Pantelis Chatzidiakos (also Hatzidiakos, Greek: Παντελής Χατζηδιάκος, born 18 January 1997) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Danish Superliga club Copenhagen, on loan from Italian club Cagliari, and the Greece national team.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Pantelis Chatzidiakos | ||
| Date of birth | 18 January 1997 | ||
| Place of birth | Rhodes, Greece | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Copenhagen | ||
| Number | 6 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2008–2011 | Panathinaikos | ||
| 2011–2015 | AZ | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2015–2023 | AZ | 152 | (3) |
| 2023– | Cagliari | 13 | (0) |
| 2024– | → Copenhagen (loan) | 8 | (1) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2012 | Netherlands U16 | 2 | (0) |
| 2014 | Greece U17 | 1 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | Greece U21 | 6 | (0) |
| 2019– | Greece | 35 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10 November 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13 October 2024 | |||
Club career
editAZ
editIn January 2015, Chatzidiakos, who moved from Panathinaikos to AZ as a youth in 2011, signed a three-year professional contract with the Dutch team. He made his debut with the club in both the Champions League and the Europa League matches. In the past, he was crowned Dutch champion with the AZ U16. In 2017 he helped Jong AZ win the title in Tweede Divisie and achieve promotion to Eerste Divisie.[1]
He made his debut in the club, along with his first appearance in Eredivisie in a 2–1 away loss against PEC Zwolle as a substitute in the second half. On 3 December 2017, the 20-year-old Greek international central defender, scored his first goal in the Eredivisie, in a 2–0 away win against VVV-Venlo. He sealed the win in the 84th minute "With an excellent shot at the height of the area, and this is not the first goal of his career, as he scored in the KNVB Cup against MVV Maastricht in September." With this victory, Alkmaar reached 6 consecutive wins in the League.[2] He started the 2018–19 season as the undisputed leader of the AZ's defence. On 12 August 2018, he scored his first goal for the season, with a right footed shot from very close range to the top left corner, after Oussama Idrissi's assist in a 5–0 home win game against NAC Breda.[3]
On 2 November 2019, he scored his first goal for the 2019–20 season with a right footed after an assist from Owen Wijndal in a triumphic 3–0 home win game against FC Twente.[4] On 7 November 2019, he lashed a thunderous effort high into the left corner, scoring his first goal in the UEFA Europa League in a hammering 5–0 away win against FC Astana.[5] On 28 November 2019, Chatzidiakos suffered the dreaded anterior cruciate ligament injury while on UEFA Europa League game for AZ Alkmaar, medical tests have confirmed. Chatzidiakos was included in the AZ starting line-up to face Partizan Belgrade at home in the Europa League, but he was forced off in the 53rd minute with a knee injury. Subsequent medical tests this morning confirmed that the talented 22-year-old defender suffered the anterior cruciate ligament injury and will return to action after a period of at least six months.[6][7]
On 7 February 2020, Alkmaar announced the extension of the contract with the Greek international until the summer of 2024.[8]
Cagliari
editOn 1 September 2023, Chatzidiakos signed a four-year contract with Cagliari in Italy. Cagliari officially purchased the defender for €2m, effectively activating his release clause.[9]
On 2 September 2024, he moved on a season-long loan to Copenhagen in Denmark.[10]
International career
editAs the son of a Greek father and a Dutch mother, Chatzidiakos was eligible to play for both Greece and the Netherlands. He played for the Netherlands under-16 team, but switched to Greece.
As a result of his exceptional performances he was called in the Greece U-21 team from Antonis Nikopolidis for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against San Marino and Czech Republic on 22 and 27 March 2018 respectively.
Chatzidiakos made his first appearance with the Greece senior national team on 12 October 2019, in the game against Italy in Rome, for the Euro 2020 Qualifiers. The young defender was a starter for Greece and played the whole 90 minutes in his debut for the team.[11]
Personal life
editChatzidiakos was born in Rhodes to a Greek father and a Dutch mother.
Career statistics
edit- As of match played 10 November 2024 (UTC)
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| AZ | 2015–16 | Eredivisie | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |
| 2016–17 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | |||
| 2017–18 | 26 | 1 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 29 | 2 | ||||
| 2018–19 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 23 | 1 | |||
| 2019–20 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | — | 20 | 2 | |||
| 2020–21 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 30 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | 32 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | 42 | 0 | |||
| 2022–23 | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 0 | — | 52 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | 6 | 1 | |||
| Total | 152 | 3 | 15 | 1 | 46 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 213 | 6 | ||
| Cagliari | 2023–24 | Serie A | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 0 | ||
| Copenhagen (loan) | 2024–25 | Danish Superliga | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2[a] | 1 | — | 12 | 3 | |
| Career total | 173 | 4 | 19 | 2 | 48 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 240 | 9 | ||
- ^ Appearances in UEFA Conference League
International
edit- As of match played 11 November 2023
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greece | 2019 | 4 | 0 |
| 2020 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 31 | 0 | |
Honours
editIndividual
edit- Eredivisie Team of the Month: September 2022, March 2023[12]
References
edit- ^ "Χατζηδιάκος: Ένας Έλληνας Πρωταθλητής στην Ολλανδία". www.sport24.gr. 15 May 2017.
- ^ "Στην 2η θέση με γκολ του Χατζηδιάκου η Άλκμααρ". www.sport24.gr. 3 December 2017.
- ^ "AZ Alkmaar vs Breda 5-0". www.skysports.com. 12 August 2018.
- ^ "AZ vs Twente 3-0". www.weltfussball.de. 2 November 2019.
- ^ "Astana vs AZ Alkmaar 0-5". www.uefa.com. 7 November 2019.
- ^ "Ρήξη χιαστού ο Χατζηδιάκος". www.sport24.gr. 29 November 2019.
- ^ "AZ suffer Chatzidiakos blow". www.football-oranje.com. 29 November 2019.
- ^ "Χατζηδιάκος: Νέο συμβόλαιο μέχρι το 2024 με την Άλκμααρ". www.sport24.gr. 7 February 2020.
- ^ "Hatzidiakos is a new Cagliari player". Cagliari. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
- ^ "FCK sign Greece international Pantelis Hatzidiakos". F.C. Copenhagen. 2 September 2024. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
- ^ "Παντελής Χατζηδιάκος: Το νέο "big thing" του ελληνικού ποδοσφαίρου". youbet.gr. 14 October 2019.
- ^ "Sparta and AZ dominate Eredivisie team of the month in march". Eredivisie. 31 March 2023. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
External links
edit- Career stats - Voetbal International
- Pantelis Chatzidiakos – UEFA competition record (archive)
- Pantelis Chatzidiakos at WorldFootball.net
- Pantelis Chatzidiakos at ESPN FC
- Pantelis Chatzidiakos at Soccerbase