Aggelos Charisteas

Angelos Charisteas (, ; born 9 February 1980) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a forward.

At club level he played for Aris Thessaloniki, Werder Bremen, Ajax, Feyenoord, Bayer Leverkusen, Schalke 04, Arles-Avignon, and Al-Nassr. In 2004, he won the double with Werder Bremen, earning Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal medals and was also the club's Sportsman of the Year. where he started his professional career. It was during his first season at Aris that Charisteas started making a name for himself, scoring twice in nine matches as they won the Greek second division in 1997–98. Charisteas started well in his first season in the Greek top league and got further noticed when he scored twice in the local derby against Thessaloniki rivals PAOK. The striker made twelve appearances in the Alpha Ethniki – six as a substitute – before a loan at Athinaikos in 1998–99. He returned to Aris the following season and made his European debut in a UEFA Cup defeat by Celta de Vigo at the age of 19. Charisteas was continuously developing and in the 2000–01 season, where he scored seven goals.

Werder Bremen On 29 January 2002, Charisteas joined Bundesliga side Werder Bremen, signing a four-year contract valid from the summer, having been watched by scouts from a number of Europe's leading sides.

Werder Bremen Sporting director, Klaus Allofs attested "Angelos is strong header of the ball, very fast and has good tactical behaviour". He had a successful first season scoring nine goals in 31 appearances in the Bundesliga and two goals from four games in the UEFA Cup.

In the 2003–04 season, Werder Bremen won the Bundesliga and the German Cup with Charisteas scoring four goals from 24 appearances.

On 29 September 2004, Charisteas contributed a goal in his side's 2–1 win against Valencia in the Champions League. In total, he scored five goals in 11 matches for Werder Bremen the 2004–05 season.

Ajax In December 2004, Charisteas moved to the Netherlands to play for Ajax for a reported fee nearly €5 million. He scored his first two official team goals in a 6–0 victory against fourth division club SC Victoria Hamburg.

At the beginning of the 2009–10 season, he returned to the newly promoted Nürnberg. His first goal of the season came on 12 March 2010, when he scored the winning goal in the 1–2 away win against Hertha BSC, helping Nürnberg to avoid the relegation, before Otto Rehhagel called him up to the Greece national team for the 2010 World Cup.

Bayer Leverkusen On 2 February 2009, he was loaned out to Bayer Leverkusen until the end of the season, Charisteas made a total of seven appearances, scoring no goals, before his contract was terminated on 26 November 2010.

Schalke 04 On 30 January 2011, Schalke 04 formalized his arrival. Charisteas signed a contract on 30 June 2011, until the end of the season. In his debut match for Schalke, he scored the second goal in a 2–1 home win against Eintracht Frankfurt. It was his first touch of the ball, having been on the pitch for only 52 seconds. On 13 April 2011, Charisteas reached the semi-finals of the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League with Schalke, beating in the quarter-finals the defending champion Inter Milan, Charisteas replaced the Brazilian Edu in the 32nd minute of the second half.

On 21 May 2011, Charisteas won the German Cup with Schalke 04.

Panetolikos On 27 July 2011, Charisteas joined Panetolikos, newly promoted to the Super League, signing a one-year contract. His first goal of the season came on 14 September 2011 when he scored the winning goal in the 1–0 home win against Asteras Tripolis.

Al-Nassr After interest from Inter Milan, reported in the newspaper Corriere dello Sport, on 17 February 2013, Charisteas signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Al-Nassr FC. Charisteas played his debut in the final of the 2012–13 Saudi Crown Prince Cup against Al-Hilal FC on 22 February 2013. After 90 minutes penalties had to be taken and Charisteas missed the fourth.

International career After having been a regular player for the Greek U21 side, Charisteas made his international debut in February 2001 in a 3–3 draw against Russia. His impact was immediate as he scored two of the goals for Greece that day. His prolific goal scoring continued, eventually helping his team qualify for the Euro 2004.

During the victorious Euro 2004 campaign, Charisteas scored three goals: one in the group stage against Spain, one against France in the quarterfinals and the winning goal against the host country Portugal in the final on 4 July, securing himself a permanent place in the history of the sport. The win against Portugal was also considered as the greatest triumph of the nation.

Style of play Charisteas played primarily as a target man. He initially worked loosely as a player agent, and obtained a UEFA B license before registering to acquire further coaching certificates.

Career statistics Club

International

Scores and results list Greece's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Charisteas goal.

Honours Werder Bremen Bundesliga: 2003–04 DFB-Pokal: 2003–04

Ajax Dutch Cup: 2005–06 Dutch Super Cup: 2005–06

Bayer Leverkusen DFB-Pokal runners-up: 2008–09

Schalke 04 DFB-Pokal: 2010–11

Al-Nassr Crown Prince Cup runners-up: 2012–13

Greece European Championship: 2004

Individual UEFA Euro 2004: UEFA Team of the Tournament