Michalis Kapsis

Michalis Kapsis (, born 18 October 1973) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He was an integral part of Greece's UEFA Euro 2004 winning squad.

Club career

Aris Nikeas
Kapsis started his football career in 1990 at Aris Nikeas, where he turned in a number of impressive performances in 21 games.

AO Neapolis
In the summer 1991, he joined AO Neapolis having an impressive performances for the club playing in 24 games.

Anagennisi Arta
In the following season, Kapsis signed for the Greek Third Division side, Anagennisi Arta. There, Kapsis played for 1 season having played 18 matches, scoring once.

Ethnikos Piraeus
In 1993 he was transferred to Ethnikos Piraeus where he established himself at the club as a center-back. In his first season, Kapsis helped the team to win the second division championship in 1994 and to get promoted to the first division. He was a key player for the club in the following years, playing to both first and second division winning another second division championship in 1998.

AEK Athens
In January 1999, Dimitris Melisanidis brought Kapsis to AEK Athens. He quickly became a regular and he was paired in defence alongside players such as Nikos Kostenoglou, Carlos Gamarra, Mauricio Wright, Vangelis Moras and Traianos Dellas, with whom they also formed the national team's defensive duo. In 2001, where he was fined for his involvement in a training ground incident with Ilias Atmatsidis, as AEK surrendered the championship to Olympiacos in the final matchdays of the season. In 2002, he played in AEK's six draws in the UEFA Champions League group stage. The following season, Kapsis was his usual consistent self, despite the disappointing season for AEK, who finished fifth. During his spell at the club he won 2 Greek Cups in 2000 and 2002. In the summer of 2004, AEK faced administrative and financial issues and as a result Kapsis was among the footballers that left the club.

Bordeaux
After the EURO 2004, was transferred to Bordeaux for €500,000. He played 29 league matches in France,. After this performance many club made an offer to Kapsis for a possible new contract.

Olympiacos
In the summer 2005 he signed two-year deal with the then champions, Olympiacos. He failed to settle at the club of Piraeus. His frequent injuries and the lack of confidence from successive coaches, deprived him of a first-team slot. There was often speculation about his future at the club, and he was allegedly offered as an exchange in a failed transfer bid for PAOK's Dimitris Salpingidis. At end of the season he won his first Championship and with the conquest of the Cup, he also won the domestic double. Trond Sollied announced on 31 August 2006 that Kapsis would not be included in the team eligible to participate in the Champions League.

APOEL
In February 2007 Kapsis moved to Cyprus to play for APOEL in Nicosia, and helped the club win the champion title race in 2007. The agreement was for that season only with the option to renew for the next one. Kapsis renewed, extremely pleased with the club. In August 2007 PAOK chairman and former teammate in Greece, Theodoros Zagorakis was interested in bringing him to PAOK. Kapsis stated that was flattered of PAOK's interest, but was also under a contract at APOEL. At the end of the season he also won the 2008 Cypriot Cup.

Levadiakos
In July 2008 he returned to Greece to sign a 2-year contract with Levadiakos. Kapsis made his debut for Levadiakos in the Super League on 31 August 2008 against Aris at the Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium. He helped the team during the season to stay in the category, being one of the most important and experienced players for his club. The following season he played his first match against Kavala, where he faced his former teammates in the national team, Fanis Katergiannakis and Vasilios Lakis.

Ethinikos Piraeus
In February 2010 Kapsis returned to Ethnikos Piraeus, as he desire to play for the team where he debuted as a professional player before retiring.

International career
Kapsis with his great performances at a club level, earned a call-up in 2003, to play for Greece in the critical UEFA EURO 2004 qualifying matches against Spain and Ukraine. In those matches he marked Raúl González and Andriy Shevchenko superbly, where Greece won in both games. Afterwards, he was naturally included in the squad of UEFA Euro 2004 that ended up winning the tournament and in particular Kapsis achieved a great performance. Kapsis was included in the Greek squad for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup in Germany. Otto Rehhagel also included him in the squad for the qualifying rounds to the UEFA Euro 2008 in Switzerland and Austria. Kapsis made 34 appearances in total and even scored once against Georgia for the FIFA World Cup qualification 2006 on 26 March 2005 in Georgia, where Greece won by 1–3.

Personal life
His father, Anthimos, was also a footballer, who played as a defender for Panathinaikos, where he was a key player in their course to the 1971 European Cup final. In 2002 when Kapsis debuted in the Champions League, became the first player in Greek football that was featured alongside his father, in a Champions League match. The two were followed some years later by Georgios Samaras, son of Ioannis.

After football
After the end of his career, Kapsis was not involved with football and stayed away from the publicity "lights". Today he is a Fire captain in the Hellenic Fire Service.

Honours

Ethnikos Piraeus
Beta Ethniki: 1993–94, 1997–98

AEK Athens
Greek Cup: 1999–2000, 2001–02

Olympiacos
Alpha Ethniki: 2005–06
Greek Cup: 2005–06

APOEL
Cypriot First Division: 2006–07
Cypriot Cup: 2007–08

Greece
UEFA European Championship: 2004

References

Living people
1973 births
Footballers from Piraeus
Men's association football central defenders
Greece men's international footballers
UEFA European Championship-winning players
UEFA Euro 2004 players
European champions for Greece
2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players
Super League Greece players
Cypriot First Division players
Ligue 1 players
Anagennisi Arta F.C. players
Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. players
AEK Athens F.C. players
FC Girondins de Bordeaux players
Olympiacos F.C. players
APOEL FC players
Levadiakos F.C. players
Greek expatriate men's footballers
Greek expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus
Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus
Greek expatriate sportspeople in France
Expatriate men's footballers in France
Greek men's footballers