Michalis Sifakis
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michalis Sifakis | ||
| Date of birth | 9 September 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Heraklion, Greece | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Kortrijk | ||
| Number | 13 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| OFI | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2002–2007 | OFI | 105 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | Olympiacos | 2 | (0) |
| 2008–2012 | Aris | 80 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | Charleroi | 10 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | Atromitos | 11 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | Levadiakos | 25 | (0) |
| 2015– | Kortrijk | 8 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2004–2005 | Greece U21 | 15 | (0) |
| 2005–2012 | Greece | 15 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 May 2016. | |||
Michalis Sifakis (Greek: Μιχάλης Σηφάκης; born 9 September 1984) is a Greek footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for the Greek national team, who plays for Kortrijk.
Early years
Born in Heraklion, Greece, Sifakis started playing football at the age of 9. His first team was Atsalenios Herakliou (P.O.A.).
Club career
OFI
In 1999 Sifakis was transferred to OFI Crete where he played with the B squad of OFI until 2002. In 2002 he signed his first professional contract with the club. He played for OFI until 2007 and participated in 112 matches in the Greek championship and cup.
Olympiacos
In 2007 the team Olympiacos made an offer for Sifakis, which was accepted by OFI, and he played as a replacement of the national goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis. During the season 2007–2008 his team won the Greek championship, the Greek Cup and the Greek Super Cup. And then he continued to be the replacement.[1]
Aris
In 2008 Aris made an offer to OFI and Sifakis was transferred to the club. During the season 2008–2009 Sifakis participated in 27 league and cup matches. He participated in all league games of the 2009–2010 season. In the season 2009–2010 he participated with Aris in the final of Greek Cup, losing against Panathinaikos by 1–0. His reaction in the goal, a long distance shot by Leto, was very slow and his performance is questionable. In the season 2010–2011 he passed the group stage of the Europa League with Aris and were then eliminated by Manchester City of Roberto Mancini, at Round of 32 of the competition. In the following season (2011–2012) he had some medical problems that kept him away from some Aris and national squad's matches.[2] In April 2013 Sifakis demands through his lawyers 988.000 euros from the almost bunkrupt Aris, although his unpaid wages are 188.000.[3][4]
Charleroi
Newly promoted Jupiler Pro League side R. Charleroi S.C. are set to sign Michalis Sifakis on a free transfer after the Greek ‘keeper severed ties with Aris at the end of last season. Part of Greece’s UEFA EURO 2012 contingent this past summer, Sifakis replaced Kostas Chalkias midway through Greece’s Group A clash with the Czech Republic and carried the mantle for the national team until Greece were eliminated by Germany in the quarter-finals. Sifakis should have plenty of competition at the club as other ‘keepers in the squad include Parfait Mandanda, the brother of Marseille and France shot-stopper Steve Mandanda. Failing to sign anywhere all summer long, Greece manager Fernando Santos forced to leave Sifakis, as well as other players yet to sign with a club, out of the Greece squad for the recent World Cup Qualifiers against Latvia and Lithuania.[5]
Eventually in September 2012 after the Euro 2012 with Greek national team, Sifakis signed a 1-year contract with Belgian team R. Charleroi S.C., wearing number 1.
Atromitos FC
In the summer 2013 Sifakis returned to Greece by signing a 1-year contract with Atromitos.[6] In his first interview as a member of the club he stated that “Atromitos is one of the few teams for which I would have returned to Greece and it is true that only a few days ago I wasn’t even considering it”. Furthermore, “The fact that Atromitos is in a phase of development is something which I am very pleased with, especially at a time when everything in our country is going in the other direction.” [7] He made his debut at 17 August against a draw 2-2 with Ergotelis. On May 27, 2014 Atromitos, after a year with the club, announced the end of his contract.[8]
Levadiakos
On 12 September 2014, Sifakis penned a one-year deal with fellow Superleague Greece side Levadiakos.[9][10]
Kortrijk
The 30-year-old International has signed a two-year-contract with K.V. Kortrijk and the Belgian club has officially announced the move. Sifakis, who played for Charleroi during the 2012-2013 season, will have a Greek teammate, as Thanasis Papazoglou has also joined Kortrijk. [11][12] On 23 September 2015, he made his debut with the club in a game against K Olsa Brakel for Belgian Cup. Michalis Sifakis made his Belgium Jupiler League debut for Kortrijk on April 2, 2016 in a scoreless draw at home to Royal Mouscron-Péruwelz. On 30 April 2016, he kept the third clean sheet in 5 appearances this season in a game against Standard Liège.[13]
International career
In 2004 Sifakis was called for the Greece national under-21 football team. He played 15 games with the U21 selection. He was member of Greece national team during 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup.
In 2009 Greece’s national team coach, Otto Rehhagel, invited Sifakis to help the national team qualify for the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup. On 14 October he contributed to his team's victory against Luxembourg. He was also part of the squad for the final tournament.
Under coach Fernando Santos, Sifakis played most of his country's UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying matches.
Following an injury to regular goalkeeper Kostas Chalkias in Greece' second game of Euro 2012, against the Czech Republic, Sifakis was substituted into the game to replace him and he remained the starting goalkeeper for the rest of the tournament, as Greece reached the Quarter finals of the competition.
Honours
In 2009 the Greek Professional Players Association honored Sifakis with the Fair Play award for his professionalism and ethos, due to his calm and non-violent reaction to a confrontation with a fan in the opening game of the 2009–2010 Greek season away at Iraklis. During the match, Sifakis was approached by an Iraklis fan who had run onto the pitch and began to verbally abuse him. Sifakis did not react and the stewards eventually intervened, removing the fan from the pitch. He has been awarded from PSAP as the best goalkeeper in Superleague in the years 2010 and 2011.
Clubs
- Greek Super League: 2007–2008
- Greek Cup: 2007–2008
- Greek Super Cup: 2007
- Greek Cup: Runners up 2009–10
Individual
- Greek Superleague best goalkeeper: 2010, 2011
- PSAP fair play: 2009
Statistics
| Club | Season | League | Cup[A] | Continental[B] | Others[C] | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| OFI | 2002–03 | 4 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | 0 |
| 2003–04 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 15 | 0 | |
| 2004–05 | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 29 | 0 | |
| 2005–06 | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 31 | 0 | |
| 2006–07 | 30 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 33 | 0 | |
| Total | 105 | 0 | 7 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 112 | 0 | |
| Olympiacos | 2007–08 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | - | - | – | – | 7 | 0 |
| Total | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | - | - | – | – | 7 | 0 | |
| Aris | 2008–09 | 24 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | - | - | 27 | 0 |
| 2009–10 | 30 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | 35 | 0 | |
| 2010–11 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | - | - | 35 | 0 | |
| 2011–12 | 4 | 0 | – | – | - | - | - | - | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 80 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | - | - | 101 | 0 | |
| Charleroi | 2012–13 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | – | – | 11 | 0 |
| Total | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | – | – | 11 | 0 | |
| Atromitos | 2013–14 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 17 | 0 |
| Total | 11 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 17 | 0 | |
| Levadiakos | 2014–15 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 25 | 0 |
| Total | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 25 | 0 | |
| Kortrijk | 2015–16 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | - | - | – | – | 11 | 0 |
| 2016–17 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | – | – | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | - | - | – | – | 13 | 0 | |
| Career total | 241 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 15 | 0 | - | - | 286 | 0 | |
References
- ↑ Το ροστερ του Ολυμπιακού (in Greek). pasalimanius.150m.com.
- ↑ Σοκ με Σηφάκη στον Αρη! (in Greek). sport24.gr. 23 September 2011.
- ↑ Ο Σηφάκης, ο Άρης και τα 988.000 ευρώ! (in Greek). www.pamesports.gr. 19 July 2012.
- ↑ Εκ νέου δικαίωση για Σηφάκη (in Greek). sport24.gr. 23 November 2012.
- ↑ "Sifakis set for Charleroi move". www.footballhellas.com. 12 September 2012.
- ↑ Ανακοίνωσε Σηφάκη ο Ατρόμητος (in Greek). sport24.gr. 3 July 2013.
- ↑ "Atromitos sign Greece international Michalis Sifakis on one-year deal". footballhellas.com. 3 July 2013.
- ↑ Τέλος ο Σηφάκης (in Greek). naftemporiki.gr. 27 May 2014.
- ↑ Ανακοινώθηκε ο Σηφάκης (in Greek). sport-fm.gr. 12 September 2014.
- ↑ Στον Λεβαδειακό ο Σηφάκης (in Greek). sport24.gr. 12 September 2014.
- ↑ "Sifakis joins Kortrijk". www.sdna.gr. 24 August 2015.
- ↑ "Doelman Michalis Sifakis nieuwe aanwinst KV Kortrijk". www.focus-wtv.be. 24 August 2015.
- ↑ "Ο Διαμαντάκος και οι άλλοι...". www.sport24.gr. 3 May 2016.
- ↑ "M. Sifakis statistics". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
External links
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