Giourkas Seitaridis

Georgios "Giourkas" Seitaridis (Greek: Γεώργιος "Γιούρκας" Σεϊταρίδης [ʝeˈorʝioz ˈʝurkas seitaˈriðis]; born 4 June 1981) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a right-back and occasionally as a centre-back. He has last played in 2013 for Greek Superleague side Panathinaikos, having played previously at PAS Giannina, Porto, Dynamo Moscow and Atlético Madrid. He is a former member of the Greece national team, for which he made a total of 72 international appearances, scoring one goal. He was part of their team which won Euro 2004, for which he was voted into the Team of the Tournament.

Both his grandfather and father, Dimitris Seitaridis, were footballers and eventually managers.

Of Pontic Greek heritage, Seitaridis started his professional career with northern Greek side PAS Giannina, nicknamed Ajax of Epirus, in 1997, becoming an important right full-back for the club. Seitaridis helped the team towards the promotion of the Super League 2 in the 1999–2000 at the Greek Superleague. He made a total of 40 league appearances with PAS Giannina, scoring 5 goals.

He was soon spotted by Athens-based club Panathinaikos, and on 12 January 2001 he signed a 5-year contract with them for a total fee of 300 million drachmas. He quickly established himself as a regular player for the team and at the age of 22 he won his first silverware by helping Panathinaikos do the double at the 2003–04 season, winning the 2003–04 Alpha Ethniki and the Greek Cup against rivals Olympiacos.

He scored his first European goal against Manchester United on 7 March 2001, in a game for the second group stage of the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League. In September of the same year, he was named Greek Young Footballer of 2001, along with Pantelis Kafes and Angelos Charisteas.

On 11 June 2004, a day before the eventually successful UEFA Euro 2004 campaign for Greece, it was rumored that Seitaridis signed for Portuguese side, and at the time Champions League holders, F.C. Porto, for a transfer fee of €3 million. However, the official announcement was made on 26 July 2004, almost a month and a half later, with rumors linking him to Real Madrid in the meantime. He helped the Dragões win the Portuguese SuperCup and Intercontinental Cup of that year.

On 23 May 2005, he was sold to Russian side Dynamo Moscow for €10 million, following the footsteps of ex-Porto teammates Derlei, Costinha, Maniche and Thiago Silva, who also moved to the Russian club the same year. Soon however, Seitaridis began to show his discomfort at the club, failing to settle in Moscow, and claimed the reasons he wanted to leave was that the weather was different from his native Greece and that he could not adapt to the cold. In his one-year spell at the club, he only managed to make 8 league appearances before deciding to leave.

On 16 June 2006 he was transferred to Atlético Madrid for a fee of €12 million, being the second Greek footballer to play for Atlético after striker Demis Nikolaidis. The latter was the one who convinced him to join the club, together with his ex-Dynamo teammate Costinha who joined Atlético the same year. Seitaridis was sent off in the first half of his debut game, in the La Liga opening match away to Racing Santander on 27 August 2006. On 15 October 2006, he received his second red card only six games into the season, as he was cautioned twice in a home league game against Recreativo Huelva.