Michalis Konstantinou
# Michalis Konstantinou

Michalis Konstantinou (Greek: Μιχάλης Κωνσταντίνου; born 19 February 1978) is a Cypriot former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played for the Cyprus national football team, and he is the all-time leading scorer with 32 goals in 85 appearances. He also played for Iraklis, Panathinaikos and Olympiacos in Greece.

## Club career

### Early

Born in Paralimni, he got his start in professional football playing for hometown side Enosis Neon Paralimni, for whom he scored 17 goals in 25 games in the 1996/97 season and became top goal scorer of Cypriot Championship.

### Iraklis Thessaloniki

Picked up by Iraklis Thessaloniki in Greece in 1997, his four seasons produced a total of 61 goals in 119 appearances as he also played in the UEFA Cup.

### Panathinaikos

In 2001, in a deal which took three Panathinaikos players to Iraklis, Konstantinou transferred to Panathinaikos for €15 million. It was a successful purchase, but many believed that the young Cypriot striker was worth less than the expenditure of €15 million made by Panathinaikos – the highest figure ever paid for a player in the Greek Superleague. With Panathinaikos, he had the opportunity to play in the Champions League, earning praise for his performances in attack. There he found with the Portuguese players Paulo Sousa and later Robert Jarni, taking Panathinakos a long way in the competition. He scored a beautiful 45m goal in the Nou Camp return in the quarter-final against Barcelona in the Champions 2001/02. Panathinaikos seemed to ensure its marking the semi-finals, as they were needed 3 goals to go to the Spaniards. Barça, however, came back and won 3–1, qualifying for the semi-finals.

In 2004/05 he had 15 goals. Konstantinou scored against the champions in a 1–0 home win, at the end of the season Konstantinou did not renew with Panathinaikos, because he stated that he was going to continue his footballing career in a league of higher value to gain better experience.

That summer though, he was not signed by a club overseas and was signed by Olympiacos.

### Olympiakos

As an Olympiacos player he won with his team the double for 2005/06 and made it two in his career. At the Greek Cup final in 2005/06, where Olympiacos beat AEK Athens 3–0, Konstantinou scored Olympiacos' first goal. He also notably scored a late strike to make it 1–2 in the early season league victory of Olympiacos against AEK Athens (final score 1–3) and a crowd-pleaser against his former team, Panathinaikos, to make it 3–1 (match ended 3–2). He became for the second consecutive time champion again with Olympiakos in 2007, even though the season was full of personal injuries and bad luck, he still managed to perform well on some important matches, most notably scoring on the away Champions League match at Shakhtar Donetsk. During the 2007–2008 season, he has suffered from injuries and has lost his starting position to Darko Kovacevic. It was the last season at Olympiakos.

### Iraklis Thessaloniki

Konstantinou started the 2008–09 season in Greece at Iraklis where he started his career in Greece in 1997. He spent some seasons at Iraklis before going to Panathinaikos back in 1997. Here he played 13 matches of which he scored three goals.

### Omonoia Nicosia

Halfway through the 2008–2009 season, Konstantinou was transferred to Cyprus to play for Omonia. During the 2009–2010 season, he scored several goals for the club, including in derbies against rivals APOEL, Anorthosis, and Apollon. After taking a leadership and mentor role with the team in his first full season in 2010, Konstantinou helped Omonoia to win its 20th Cypriot Championship and in the club he found his couch Takis Lemonis that was also his coach in Olympiacos.

### Anorthosis Famagusta

In Summer 2011, Konstantinou signed a contract with Anorthosis Famagusta.

### AEL Limasssol

In Summer 2012, Konstantinou signed a one-year contract with AEL Limassol.

### Retirement

In January 2014, he announced his retirement from football as a player.

## International career

He made his international debut against Albania in August 1998 and subsequently averaged almost a goal every other game in his first 35 caps. His first two goals came 10 February 1999 against San Marino at Tsirion Stadium (final score 4–0).

### International goals

Michalis Konstantinou: International goals :

| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 10 February 1999 | Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus | San Marino | 2–0 | 4–0 | Euro 2000 qualifying |
| 2 | 10 February 1999 | Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus | San Marino | 3–0 | 4–0 | Euro 2000 qualifying |
| 3 | 2 February 2000 | Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus | Lithuania | 1–0 | 2–1 | Cyprus International Tournament |
| 4 | 2 February 2000 | Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus | Lithuania | 2–1 | 2–1 | Cyprus International Tournament |
| 5 | 2 September 2000 | Estadi Comunal d'Andorra la Vella, Andorra la Vella, Andorra | Andorra | 0–1 | 2–3 | 2002 World Cup qualifying |
| 6 | 2 September 2000 | Estadi Comunal d'Andorra la Vella, Andorra la Vella, Andorra | Andorra | 2–3 | 2–3 | 2002 World Cup qualifying |
| 7 | 28 March 2001 | Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus | Estonia | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2002 World Cup qualifying |
| 8 | 15 August 2001 | A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia | Estonia | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2002 World Cup qualifying |
| 9 | 15 August 2001 | A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia | Estonia | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2002 World Cup qualifying |
| 10 | 5 September 2001 | Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus | Portugal | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2002 World Cup qualifying |
| 11 | 12 February 2002 | GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus | Switzerland | 1–0 | 1–1 | Cyprus International Tournament |
| 12 | 13 February 2002 | GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus | Czech Republic | 3–3 | 3–4 | Cyprus International Tournament |
| 13 | 29 January 2003 | GSZ Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus | Greece | 1–0 | 1–2 | Friendly |
| 14 | 2 April 2003 | Bežigrad Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia | Slovenia | 1–1 | 4–1 | Euro 2004 qualifying |
| 15 | 7 June 2003 | Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta | Malta | 0–1 | 1–2 | Euro 2004 qualifying |
| 16 | 7 June 2003 | Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta | Malta | 0–2 | 1–2 | Euro 2004 qualifying |
| 17 | 18 August 2004 | GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus | Albania | 1–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 18 | 18 August 2004 | GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus | Albania | 2–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 19 | 8 September 2004 | Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel | Israel | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2006 World Cup qualifying |
| 20 | 9 October 2004 | GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus | Faroe Islands | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2006 World Cup qualifying |
| 21 | 17 August 2005 | Svangaskarð, Toftir, Faroe Islands | Faroe Islands | 0–1 | 0–3 | 2006 World Cup qualifying |
| 22 | 17 August 2005 | Svangaskarð, Toftir, Faroe Islands | Faroe Islands | 0–2 | 0–3 | 2006 World Cup qualifying |
| 23 | 7 October 2006 | GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus | Republic of Ireland | 1–1 | 5–2 | Euro 2008 qualifying |
| 24 | 7 October 2006 | GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus | Republic of Ireland | 3–2 | 5–2 | Euro 2008 qualifying |
| 25 | 8 September 2007 | Dasaki Stadium, Achna, Cyprus | Armenia | 3–1 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 26 | 11 October 2008 | Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi, Georgia | Georgia | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2010 World Cup qualifying |
| 27 | 28 March 2009 | Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus | Georgia | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2010 World Cup qualifying |
| 28 | 6 June 2009 | Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus | Montenegro | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2010 World Cup qualifying |
| 29 | 10 October 2009 | Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus | Bulgaria | 3–1 | 4–1 | 2010 World Cup qualifying |
| 30 | 11 August 2010 | Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus | Andorra | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 31 | 3 September 2010 | Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimarães, Portugal | Portugal | 1–2 | 4–4 | Euro 2012 qualifying |
| 32 | 9 February 2011 | Paralimni Stadium, Paralimni, Cyprus | Romania | 1–1 | 1–1 | Cyprus International Tournament |

## Honours

### Club

Panathinaikos

* Super League Greece: 2003–04
* Greek Cup: 2003–04

Olympiacos

* Super League Greece: 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08
* Greek Cup: 2005–06, 2007–08
* Greek Super Cup: 2007

Omonia

* Cypriot First Division: 2009–10
* Cypriot Cup: 2010–11
* Cypriot Super Cup: 2010

### Individual

* Cypriot First Division Top scorer: 1996–97
* Greek Cup MVP: 2003–04, 2005–06
