Stefanos Kapino

Stefanos Kapino (Στέφανος Καπίνος; born 18 March 1994) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Super League club Panetolikos.

Stefanos was born in Piraeus to an ethnic Greek family who came to Greece from southern Albania (Northern Epirus).

He began playing football in the youth system of the amateur club Aetos based in Korydallos, Piraeus.

Although he was firstly approached by Olympiacos scouts, and even trained with the team for two and a half months, Panathinaikos were the ones to secure his signature in June 2007 for a fee of €17,000.

At Panathinaikos, he gradually established himself as a member of the starting lineup for the club's under-18 and under-21 teams.

On 17 September 2011, during a Super League match against Atromitos, Kapino made his debut for Panathinaikos' men's team, coming on as a substitute after his teammate Orestis Karnezis was sent off.

With that appearance, he became the youngest goalkeeper to ever play for Panathinaikos, at the age of 17 years, six months and nine days.

He went on to play the following 11 matches, finishing his first season with 12 appearances.

The 2012–13 season saw Panathinaikos use four different managers – Jesualdo Ferreira, the Argentine Juan Ramón Rocha, Spanish Fabri and finally Giannis Vonortas – while the club finished sixth in the league.

Kapino was limited to one appearances, in a home 3–2 win against Veria.

In summer 2013 he was linked with Arsenal, Inter Milan and Manchester United and it was reported a move to Napoli had broken down.

The 2013–14 season proved to be Kapino's best season at Panathinaikos.

He started as regular to most of the Super League games and as a consequence was selected for the final squad of the 2014 World Cup.

In 2014, Kapino moved to German Bundesliga side Mainz 05 for a transfer fee of reportedly €2.2 million and signed a four-year contract until 2018.

He had to compete with Loris Karius for a spot in the starting grid.

He made his Bundesliga debut on 7 February 2015 at home versus Hertha BSC as a 34th minute replacement for Christian Clemens after the starting goalkeeper Loris Karius was given a red card for a foul on the last man.

After one year with Mainz, during which he could not establish himself, Kapino moved back to his native Greece to join Olympiacos, rivals of his former club Panathinaikos, on a three-year deal for a transfer of believed to be €2 million.

He was part of the starting XI of the squad in the 2015–16 Greek Football Cup season, except in the final where Olympiacos were defeated by rivals AEK Athens in an empty Olympic Stadium.

He made his Greek Super League debut for Olympiacos on 21 March 2016 away to Asteras Tripolis.

On 27 July 2016, Kapino made his first European appearance with the club in the 3rd qualifying round of UEFA Champions League against the Israeli champions Hapoel Be'er Sheva He started the 2016–17 season as the indisputable first goalkeeper of the club.

On 6 November 2016, he suffered a muscular injury during the second half of the 3–0 home win in the derby against Panathinaikos and was substituted by Nicola Leali.

The injury would keep him on the sidelines for three to four weeks ruling him out of the Greece squad to face Belarus and Bosnia.

On 19 March 2017, Kapino returned to action following his replacement Leali's mistakes in two Europa League matches against Besiktas

making saves that prevented a bigger defeat for Olympiacos in an away 1–0 derby loss against rivals Panathinaikos.

He started the 2017–18 season as the undisputed first goalkeeper of the club, despite the acquisition of ex-Belgian international Silvio Proto.

On 24 September 2017, Kapino was demoted to the club's U-20 squad ahead of an important UEFA Champions League game against Juventus following mistakes in the team's 3–2 Super League away loss against rivals AEK Athens after leading 0–2.

This proved to be the last league game for Kapino who, after also appearing and underperforming in two Greek Cup fixtures, was put on the out-of-favour player list by Olympiacos on 4 December 2017.

He was unable to find a club to continue his career after the end of the January 2018 transfer window, leading the Olympiacos board to the termination of his contract and his release on a free transfer.

On 7 February 2018, days before the end of the transfer window for unattached players, Kapino signed with EFL Championship side Nottingham Forest, under the presidency of chairman Evangelos Marinakis, on an 18-month deal.

On 21 April 2018, he made his debut with the club as a starter, in a 2–1 away loss against Cardiff City.

On 1 August 2018, Kapino joined Bundesliga side Werder Bremen for an undisclosed fee.

On 19 January 2019, he sat on the bench for the first time in a 1–0 home win against Hannover 96.

On 13 April 2019, he made his debut with the club replacing the injured Jiří Pavlenka in the second half of a 2–1 Bundesliga home win game against SC Freiburg.

In July 2019, Kapino agreed a contract extension with the club.

On 7 March 2019, almost a year since his last appearance as a starter, Kapino was in the starting XI replacing Pavlenka, who had been injured midweek.

Kapino joined 2. Bundesliga club SV Sandhausen on loan for the rest of the season in January 2021.

Kapino moved to Bundesliga club Arminia Bielefeld for an undisclosed fee in August 2021, having agreed a contract until 2023.

On 18 December, after regular goalkeeper Stefan Ortega had to self-quarantine after testing positive to COVID-19, Kapino played in a 2-0 away victory against RB Leipzig, in his club effort to avoid relegation.

According to media reports, he signed a contract until 2020 with an option of a further year while the transfer fee paid to Nottingham Forest was estimated at €300,000 which could rise up to €1 million depending on bonuses.

A week later, he suffered an injury which could rule him out for three months.