Michalis Konstantinou

Michalis Konstantinou (born February 19, 1978 in Paralimni, Cyprus) is a Cypriot football (soccer) striker who currently plays for Olympiacos in the Super League. He also plays for the Cyprus national football team, and is already the all-time leading scorer with 24 goals in 52 appearances.

An absolute hero at his former club Iraklis FC, Michalis Konstantinou is a powerful Cypriot striker who reportedly turned down offers from a number of leading clubs to sign for his boyhood team, Panathinaikos FC. However, he subsequently joined their city rivals Olympiacos in 2005.

He got his start in professional football playing for Cypriot side Enosis Neon Paralimni FC,for whom he scored 17 goals in 25 games in the 1996/97 season and became top goal scorer of Cypriot First Division. Picked up by Iraklis in Greece in 1997-98 in Greek football, Konstantinou proved a huge hit, his four seasons produced a total of 60 goals in 119 appearances and he also played in the UEFA Cup.

The spearhead of the Cypriot attack, he made his international debut against Albania national football team in August 1998 and subsequently averaged almost a goal every other game in his first 35 caps. His first two goals came on the February 10 1999 against San Marino national football team at Tsirion stadium (final score 4-0). His blossoming coincided with Cyprus national football team's vast improvement as a footballing force, although they failed to reach the play-offs for either the 2000 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying or 2004 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying. He scored also 2 goals against the Republic of Ireland national football team in 2006 in football (soccer).

In 2001-02 in Greek football, signed in a deal which took three Panathinaikos FC players to Iraklis, Konstantinou transferred to Panathinaikos for €11.3 million. It was an extraordinary move, but many believed that the young Cypriot striker was more than gifted enough to justify Panathanaikos's dramatic bid of €11.3m - the most ever paid for a Cypriot player.

The added pressure did not faze Konstantinou; with Panathinaikos, he had the opportunity to play in the UEFA Champions League, and he earned praise for his role in the team's performance there. He scored a majestic effort in the Camp Nou in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg defeat by FC Barcelona. His impressive goal was thought to be Panathinaikos' ticket to the semi-finals, as they needed to conceide 3 goals afterwards to be eliminated. Unfortunately for Konstantinou's team, Barcelona did deliver and won 3-1.

Furthermore, Panathinaikos fans were getting anxious that all the money they've spent didn't translate to silverware. His second season proved less stellar, injury restricting his involvement to 21 league games and it was then that Konstantinou's popularity amongst Panathinaikos fans received its most lethal hit.

Konstantinou tried to turn things around, with a Man of the Match performance in the 2003-04 in Greek football Greek football Cup final after scoring twice, but he was not so prolific in the league - registering just five times. Thus, he failed to tie his name with the club's only successes this decade.

In 2004-05 in Greek football he had a very good season, with 15 goals, even as Panathinaikos lost the title to Olympiacos. Konstantinou even scored against Olympiacos to give his team the 1-0 win, but it was deemed as too little, too late for the €11.3 million signing and his contract was not renewed. Olympiacos CFP jumped at the chance and Konstantinou signed a three-year deal with the The Champion & Cup Winner, on July 14, 2005.

Rumours has it that eventhough the contract offered by Panathinaikos was better he did not accepted it ans signed to Olympiakos for less money.This was due to the fact that he was under growing pressure by Panathinaikos supporters and officers to marry the daughter of the diseased coach Kyrastas,which he impregnated but he didn't .Supporters of Panathinaikos were further disappointed when he and Nikopolides made selfish acts to diminish the clubs prestige such as declaring in public their devotion to Olumpiakos and giving away free t-shirts of their newly signed team . His last season 2006-2007 was the worst in his carrer since he only scored two goals with Olympiakos.

As an Olympiacos player he won with his team the Double for 2005-06 in Greek football and doubled his personal collection - the first being with Panathinaikos. At the Greek Cup final in 2005/06, where Olympiacos beat AEK FC 3-0, Konstantinou scored Olympiacos' first goal. He also notably scored a late strike to make it 1-2 in the early season league victory of Olympiacos against AEK FC (final score 1-3) and a crowd-pleaser against his former team, Panathinaikos, to make it 3-1 (with the match ending 3-2). He became for second consecutive time champion again with Olympiakos in 2006-07 in Greek football. Even though the season was full of injuries and bad luck for himself, he still managed to perform well on some important matches, most notably scoring on the away Champions League match at Shakhtar Donetsk.