Odysseas Vlachodimos

Odisseas Vlachodimos was born on the 26th of April 1994 and he is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Panathinaikos. A local of Stuttgart, he started his career with Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart with whom he made three senior appearances. In 2016, he joined Greek Superleague side Panathinaikos. Vlachodimos has also represented Germany at various youth levels and featured for the nation at the UEFA European Under-17 Championship and FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2011. Vlachodimos is an academy graduate of VfB Stuttgart, having joined the club from VfL Wangen at the age of seven. Having progressed through the clubs’ youth ranks, he then made his debut for VfB Stuttgart II on 25 February 2012 in a 1–0 3rd League loss to FC Heidenheim. At the end of the season he signed his first professional contract with the club, penning a deal until June 2015. Two years later, he extended his contract with VfB until June 2017. Having made over 50 appearances for VfB Stuttgart II, Vlachodimos was afforded his Bundesliga debut against Eintracht Frankfurt on 29 August 2015. With back-up ‘keeper Mitchell Langerak out injured, Vlachodimos was included in Stuttgart’s match day squad and was brought on as a substitute following the sending off of first-choice goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tyton. He made three appearances in total for the senior side but by the end of 2015 had fallen out of favour of new club manager, and former VfB Stuttgart II coach, Jurgen Kramny. Vlachodimos voiced his disapproval of the situation in an interview with German new publication Kicker in December and the following month joined Greek Super League side Panathinaikos where he was reunited with his brother, Panagiotis who had joined the club earlier in the month. Vlachodimos represented Germany at various youth levels. His first experience with the national team came on 21 May 2009 when he made his debut for the U15’s in a 2–0 win over the United States. He made one more appearance for the U15’s against Poland the following month before making his U16 debut in August, starting in a 4–2 win over Switzerland in new manager Steffen Freund’s first match in charge at the 2009 U16 Tournament in Liechteinstein. Vlachodimos featured regularly throughout the tournament as Germany claimed the title, beating Austria 6–2 in the final. Two years later, Vlachodimos helped Germany to a runners-up finish at the 2011 UEFA European Under-17 Championship where they ultimately lost 5–2 to the Netherlands in the final. Soon after the tournament he was awarded the bronze U17 Fritz Walter Medal, awarded to the third best German under-17 player. Later in the year, he was part of the Germany squad which ended third at the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup. He made his debut for the U18 side in February 2012 before advancing to the U19 side in August. He then made his U20 debut on 12 October the following year against the Netherlands. On 15 March 2017, following his emergence as Panathinaikos’ first-choice goalkeeper, Vlachodimos was called up by Stefan Kuntz to the U21 side for friendly matches against England and Portugal. He was voted man of the match for his performance during Germany’s 1–0 defeat against Portugal, despite the defeat being the nation’s first home loss in 32 matches. Vlachodimos’ strong performances at club with Panathinaikos saw him selected in Stefan Kuntz’s squad for the 2017 UEFA European U21 final tournament in Poland. Germany were ultimately crowned champions, beating Spain 1–0 in the final to claim the title