Dimitris Saravakos

Dimitris Saravakos (Greek: Δημήτρης Σαραβάκος; born 26 July 1961), nicknamed "the Kid" (Greek: "ο Μικρός"), is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a forward. Saravakos is widely considered to be one of the greatest Greek footballers of all time and a Panathinaikos legend. The IFFHS chose him in the best XI of all time of Greek football in 2021.

Saravakos started his professional career at Panionios where, at the age of 16, on 26 December 1977, he made his debut in the championship against Egaleo. In his second season at Panionios, he won the Greek Cup in 1979 defeating the then champion, AEK Athens by 3–1. During the 1981–82 season, Saravakos had the most productive year in the club as he scored 13 goals in the league, while his performances also made him an international. In his last year with Panionios he scored 10 goals in 28 appearances. On May 19, 1984, Panionios played a barrage match for their stay in the division against PAS Giannina, which was decided at the extra time with Saravakos scoring in the 104th minute and giving the lead to Panionios who prevailed by 2–0. In total, he played in Panionios for seven years, recording 132 appearances and 35 goals in the league.

On 22 June 1984, Saravakos was transferred to Panathinaikos for 60 million drachmas. In addition to Saravakos, he also acquired Velimir Zajec and the addition of the latter in combination with the presence of Juan Ramon Rocha, made the midfield of the team particularly creative, thus the attacking virtues of Saravakos were fully exploited. During his first year at Panathinaikos, he was the second top scorer in the league. He scored his first goal for Panathinaikos on September 23, 1984, against OFI. On 25 November 1984 he scored his first goal in the derby of Athens against AEK in a 3–2 win. On 20 February 1985 he also scored in the derby of the eternal enemies against Olympiacos in a 2–1 for the Cup. In the European Cup his presence was decisive for the qualification of Panathinaikos to the semi-finals of the institution. Panathinaikos, having qualified against Feyenoord, faced Linfield and in the rematch found themselves losing in Ireland by 3–0. Saravakos' goal started the counterattack that led to the equalizer and the qualification. In the next round, Saravakos creating an excellent attacking duo with Thanasis Dimopoulos, scored against Göteborg in Gamla Ullevi giving Panathinaikos the victory. In the second leg, his goal at the 78th minute, equalized at 2–2, leading his team to the semi-finals of the competition.

In the following season Saravakos won the domestic double. In the Cup he scored in the semi-final against AEK the goal that sent the "greens" to the final. There, he scored 2 goals in the imposing 4–0 win over Olympiacos, which is also the biggest victory in a final of eternal enemies. In the UEFA Cup, his two goals in each leg, against Torino were not enough to qualify them for the next round.

On 3 May 1987, he scored his fastest goal in a derby, in the first minute of the match against AEK which ended 0–3. In the European Cup, the "greens" were close to a big comeback against Red Star, when with goals from Saravakos and Dimopoulos, found themselves winning in the rematch with 2–0, one goal away from the tie of the first match.

On 8 November 1987, he scored in a 1–4 win against Olympiacos. In the UEFA Cup by scoring against Auxerre, he secured Panathinaikos' qualification to the second leg. In the first match of the next round, he scored a goal with an excellent shot outside the area, and gave Panathinaikos a 1–0 victory against Juventus. On the rematch he opened the score and led the club to the next round. In fact, the big Italian team after their elimination showed interest in acquiring him, without proceeding with a proposal. In the next round, Panathinaikos found themselves losing with 5–0 by Honvéd in Hungary. Saravakos did not give up the effort and reduced it to 5–2 with 2 goals, resulting in Panathinaikos winning 5–1 in the second leg and qualifying. In the quarter-finals his goal against Club Brugge was not enough for them to qualify. In the Cup, Saravakos scored three goals in total on both legs against the then champion, AEL and the "greens" qualified to the final. Facing Olympiacos again, the duo of Saravakos-Dimopoulos was successful again as with their 2 goals, Panathinaikos claimed the title on penalties, where they won 4–3.

In June 1988 the then president of Olympiacos, George Koskotas, offered Saravakos the "unrealistic" amount for the Greek data of 600 million drachmas, but failed to dress the athlete in the red and white shirt. On 24 August 1988 he won the Super Cup against AEL winning 3–1. At the end of the season, Panathinaikos emerged as the Cup winner again with Saravakos, scoring a goal in the final against Panionios.

In the summer of 1989, Panathinaikos acquired the striker Krzysztof Warzycha, who connected perfectly with Saravakos and the two of them led the club to the championship in 1990. On February 25, 1990, Saravakos played for the third time in his career in a match where Panathinaikos scored 4 goals against Olympiacos, winning 3–4 in the Karaiskakis Stadium, with him as the captain. In the semi-final of the Greek Cup, Saravakos scored a hat trick against Olympiacos, but the final score of 3–3 was not enough to overturn the 2–1 score of the first match. In the Cup Winners' Cup he scored a goal in Panathinaikos' 3–2 win over Swansea.