Vassilis Lakis

Vasilis Lakis
Personal information
Full name	Vasilios Lakis
Date of birth	10 September 1976 (age 45)
Place of birth	Thessaloniki, Greece
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Right winger
Senior career*
Years	Team
1992–1996	Naoussa
1996–1998	Paniliakos
1998–2004	AEK Athens
2004–2005	Crystal Palace
2005–2007	AEK Athens
2007–2009	PAOK
2009–2010	Kavala
Total
National team
1999–2005	Greece
Honours
Men's football
Representing Greece
UEFA European Championship
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Vasilis Lakis (Greek: Βασίλης Λάκης; born 10 September 1976) is a Greek former professional footballer. He was nicknamed "Turbo" for his speed when attacking along the right wing and ability to provide accurate crosses for the strikers in the area.

Club career[]

Naoussa[]

Lakis started his career in for Naoussa and he began his career as a defender but his earliest coaches, recognizing his natural ability, moved him to the attacking wing, where he has since shone. In Naoussa Lakis played with players like the future Greek star Vasilios Tsiartas.

Paniliakos[]

In the summer 1995, Lakis signed for the professional club Panileiakos and in the next season he helped the team to achieve the 7th place in the Greek League and Lakis scored 7 goals for the Panileiakos team.

AEK Athens[]

In the simmer 1998 Lakis signed for AEK Athens and here he played with big stars like, Demis Nikolaidis, that they won two Greek Cup in the 1999–2000 season against Ionikos and in 2001–02 against the rival Olympiakos also with Tsiartas joined from Seville and Theodoros Zagorakis from Leicester City. In the 2001–02 season Lakis with AEK Athens achieved the Fourth round of the 2001–02 UEFA Cup against the Inter Milan of Héctor Raul Cúper. In the 2002–03 season Lakis found also Grigorios Georgatos from Inter Milan and with AEK Athens gained the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League in the same group with big clubs like Roma and Real Madrid. The club nearly beat Real Madrid after leading 3–1 and then 3–3 at home in the old stadium Nikos Goumas Stadium, but AEK Athens took its revenge in Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium drawing 2–2.

Crystal Palace[]

After Greece won Euro 2004, Lakis signed as a free agent for Crystal Palace in the Premiership.^[1] He made 18 league appearances for Palace. He notably missed the goal from 6 yards in the game against Arsenal at Selhurst Park while the score was 1-1.^[2] It is likely that Palace would have won the match had he scored. He was also sent off a in a 0–0 draw with Manchester United.^[3] Unfortunately the club was relegated the same year and Lakis decided to return to Greece and his previous club AEK Athens.

AEK Athens[]

He returned to long-time club AEK Athens and here he found players like, Traianos Dellas that came from Roma and as president Demis Nikolaidis. AEK Athens gained again the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League in the same group of Milan that they beat at home 1–0 with the goal of Júlio César. In the summer 2007 AEK Athens signed the Brazilian Rivaldo from the Olympiacos and the club rich the top of Greek Championship with the Piraeus rival. He is a pacy right winger who can also play up front, known for his fast-paced end-to-end style of play. He is renowned in his home country for his habit of missing easy chances but his speed, cutting passes, and incisive runs into the box more than makeup for this failing.

PAOK[]

On 2 July 2007, Lakis was released by AEK, on 3 July he signed a three-year contract with PAOK, which here he founds Zagorakis as the president of the club and Zisis Vryzas as a player, that they won Euro 2004. Lakis helped his new team to gain the second place in the Greek Championship behind Olympiacos and qualifying PAOK]] for the UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Kavala[]

On 1 July 2009, Lakis signed a two-year contract with the football club Kavala.^[4] Here lakis found the goalkeeper Fanis Katergiannakis that he helped to promote the team in the Greek Super League after ten years. His new club Kavala was the revelation of the Greek Super League fighting for the first six positions and Lakis become one more time one of the most important players with experience.

Lakis with Kavala] reached the semifinal of the Greek Cup against Panionios. In the semifinal Kavala faced Aris.

International career[]

Lakis made 35 appearances for the Greece national football team^[5] and scored his first goal in a friendly match, in April 2000 in Dublin against the Republic of Ireland, in Lansdown Road. The coach Otto Rehhagel called him for the qualification for Euro 2004 and he was included in the Greek squad that won Euro 2004 and made two appearances as a substitute against Portugal in the group-stage and France in the quarterfinal.

International goals[]

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

List of international goals scored by Vassilis Lakis
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition
1	23 February 2000	Kalamata, Greece	Austria	4–1	Friendly
2	26 April 2000	Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Republic of Ireland	1–0	Friendly
3	15 November 2003	Aveiro, Portugal	Portugal	1–1	Friendly