The veteran goalkeeper with the huge career in the Greek stadiums has passed away – Yesterday it became known that he had fallen into a coma due to cancer
The veteran football player has passed away Nikos Sarganis after a battle with cancer.
Yesterday it became known that the 70-year-old former goalkeeper had fallen into a coma.
Nikos Sarganis was born in Rafina on January 13, 1954. He excelled during the 80s playing for Olympiakos, Panathinaikos and other teams. In addition to his good performance under the posts he specialized in penalty kicks, scoring several goals. He was nicknamed “phantom”.
Nikos Sarganis was nominated by Elysianwhich he joined in 1966 at the age of 12 and in 1969 at the age of 15 he made his debut in the men’s team, where he played without a substitute goalkeeper.
Initially playing as a striker, he started playing as a goalkeeper after the suggestion and insistence of former international goalkeeper Christos Riba, when the team’s main goalkeeper was deemed insufficient. At Elysiako, he had an excellent run in the 2nd National Championship, when he scored a long streak of games without conceding a goal.
In 1977 he went to Kastoriawith which he made his debut in the First National Team on 11/9/1977. He made amazing appearances, culminating in the team’s amazing run in the Greek Cup of the 1979-80 period, which he won by beating Heraklis Thessaloniki 5-2.
The next stop in his career was the Olympicwhile at the same time he was called to the national team. With Olympiacos he won three championships (1980-81, 1981-82, 1982-83) and a Greek Cup (1980-81).
In 1985 he transferred to the great rival of the Piraeus team, Panathinaikoswhere he played for five seasons, winning two more championships (1985-86, 1989-90) and three Greek cups (1985-86, 1987-88, 1988-89). In the 1988 final, which was decided on penalties, Nikos Sarganis was the main protagonist as took one penalty and saved twoleading Panathinaikos to its victory.
In 1990 he was transferred to Athenianin which he had another successful appearance, as he finished in 6th place in the league and reached the final of the Greek Cup (1990-91), for the first time in the club’s history. He is the only footballer who has competed in the final of the Greek Cup with four different clubs and the first to win it with three different teams.
As a finalist, Athenaikos earned a place in the Cup Winners’ Cup of the following season (1991-92), where they were drawn with Manchester United. In both matches, Nikos Sarganis was the protagonist and with his amazing saves, especially in the second leg at Old Trafford, he kept a clean sheet. The two matches ended 0-0 and the second match went to extra time, where it finally “bent” 0-2.
In the national Greece
He was called up to the Greek national team for the first time in the autumn of 1980. He made an impressive debut on 15 October 1980 in a 1–0 away win over Denmark in a 1982 World Cup qualifier. volleys by the famous Alan Simonsen from close range contributed to his team’s victory and they forced the Danish journalists to call him “phantom”, a nickname that stuck with him until the end of his career. He competed with the Men’s national team until 1991 in a total of 58 matches.
Coaching career
After his retirement from active action, Nikos Sarganis pursued a coaching career. He holds a diploma of football coach A’ and goalkeeper trainer in the training team of UEFA.
In the May and June 2023 parliamentary elections, he was placed tenth on the State ballot PASOK-KINAL.
Source: Skai
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