{Greek Footballer of the Year}}
}}
{{Navboxes
|title=Greece squads
|bg=#0000cd
|fg=#FFFFFF
|list1=
{{Greece squad UEFA Euro 2008}}
{{Greece squad UEFA Euro 2012}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberopoulos, Nikos}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1975 births]]
[[Category:People from Filiatra]]
[[Category:Greek men's footballers]]
[[Category:Men's association football forwards]]
[[Category:Greece men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Greece men's under-21 international footballers]]
[[Category:UEFA Euro 2008 players]]
[[Category:UEFA Euro 2012 players]]
[[Category:Bundesliga players]]
[[Category:Super League Greece players]]
[[Category:Football League (Greece) players]]
[[Category:AEK Athens F.C. players]]
[[Category:Panathinaikos F.C. players]]
[[Category:Kalamata F.C. players]]
[[Category:Eintracht Frankfurt players]]
[[Category:AEK Athens F.C. non-playing staff]]
[[Category:Greek expatriate men's footballers]]
[[Category:Greek expatriate sportspeople in Germany]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Germany]]
[[Category:Footballers from the Peloponnese]]