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Nikopolidis


Omonoia9

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What a way for him to go out. In goal for Olympiakos who downed Larissa 6-0 today in Piraeus, and at the end of the 90 minutes, Olympiakos are crowned champions, and Nikopolidis himself is crowned champion one last time, and he ends his career with a clean sheet. He started just 6 matches here in his final season, but I'm glad Valverde at least had the class to let him end his career in goal, and not on the bench. Thank you Antonis Nikopolidis! He started his career with the enemy in Athens, and you Panathinaikos fans should be proud of him, too. In 2004 he made the short trip to Piraeus to join Olympiakos and in all but 1 season, he helped his new team to more championships. Above all, though, he was in goal for our country, when we won UEFA Euro 2004, in by far the greatest triumph in modern Greek sports history, and he played one of the biggest parts in making that happen.

Euxaristo re Clooney! :gr: :gr: :gr:

:LOL: thats a good one. i thought you were being serious before, now i know you're winding us all up.

the only posetive thing i can say about niko is that halkias was worse - but only slightly

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I am serious. Continue thinking Sifakis is the best Greek keeper of all-time, I can't imagine you have much company.

i never said sifakis was the best greek keeper of all time, what i said was that he's better than nikopolidis ever was and he hasn't even peaked yet, despite not being a top keeper, he's still better than blunderboy niko ever was
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i never said sifakis was the best greek keeper of all time, what i said was that he's better than nikopolidis ever was and he hasn't even peaked yet, despite not being a top keeper, he's still better than blunderboy niko ever was

There was a period where Nikopolidis was excellent. It didn't last long before he started making blunders again. However i dont think sifakis has quite reached that level yet. He's more consistent but not necessarily better.
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His best was better than any other Greek keeper's best. That's what really matters.

i disagree, what matters is reliability and consistency in goal. no good beng exceptional for 3 weeks when you're prone to gift goals to the opposition, which is the only thing niko has done consistently over his career, i can't think of an international keeper who's made as many blunders as nikopolidis, even greek keepers with less ability made fewer blunders and were more reliable, and on top of it all he was average at best.

barring that game vs czech republic in 2004 when has he ever been exceptional for greece? he's simply never been international quality, poor performances and blunders have over shadowed his career.

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although i agree that he was average, the guy is retiring. He was certainly a presence and will be considered an inspiration for future young Greek keepers, so let's just respect his achievements and respect him.

On a side note, js1000, Nikopolidis was certainly a better keeper than Samaras is a forward so i'm surprised you're destroying the poor guy while putting Samaras on a pedastal :D

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On a side note, js1000, Nikopolidis was certainly a better keeper than Samaras is a forward so i'm surprised you're destroying the poor guy while putting Samaras on a pedastal :D

nobody opened a thread claiming samaras is the best greek forward ever, i was just respondng to claims that niko was great keeper, although how you can say he's a better keeper than sammy is a forward? i disagree with that sentiment, samaras has played well for greece in big games and not made the blunders niko has, also with gekas and amanatidis not wanting to play for greece we're stuck with him in the first 11, who would you drop him for?? i'd pair him wth mitroglou, salpi doesn't do it for me anymore.

on reflection calling nikopolidis average is being generous to him.

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nikopolidis is a better gk then samaras is a forward? that seems a silly comparison...two different responsiblities, two different positions, two different players...these thing cannot be compared...

in saying this, js i believe you are being very VERY harsh on nikopolidi, who at his prime was a very good goalkeeper...as far as him being the best greek gk of all time...i completely disagree...keepers like oikonomopoulo and vassili konstantinou could have been considered world class, but because of certain things, did not get enough international exposure and credit despite being on the wembley team...lets not forget i believe oikono still holds the record for consecutive clean sheets with something like 12 in a row...sarganis as well, i believe was a better and more underrated then niko...lets not forget defenses back in those days were not even close to the level they are at now..which is something else to consider when making the comparison...

i think anyone who disagrees that nikopolidis was a very good goalkeeper is silly and might still hold a grudge against him...sure he wasnt the best goalkeeper ALL AROUND, but there are very few goalkeepers (even the best current ones) that are excellent in every aspect of their game...nikopolidis, in his prime, was a very good goalkeeper, a hero (if nothing more than for the euro he played a big roll in helping us win) and should be honored. he wasnt anything above very good, but he wasnt some average nobody that will be forgotten in acouple years...

sure he made alot of blunders, but so did dino zoff for those who might remember...its funny because i believe alot of people either overrate niko or underrate niko and dont really see him for what he was exactly...

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Jeez guys, the comparison was a joke :D But since it has been brought up, pao123 of course you can compare a keeper to a forward. Iker Casillas is a world class, world cup winning goalkeeper that plays for Real Madrid. He is a better goalkeeper than Abubakari is a midfielder who has been relegated from the Greek league with Larisa. He is better because he has been successful at a higher level. For that same reason Nikopolidis is better than Samaras. He's performed well at a much higher level. He may have made blunders but he's also had great domestic nights, reached a UEFA Cup semi final, a champions league quarter final and has won the European Championships.

Using that logic then I kinda agree with Omonoia9. Sifakis might be more reliable and perhaps he has more potential, but Nikopolidis has been much more successful at this point. Sifakis was at Olympiakos but couldn't break past Nikopolidis. He then moved to Aris where he established himself as a top Greek keeper, in the Greek league. He hasn't really proved himself anywhere else though or in any other competition.

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