Stylianos Giannakopoulos (popularly known as Stelios) (born July
12, 1974 in Athens, Greece) is a Greek football player who
currently plays for Bolton Wanderers F.C. as a midfielder.
He initially started in his homeland of Greece, spending his
first playing season with Ethnikos Asteras. Having been thrust
immediately into first-team action, he found himself scoring six
goals in his opening season, before moving to Paniliakos, where,
in the three years he spent there, he scored 26 goals in 84
games. Olympiacos CFP soon were after his signature.
However, after seven years playing in Greece, and having
achieved such a high rating, he was snapped up by Bolton
Wanderers. Having made his Bolton début in a 4–0 defeat to
Manchester United F.C., and, growing in confidence, he was one
of the players selected for the Greek national team which were
victorious in the 2004 European Football Championship. One of
his most important goals with the Greek national team was
against Spain in Saragosa Stadium, in the qualifying session for
the Euro 2004. He scored the winning goal against Arsenal in an
FA Cup Fourth round match played at the Reebok Stadium on
January 28, 2006. Bolton won 1–0.
Stelios is one of the best Greek football players, and one of
the few who improved their performance significantly after Euro
2004. |
