Alexandros Tziolis

Alexandros Tziolis was born on the 13th of February 1985 and plays for PAOK FC and the Greek national team as a defensive midfielder. Tziolis began his playing career as a teenager in a local team called Apollon Litochorou. He played there for about 7 years and in 1995, a Panionios scouter spotted his talent and brought him to Athens. He was an integral part of Panionios team for 3 seasons, playing 61 matches and scoring 3 goals. As a result, Panathinaikos F.C. signed him. Tziolis has been established as a first team player for Panathinaikos after replacing the big-name but disappointing Igor Biscan during the 2006–2007 season. On April 2007, an early goal from Tziolis was enough to break Skoda Xanthi’s unbeaten home run in Super League that season and secured Panathinaikos a place in that season’s Greek Cup final against Larissa. By the end of 2007–2008 season Tziolis was close to his exit from Panathinaikos but the new manager Henk Ten Cate chose to keep him. After being mostly neglected at the beginning of 2008–2009 season, Tziolis was included in the team in November and was MVP in the epic 3–0 win in Germany against Werder Bremen for the UEFA Champions’ League, where he also scored the third goal for Panathinaikos. He had since established himself as a valuable member of the squad, linking well with team-mates Gilberto Silva and Simao Mate Junior. Eventually over the years, he made 113 appearances (6 goals, 8 assists) with the club in all competitions. On 7 January 2009, Panathinaikos agreed terms with Werder Bremen and Tziolis went on loan at the German club for at least 6 months. After those months, Werder Bremen had the right to fully obtain Tziolis. Speaking to Werder.TV, Tziolis again expressed his delight at securing a move to Germany’s premier football competition. Tziolis played a regular role in Bremen’s midfield and helped the club to make the UEFA Cup final against Shaktar Donetsk, on 20 May 2009. In the final, he came on as a substitute for Peter Niemeyer in the 103rd minute. After having nearly scored the equalizing goal when Bremen where a goal behind, the team lost the final of the last UEFA Cup edition to Shaktar with a final score of 2–1. Tziolis also featured in Bremen’s 1–0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup final the same season, where Tziolis won his first ever trophy in professional football. On 29 January 2010 Panathinaikos agreed terms with the ex-Panathinaikos coach Alberto Malesani, Italian Serie A club AC Siena obtaining Tziolis. He made his debut in the Serie A on 7 February 2010 against Sampdoria. Tziolis was a regular for Siena, but the team wasn’t able to avoid relegation to the Serie B. In August 2010, it was confirmed that the Spanish La Liga side Racing Santander had agreed to take Tziolis on a one-year loan deal. Greek international Alexandros Tziolis faces up to six months out after suffering a leg break in his nation’s 1-0 win over Latvia. The defensive midfielder, who is on loan at Racing Santander from Italian Serie B side Siena, was carried from the field in agony and was assessed immediately by medical staff, who took the 25-year-old to hospital for surgery. Spanish club Racing have confirmed that the operation was a success, but that the period of recuperation will be between four and six months. Tziolis, is now likely to terminate his loan deal with the Primera Division side and return to Italy in order to continue his rehabilitation. Then after a successful league campaign for the 2nd half of the season they signed him from Siena. The Greek international joins Racing Santander as a free agent after gaining a release from his Siena contract. The 26-year-old was a personal target for Racing Santander coach Héctor Cúper. In January 2012, Racing Santander announced the exit of Tziolis, saying they and AS Monaco “have reached an agreement for the incorporation” of the player into the French club. On 31 August 2012, Tziolis joined Cypriot side APOEL on a season-long loan deal from AS Monaco. During his loan spell at APOEL, he became a league champion for the first time in his career, appearing in all but two of the league matches and helping his team to win the Cypriot First Division. On 25 June 2013, Tziolis signed a three-year contract with Greek Superleague side PAOK. On 17 August he made his league debut in a 3-0 home win against Xanthi. On 22 December 2013, he scored his first goal with the club in a home victory against Levadiakos. Besides the fact that was among the key players of PAOK in the first round of the 2013/14 season, the acquisition of so many great players along with his desire to be in the final selection for the 2014 World Cup made him to sign with the Turkish Super Lig team Kayserispor on loan. At the beginning of 2014-15 season, Tziolis returned to PAOK, playing in a mediocre, for him and the club, period 34 games in all competitions scoring 1 goal in the Greek Cup. On 27 November 2015, in the match for the UEFA Europa League against Gabala FK, Tziolis reached 400 appearances with all his clubs for all competitions. Alexandros Tziolis contract with PAOK expires at the end of 2015-16 season, but will be automatically renewed if he plays at the 70% of team’s matches. However, the club want to keep the international midfielder for many years and Tziolis also had a first meeting with technical director Frank Arnesen, to speak about the terms of a contract extension. After representing his country 12 times for the under-21 side, Tziolis made his international debut for Greece on 21 January 2006 in a friendly match against South Korea. He was a part of the defending European champions at UEFA Euro 2008, where he played once, when he came on as a substitute in a 1–2 loss to Spain in the group-stage. He also made four appearances in qualifying, including as a substitute in the play-off win away to Ukraine. He was also part of the squad that participated to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He played every minute of the tournament for his country, including their first ever World Cup win over Nigeria on 17 June 2010. But, after the participation in two major events, Greece coach Fernando Santos dropped Alexandros Tziolis from his final 23-player squad for the UEFA Euro 2012. Tziolis had a poor season and could not even get a regular spot in the Monaco team, in Ligue 2, while his performance in the last friendlies did little to change Santos’s mind. Two years later, Tziolis exceptional season year with both PAOK and Kayserispor was his passport not only to be called by Santos to the 30 man provisional World Cup squad, but also to the final 23-man squad for 2014 FIFA World Cup. Tziolis is a tall defensive midfielder, good in air, with powerful long shots. He plays a “silent” role in the game, and he tends to occupy the role of a deep-lying playmaker more than a defensive stopper
 
Honours
Werder Bremen: German Cup 2008–09, UEFA Cup Runners-up 2008–09
Panathinaikos Greek Cup: Runners-up 2006–07
APOEL: Cypriot League: 2012–13
Individual: Greek Young Footballer of the year: 2004