Personal

Full name:	Sotiris Ninis
Birth Date:	3rd April, 1990
Place of Birth:	Himarë (former part of Greece), Albania
Height:	173 cm, 5′ 8″
Weight:	72 Kg
Nickname:	“Greek Lionel Messi”

Professional

Position:

Midfielder, Playmaker

Club

Panathinaikos

Joined In:	2003
First Game:	7th January, 2007
Jersey No:	7
Appearances:	42
Goals Scored:	3

Greece

First Game:	May 19, 2008
Jersey No:	2
Appearances:	3
Goals Scored:	1

Awards

• Greek Young Footballer of the year: 2007
• Named in UEFA U-19 European Championships 2007 “Names to Note”; the best 11 players of the tournament
• UEFA U-19 European Championships Silver medal

Biography

Sotiris Ninis began his career in Panathinaikos’ feeder club Apollon Smyrnis. He later joined Panathinaikos and became an integral part of the Youth Squad.

In January, Panathinaikos coach Víctor Muñoz selected him in the main squad for the match against Egaleo at the Olympic Stadium, after signing a five year contract with the club just 2 weeks prior. He earned the title of the Superleague Matchday MVP and set a record for being  the second youngest player ever to represent the club in a league match, at the age of sixteen (the first was Kostas Antoniou -15 years old- in 1978).

In February 2007, he officially rejected a call to play for the Albanian Under-21 national team. On February 18, Ninis lead Panathinaikos in a 1–4 win over rivals AEK Athens in the Olympic Stadium, scoring one goal and assisting two others. On July 6, 2007 Ninis signed a professional contract with Panathinaikos.

The 2007/08 season was marred by injuries and non-selection. First a hamstring injury followed by stomach muscle injuries, which ruled him out of action for three months. It is thought that these injuries arose due to burnout from playing too many games at a young age. He eventually returned in December, but was not part of the Panathinaikos first team for the remainder of the season.

The 2008/09 season began well for Ninis. New manager Henk ten Cate showed faith in him by featuring him regularly in Panathinaikos’ pre-season training. He repaid this faith through his performances against teams such as R. Charleroi S.C. Entered the pitch at half-time, Ninis assisted three goals and scored one, aiding Panathiniakos to a 5-1 victory against the Belgian club. On 11 August 2008, Ninis had been selected to be one of the new captains of Panathinaikos, along with fellow players Dimitris Salpigidis and Gilberto Silva. On September 23, 2008, Ninis extended his contract with “The Greens” for an extra 4 years and will be at the club until 2012, with a €10m buy-out clause for any foreign team, rising to €17m if a Greek side are interested.

Ninis played with Greece national under-19 football team in the UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship in Austria, where he scored the equaliser against Germany, assisted two others and helped his team to progress to the final. Ninis was eventually selected by UEFA in the “U19 names to note”, containing the best eleven players of the 2007 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. He was selected as the right midfielder in a 4-4-2 formation.

Ninis returned to duty for the Under-19 Elite qualifying round of the European Championships, after making his senior international debut. He was a key player in games against Moldova and the Netherlands, particularly impressing in the latter game. He assisted one goal, and scored the match winner from 12 yards as he kept Greece’s hopes of qualification alive. His Man of the Match performance attracted scouts from Europe’s Elite clubs such as Arsenal, Manchester United, Real Madrid and A.C. Milan.

Ninis was officially called up by Greece coach Otto Rehhagel on May 16, 2008 for the game against Cyprus on May 19. Ninis, who impressed as Greece reached the final of last year’s UEFA European Under-19 Championship, expressed his delight at the news, saying: “It’s a dream come true and an extra motivation to work even harder and improve myself. I’m very happy.”

On his debut Ninis scored the opening goal of the games versus Cyprus in the fifth minute, after a solid pass by Panathinaikos striker Dimitris Salpigidis, Ninis slotted the ball underneath Antonis Georgallides and into the back of the net making the perfect debut and start for his country and becoming the youngest ever scorer for Greece with 18 years and 46 days, breaking Kostas Eleftherakis’ old record by 244 days. Ninis also won the Man of the Match award for his performance. But omitted from Greece’s provisional Euro 2008 squad by coach Otto Rehhagel on 20th May.

Sources

wikipedia.org