Dimitris Kourbelis became the first player on the Greek national team to play for a club outside the Big 5 (i.e., Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, AEK, PAOK, and Aris) in 26 whole years was Dimitris Kourbelis.
In Greece’s big win over Serbia (1–2) at Belgrade’s “Marakana” stadium, the Asteras AKTOR midfielder took over as captain in the 73rd minute, after replacing Vangelis Pavlidis, who had initially been the “captain.”
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Thus, the 32-year-old midfielder became the first captain from outside the Big 5 in 26 full years; the most recent one before him was Marinos Ouzounidis, who on September 2, 2000, wore the captain’s armband as a Paniliakos player in a World Cup qualifier against Germany in Hamburg (a 2-0 loss). In fact, Ouzounidis had scored Germany’s second goal with an own goal in the 79th minute.
*photo source: AP
