Michalis Constantinou, regarded as one of the greatest Cypriot footballers of all time, has decided to end time on his glittering 20-year career as a striker.
Constantinou, who turns 36 next month, is the Cyprus national team’s highest ever scorer with an impressive 32 strikes in 85 appearances for the island while he has also hit a remarkable 188 goals in 444 club appearances in Greece and Cyprus.
Born in Paralimni where he also began his career, he became the most expensive Cypriot player in history when he made the switch from Iraklis to Panathinaikos for a then domestic transfer record of €11.3 million.
Speaking during an award ceremony for Sports Journalists Union this week, Constantinou confirmed that he was stepping down as a player after being released in the summer by AEL.
“I am lucky in the sense that whatever I dreamed of achieving as a youngster, I achieved. But looking back at certain moments, I feel that I perhaps did myself an injustice at times. But that is football. I am delighted with what I achieved in my career. It’s been great and even the criticism was welcome because they helped me along the way. We will see what the future holds.”
A product of the Enosis Neon Paralimniou youth system – much like later renowned Cypriot strikers Yiasemis Yiasemakis and Demetris Christofi, Constantinou burst onto the scene during the 1996-97 season when as an 18-year-old, he rifled in 17 goals in 25 appearances for his club to finish the season as top scorer and quickly grab the attention of clubs both in Greece and Cyprus.
He signed for Greek side Iraklis the following season and was an instant hit, scoring 61 goals in 119 appearances for the Thessaloniki club and helping to steer them into the UEFA Cup.
His reputation firmly established in Greece, it was Panathinaikos who won the race for his signature, shrugging off fierce competition from Udinese, AEK Athens, Anderlecht and Olympiacos to cough up a mammoth €11.3 million for his services in 2001. The gamble paid off dividends.
He continued his free-scoring form in the Alpha Ethniki league and was also finding the net regularly in the Champions League helping Panathinaikos to a quarterfinal finish where they went out at the hands of Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate with Constantinou scoring with a long-range strike at the Nou Camp.
Konstantinou made headlines again in 2004 when he stunned the club’s fans by making the controversial switch across the city to join arch-rivals Olympiacos after previous reports that he was going to sign for a team abroad.
The goals and medals continued to pour in after the move before injuries – as well as reports of an excessive lifestyle in nightclubs – began to take its toll on the 1.88m striker in 2007.
He returned back to Iraklis for a short stint before making a big money move to Omonia where his goals helped the Nicosia club to the league title in 2010. After failing to agree new terms for his contract with Omonia, he went on to have two more seasons at Anorthosis Famagusta and AEL scoring nine times in 34 appearances for both clubs.
After failing to land a new club in the summer, Constantinou this week announced his retirement, bringing down the curtain on an extraordinary career that saw him win four Greek league titles, one Cypriot league title, three Greek Cups, one Cypriot Cup, one Greek Super Cup and one Cypriot Super Cup.
Cyprus Weekly