Demis Nikolaidis

Themistoklis "Demis" Nikolaidis (θεμιστοκλής "Ντέμης" Νικολαΐδης; born 17 September 1973) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a striker.

He was the forty second president of AEK Athens, and is considered one of the greatest forwards Greece has produced.

In his early childhood and teenage years he lived in the city of Alexandroupoli, in the northeast part of Greece.

In a sterling career with Ethnikos Alexandroupolis, Apollon Smyrnis, AEK Athens and Atlético Madrid, Nikolaidis earned his reputation as a "born goalscorer", scoring prolifically for club and country.

His power, pace and skill on the ball have been widely praised.

In his teenage years he played for Ethnikos Alexandroupolis, the local team of his hometown.

The scouts of several teams had seen his progress from these years, earning him a move to Athens.

He made his professional debut at the age of 20 at Apollon Athens.

Demis made his debut for the Greece national football team on 26 April 1995 against Russia.

With Apollon, he reached the Greek Cup final on 15 May 1996, where they were defeated with the record score of 7–1 from AEK Athens.

His performances sparked a bidding war between Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, as well as the striker's childhood favorite club, AEK Athens.

Demis refused to join Olympiacos and forced his club president to sell him to AEK for 288 million drachmas and Pantelis Konstantinidis as an exchange.

At AEK, Nikolaidis linked up with some of the great Greek international players of his generation, including Vasilios Tsiartas, Theodoros Zagorakis, Michalis Kapsis, Grigoris Georgatos, Traianos Dellas, Vasilios Lakis.

With his new side, Nikolaidis excelled, scoring on his debut against Ionikos.

During his time with AEK, Demis managed to win three Greek Cups and the 1996 Greek Super Cup, while he was the top scorer in the 1999 Greek league and second scorer in the 2001 UEFA Cup (1 goal behind Dimitar Berbatov).

He is the top scorer of Greek clubs in European competitions having scored 26 goals in 51 games.

He has scored five goals in a match twice and is the only Greek player to have scored 4 goals in a European match.

Having scored a total of 21 goals in the UEFA Cup he is one of the competition's all-time topscorers.

At AEK he scored 190 goals in 266 games (including European, cup and domestic league games) making him the fourth highest goalscorer for the club.

In 1997 he was called to the military team, where he won the World Military Cup of the same year, playing in the final against Italy.

With AEK struggling in the wake of Psomiadis' corruption and the prospect of relegation to the fourth division looming, Nikolaidis retired at the relatively young age of 31.

In 1999, however, along with Michalis Kasapis and Ilias Atmatsidis, Nikolaidis retired from the national team, protesting for injustice in the Greek football.

Two years later, after the disappointing tenure of coach Vasilis Daniil was brought to an end after disappointing results, he returned to the international fold.

On 24 March 2002, the International Committee for Fair Play awarded him with the Fair Play Award, an honorary diploma for his conduct in the Greek Cup Final on 8 May 2000, between the teams of AEK Athens and Ionikos, when Nikolaidis informed the referee he had used his hand to score a goal that had been allowed as valid.

After quarrelling with owner Makis Psomiadis, later indicted for forgery, and allegedly being assaulted by his bodyguards, Nikolaidis decided the time had come to leave AEK after the 2002–03 season.

He asked and left the team in a mutual consent free transfer, although he was already paid for the rest of his contract.

Atlético Madrid beat several other clubs to land the striker's coveted signature.

Seeing that his number 11 was taken, he wore the number 21 as a tribute to AEK and the Original 21 fan club.

Nikolaidis' first months at the Vicente Calderón Stadium were a tremendous success, he scored six goals and formed a fearsome attacking pair with teenage sensation Fernando Torres.

In his first game in his return, Nikolaidis scored in Greece's 2–2 away draw to England during the 2002 World Cup qualifiers.

However, a series of serious injuries kept him out of the first team for nearly the rest of the season and severely affecting his chances of getting picked for Euro 2004.

Although Atletico wanted to keep him to the roster of the team, Nikolaidis decided to retire from professional football.

New coach Otto Rehhagel focused his offense around the quick striker and was rewarded with direct qualification to the Greek team to represent Greece at Euro 2004.

Even though struggling with injury, Rehhagel nevertheless included him in his Euro 2004 squad.

Greece's new strike force, Zisis Vryzas and Angelos Charisteas, played well enough, but Nikolaidis still figured consistently in the team, coming off the bench in all three group games before starting against France, and leading Greece to a tremendous shock victory.

After that performance, however, Nikolaidis was seriously injured and did not even dress for Greece's last two games.

He amassed 54 caps, netting 17 times for the national team and is among the top 6 goalscorers ever for Greece.

His next move, supported by all AEK fans, was to establish a consortium of businessmen and purchase AEK on 27 May 2004, as he had always dreamed.

Becoming the club's president, Nikolaidis set a goal that he would remove all debts that AEK owed and make them a force in Europe in the space of five years.

He and technical director Ilija Ivić, a former teammate, made several clever signings and fought ferociously for the league title, finishing third when many had expected a mid-table performance.