Dimitris Papadopoulos

Dimitrios Papadopoulos (Δημήτριος Παπαδόπουλος; born 20 October 1981 in Uzbekistan, Jizzakh region, Mirzachul district) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Papadopoulos started his career from the youth academies of Greek minnows Akratitos, and made his debut in 1999, contributing to the team's promotion to Alfa Ethniki in 2001 for the first time in its history.

Shortly after, Papadopoulos was transferred to Burnley in England, for a transfer fee reported to be €500,000.

He stayed at the club for two seasons.

In July 2003, Burnley sold Papadopoulos to Panathinaikos for a reported €200,000 including a sell-on clause in which Burnley could profit from future transfers.

Papadopoulos starred in his very first season with Panathinaikos becoming its top scorer with 17 goals in 26 games and winning the double with the club.

It was the first championship in almost 10 years of Olympiacos Domination in the Greek championship.

He was subsequently voted best footballer of that year in the league and was awarded a place in the Euro 2004 Greek squad that went on to win the tournament.

He played in the game against Russia and had a contribution in the Greece goal that determined its qualification to the next round.

He also took part in the Greek Olympic Football team during the Olympic Games of Athens 2004 in the very same summer.

An integral part of the Panathinaikos offence, he signed a three-year extension with the team in the summer of 2006 and his stellar performances were one of the reasons that the team's board let fellow starter Michalis Konstantinou leave the team.

Papadopoulos had not scored two goals in one match of the Greek league since 26 November 2006.

On 13 November 2008, Serie A club Lecce announced to have signed Papadopoulos in a free transfer.

He made his Italian Serie A debut for Lecce on 18 January 2009 in a home match at the Stadio Via del Mare against Genoa C.F.C. coming on as a substitute for Gianni Munari late in the match.

He scored his first goal in the Serie A on 19 April against A.S. Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.

On 26 June 2009, he signed a three-year contract worth €650,000 annually with the Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb.

He contributed to Dinamo Zagreb, scoring goals to go forward in the Croatian cup and to win the Croatian League.

On 22 January 2010, Papadopoulos signed a contract with Celta Vigo until the end of the season.

Things looked good for him but in late April, he got injured and was unable to play regularly.

During the next summer, Celta Vigo signed striker David Rodríguez and winger Quique de Lucas in order to strengthen the squad.

This relegated Papadopoulos to the position of third striker of the team and therefore he was not included in many of the team's lineups during that season.

At the beginning of the 2010–11 season, Celta Vigo's manager Paco Herrera claimed that he would not count with Papadopoulos any more, putting pressure on him to leave the club due to his high salary and his poor performances.

Although he played more than 20 matches, he failed to score more than a single goal.

In January 2012, Papadopoulos moved on loan to Levadiakos of the Greek Super League, but he failed to score a goal although the team finished in 7th place.

In the summer of 2012 he moved to Panthrakikos.

He made his debut against his former team Panathinaikos, scoring the winning goal.

On 8 October he scored a penalty in the 1–0 away victory against Levadiakos, another ex-team.

On 11 November 2012, Papadopoulos scored his fourth goal of the season against Asteras Tripolis giving the victory to Panthrakikos and he was elected Man of the Match.

On 26 November 2012 he scored two goals against Aris Thessaloniki allowing Panthrakikos to win 4–0.

On 15 December 2012 he scored the second goal of the 2–0 away win against Kerkyra.

His contract was due to expire in 2013.

On 16 January 2013 he made his first appearance in the Greek Cup after several years against Apollon Smyrni replacing Leonidas Kyvelidis in the 78th minute.

On 19 January 2013, he scored another goal against Panathinaikos at the Athens Olympic Stadium, drawing the goal of Toché.

On 13 March 2013 he reached the semifinals of the Greek Cup with Panthrakikos.

On 7 April 2013 he scored a penalty leading to a 3–1 win against OFI Crete; with this goal Papadopoulos reached 10 goals in the Greek Super League.

Papadopoulos was named Best Player of the Super League.

The player of Panthrakikos stood out with his performances in the Greek Super League.

He was the top goal-scorer of his team, scoring 11 times.

In critical games, Papadopoulos excelled, helping his team to finish mid-table and avoid relegation comfortably.

Panthrakikos also reached the semi-finals of the Greek Cup.