Angelos Charisteas

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

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.

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".

At the club, he scored with regularity between 2002 and 2005.

The transfer fee paid to Aris was reported as €3 million.

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.

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.

With Ajax, Charisteas also won the Dutch Cup and the Dutch Super Cup.

Internationally, he was capped 88 times by Greece, scoring 25 goals.

He was a member of the UEFA Euro 2004 winning team, scoring three goals, including the winning goal in the final against Portugal, which was considered as the greatest triumph of the nation.

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.

In December 2004, Charisteas moved to the Netherlands to play for Ajax for a reported fee nearly €5 million.

Greece manager Otto Rehhagel had publicly urged Charisteas to try to move to another club during the January 2005 transfer window, in order to get more first-team action.

Ajax fitted the bill, as they were hoping to find a replacement for Swedish international striker Zlatan Ibrahimović, who had been sold to Juventus.

Charisteas made his Ajax debut on 23 January 2005 against FC Utrecht and scored his first goal four days later against SC Heerenveen.

However, he only managed three more games all season.

Charisteas netted home eight goals in the 2005–06 season, which included a late winner against Vitesse Arnhem.

Charisteas missed Greece's crucial match in the World Cup qualifying due to a head injury received after colliding with Arsenal's Kolo Touré in a Champions League match which Ajax lost 2–1.

Under new Ajax manager Henk ten Cate, Charisteas was the 5th striker behind Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Ryan Babel, Markus Rosenberg, and Rydell Poepon.

Ten Cate explained this by saying that Charisteas is a great striker for the 4–4–2 formation, but not for the 4–3–3 formation, which is played for Ajax.

Despite stating that he was only interested in a move to England or Germany, Charisteas signed for arch-rivals Feyenoord in Rotterdam on 31 August 2006, the final day of the summer transfer window.

This move caused a great deal of agitation in Rotterdam with parts of The Legion, stating that they did not want an Ajax player at their club, protesting the move at De Kuip with the chant "Wij Willen geen neus."

(translated as: "we don't want a nose," nose being derogatory slang for Ajax players) and demanded that chairman Jorien van den Herik resign.

Despite the protests, Charisteas made his debut for Feyenoord on 10 September against Sparta Rotterdam and played the full game.

He eventually scored his first goal for his new club in his tenth game.

Although he seemed to have convinced some fans at a certain point, Charisteas never enjoyed a good relationship with Feyenoord supporters.

He finished the season having played a total of 28 games for Feyenoord, netting nine goals.

On 6 July 2007, 1. FC Nürnberg confirmed a deal with Feyenoord to sign Charisteas on a four-year deal worth €2.5 million.

He also represented Greece at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup.

Since 2019, he works as sporting director for Aris.

At club level he played for Aris Thessaloniki, Werder Bremen, Ajax, Feyenoord, Bayer Leverkusen, Schalke 04, Arles-Avignon, and Al-Nassr.

In 2019, Charisteas was also a political deputy in his regional department in Greece.

After a few years playing for non-league Strimonikos Serron, Charisteas eventually started his professional career with Greek side Aris Thessaloniki.