Vangelis Moras

Vangelis Moras (Βαγγέλης Μόρας; born 26 August 1981) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a centre back and currently a manager.

Moras started his football Ampelokipoi Larissa playing as a striker having Marco van Basten as his idol.

In 1999, aged 18, alongside with his Ampelokipoi teammate Kostas Paparizos, he moved to Beta Ethniki side AEL.

During his 2-year sting with AEL, Moras was converted to a defender after Serbian coach Nebojsa Licanin changed his position.

In 2001 after AEL relegated to Gamma Ethniki he signed for Proodeftiki helping the club win promotion and return the first division in 2002.

After having impressed in his first season in the first division, Moras was transferred to AEK Athens for €260,000, as a personal choice of the then coach, Dušan Bajević.

He stayed at the club even at the new effort made by the Demis Nikolaidis administration in 2004 and left in 2007.

With AEK he also competed in European in the UEFA Champions League group stage in 2003 and 2006, while also played in the Cup final on 10 May 2006 losing to Olympiacos.

He left the club on in 2007 after his contract was expired.

On 1 July 2007, Moras signed for the Italian club Bologna.

After his first season there, he helped the club to win promotion to the Serie A.

Moras scored his first goal for Bologna against S.S.C. Napoli scoring the winning goal.

He made 104 appearances in his career at Bologna in all competitions.

On 14 October 2011, it was confirmed that the player had joined Premier League team Swansea City.

Brendan Rodgers’ defensive headache has eased slightly with FIFA finally giving Swansea City the green light to sign Vangelis Moras on a three-month deal.

The Greek defender, a free agent having left Bologna in the summer, agreed terms with Swansea after a successful trial in South Wales, scoring a goal in a friendly against Llanelli on 7 October 2011, but delays in processing the paperwork looked set to leave Rodgers with only one fully fit centre-half for Saturday's trip to Norwich.

He made his Premier League debut in a 2–2 draw with Wolves on 22 October 2011.

Besides the fact that he is regular starter until the end of the 2011/12 season, he left the club after his six-month deal expired in June 2012.

He left the club after his three-month deal expired in January 2012.

Cesena officially signed Moras a free agent after his short-term contract with Swansea expired and has signed a new deal until the end of the season.

The Sea Horses announced that Moras will undergo his medical on Thursday before taking on his first training session.

In his interview, the defender who was under contract until June, was ready to take the field against Novara: "I am happy for my arrival even with a two-years' delay, as last season we were very close. With Swansea I did not go well (only 7 games with 6 of them with the reserve-team), so I desperately want to go back to Italy and I thanks Cesena for this opportunity."

Furthermore, he said that "the situation is difficult but we can save, I'm used to fighting. I know the coach, it was he who took me to Italy, in Bologna, where I stayed four seasons, the best time of my career so far. I am a close friend of Antonioli together we were rossoblù: it was old then, it's old now, nothing has changed."

On 21 January 2012, he made his debut with Cesena in a 5–1 loss with Roma.

On 1 July 2012, Moras signed for the Italian club Hellas Verona.

After his first season there, he helped the club to win promotion to the Serie A.

In June 2013, Panathinaikos is chasing the signature of the Greek international, as the club looks to begin rebuilding after a disappointing season.

The Athenian giants missed out on European football for the first time in almost two decades last season and the club is expected to change its approach to the transfer market drastically this summer.

A key part of that approach will be focusing on bringing in Greek players and staff, whilst avoiding the exorbitant wages it has previously paid for underperforming foreign players.

Moras, who was a key part of Hellas Verona's promotion to Serie A last season, has reportedly been in contact with the club.

Panathinaikos did not easily give up, offering him a two-year contract worth around €200-250,000 a year.

Eventually, the upcoming deal with Panathinaikos did not come to an end and the Greek defender signed with the club for another year.

Moras scored his first goal for Verona against Varese scoring the winning goal.

In a game against Bologna, Moras did not react to a biff from Jonatan Cristaldo during the Serie A match between his club and Bologna FC at Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi on March 2, 2014, in Verona, showing his character and moral.

Additionally, on 9 April 2014, in an interview had made clear that Hellas Verona are not thinking about Europe, but only finishing out the season well.

The club has been one of the surprise packages of the season and until recently were in direct competition for a spot in the Europa League.

However, on from a recent fall in form, their Greek international centre-back has made clear where focus truly lies.

"Europe? I don’t even want to hear that word," he told reporters at a trade event this week.

"We are thinking about every Sunday's game, we will see at the end where we will be. I am not thinking about Europe, it is the only thing that can make me feel bad. Now we hope to close the season out very well, because it is good for the club and for the fans. This was a very difficult season, we were able to achieve safety in March and this was an important thing. It was not easy to reach this target and teams with more experienced players were not able to do it, and we have. Now let's enjoy this moment, we have been through some difficulties and we now think to finish well."

Vangelis Moras will be part of the 23 players of Greece that will fly in Brazil.