Fanis Gekas

Theofanis Gekas
Gekas training with Leverkusen, August 2007
Personal information
Full name	Theofanis Gekas
Date of birth	(1980-05-23) 23 May 1980 (age 34)
Place of birth	Larissa,[1] Greece
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Konyaspor
Number	22
Youth career
1997–1998	Toxotis
1998	Larissa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998–2001	Larissa	61	(16)
2001–2005	Kallithea	100	(44)
2005–2007	Panathinaikos	41	(23)
2006–2007	→ VfL Bochum (loan)	32	(20)
2007–2010	Bayer Leverkusen	50	(13)
2009	→ Portsmouth (loan)	1	(0)
2010	→ Hertha BSC (loan)	17	(6)
2010–2012	Eintracht Frankfurt	48	(23)
2012	Samsunspor	11	(8)
2012–2013	Levante	4	(0)
2013	Akhisar Belediyespor	15	(12)
2013–	Konyaspor	24	(13)
National team‡
2005–	Greece	72	(24)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 May 2014. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 7 June 2014

Theofanis "Fanis" Gekas (Greek: Θεοφάνης "Φάνης" Γκέκας; born 23 May 1980) is a Greek footballer who plays for Konyaspor in the Süper Lig, as a striker.

He has been the top goalscorer of the Greek League and the Bundesliga in previous seasons. He was the top goalscorer of the Europe section of 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification for scoring ten goals in Greece's successful qualifying campaign.

Career

Gekas started his professional career at his local club Larissa (then of the Greek Second Division). In the summer of 2001, and after three years at Larissa, he moved to Kallithea. In his first season with the club, Kallithea was promoted to the Greek top division.

Gekas scored 30 goals in 87 second division matches.

Panathinaikos

After scoring 32 goals in 73 matches for Kallithea, Gekas and the club agreed to a transfer to Panathinaikos during the 2005 winter break. At his new club, Gekas became top goal scorer of the Greek league in 2005 with 18 goals. He was called to the national squad, making his playing debut in the 2–0 World Cup qualifying rounds victory against Albania in March 2005. In the Confederations Cup 2005, Gekas was part of the team of the European champion.

With Panathinaikos, Gekas scored 23 goals in 41 appearances. In the season 2005–06, Gekas made his debut in the UEFA Champions League and came second in the Greek top goalscorers list for the competition.

VfL Bochum

The 2. Bundesliga club VfL Bochum showed an interest in Gekas already by the spring of 2006, but Panathinaikos wanted €2 million for its forward.

In the summer of 2006, Panathinaikos signed Greek top scorer Dimitris Salpingidis from PAOK Salonica and, as part of the deal, Gekas was supposed to agree to a transfer to PAOK. Gekas refused and Panathinakos loaned Gekas out to VfL Bochum, which had just achieved promotion to the top division, for €300,000, with the German club having the option to buy out the rights for Gekas at the end of the season, if they were to remain in the top division, for another €700,000.

During the 2006–07 season, VfL Bochum was fighting against relegation, but within a short period Gekas became one of the stars of the team and popular among fans. His goals were celebrated with sirtakis from the stadium's loudspeakers. Coach Marcel Koller described him in November 2006 as their "life insurance", since Bochum not only avoided relegation but secured their place in the Bundesliga quite a few matchdays before the last.

Gekas went on to finish the season as Bundesliga's top scorer, with a tally of 20 goals.

Bayer Leverkusen

At the end of April 2007, VfL Bochum agreed to transfer Gekas to Bayer 04 Leverkusen for the following season. The transfer deal was as follows: Bayer 04 Leverkusen would pay €700,000 at the end of the season to Panathinaikos, and, if Bochum were to be relegated, they would get €1.5 million from Leverkusen. If Bochum were to remain in the Bundesliga's First Division, they would get €4 million from Leverkusen.

Gekas' first game for Bayer Leverkusen was a friendly which Bayer won 15–1 with Gekas scoring seven of those 15. However, despite being the top scorer for Bayer Leverkusen in the 2007–08 season, Gekas was been consistently dropped from the squad by coach Michael Skibbe, making mostly substitute appearances. Following an injury to teammate Dmitri Bulykin, Gekas was placed back into the starting XI and scored three goals in three games, including two + against Hamburg in a game which earned Leverkusen a quarter-final spot in the UEFA Cup in March 2008.

Portsmouth

On 2 February 2009, Gekas was loaned by Leverkusen to Portsmouth for the remainder of the 2008–09 season.^[2]

Gekas was brought in by manager Tony Adams with a view to a permanent deal. However, soon after the move, Adams was sacked and replaced by caretaker Paul Hart. Gekas was not given any games and went on to state his desire to leave the club, with Zenit St. Petersburg reportedly being interested in him.^[3]

On 11 April 2009, he came on as a substitute for one minute, replacing Jermaine Pennant in a 2–2 draw with West Bromwich Albion^[4] in his only Portsmouth match.

His loan period was terminated by Portsmouth on 21 May 2009 two weeks earlier than initially expected and he returned to Bayer Leverkusen.

Bayer Leverkusen

Gekas, while playing for his national team, became the top scorer in the European section of the qualification for 2010 World Cup. But in Leverkusen, he was competing with Stefan Kießling, Eren Derdiyok and Patrick Helmes for a place in the starting formation, and he failed to establish himself. He left the club after half a year.

Hertha

On 17 December 2009, Bayer Leverkusen signed a half-year loan of Gekas with Hertha BSC.

In his first game for Hertha, Gekas scored in the team's 0–3 away win against Hannover 96 on 16 January 2009. Despite that promising start, Hertha continued to struggle at the bottom of the Bundesliga table.

Gekas' most notable performance came on 21 March 2010, when he scored a hat-trick in the 1–5 away victory over German champions VfL Wolfsburg. Hertha eventually did not avoid relegation.

Gekas ended up scoring 6 goals in 17 appearances for the club.

Eintracht Frankfurt

On 19 May 2010, Gekas signed a two-year contract with Eintracht Frankfurt.^[5] He scored 16 goals in 34 appearances but this did not prevent Eintracht from being relegated to the German second division.

Gekas left Eintracht under a cloud, after having not picked up the language during his almost six years in Germany. "I wonder how it is possible for somebody to be living in Germany for five years but not be willing to learn the language" said Eintracht legend Egon Loy. When Gekas was told about the criticism, he responded: "I am being paid to score goals, not to speak."^[6]

Samsunspor

On 7 January 2012, Gekas signed a six-month contract with Super Lig side Samsunspor.^[7] He scored his first goals against Orduspor,^[8] and scored a hat-trick two weeks later, in a game against Fenerbahçe.^[9]

Levante

In August 2012, Gekas moved to the Spanish La Liga, siging a two-year contract with Levante UD.^[10] He left the club on 27 November of the same year.^[11]

Akhisar Belediyespor

On 25 January 2013, Gekas signed a one and a half-year contract with Turkish Süper Lig side Akhisar Belediyespor, then struggling to avoid relegation. He scored a goal on his debut on 1 February 2013 against Kayserispor.^[12]

Gekas went on to score 12 goals overall in the 15 games he played during the rest of the 2012–13 season. Akhisar avoided relegation.

Konyaspor

On 5 September 2013, Gekas signed a one-year contract with Süper Lig club Torku Konyaspor. He will wear the number 22 shirt.^[13]

Career statistics

^[14]

International career

Theofanis playing with the Greek national team against Germany in the Euro 2012 competition

Gekas helped his country's team to reach UEFA Euro 2008 and also became the top scorer among the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers from UEFA nations with 10 goals. At the 2010 World Cup he helped the team to reach the first victory at a World Cup. Gekas is also fifth in the top scorer ranking of the Greek national team. On 9 September 2010, Theofanis Gekas officially announced his decision to retire from the national team of Greece, due to "special circumstances inside the team", as he mentioned. This was the third player retirement after the departure of coach Otto Rehhagel, following Sotiris Kyrgiakos and Ioannis Amanatidis.^[15]

One year later, Gekas stated that it was a mistake for him to retire from the national team, thus making himself once again available to be selected by manager Fernando Santos.^[16]

International goals

Honours

• Greek Superleague Top Goalscorer: 2004–05
• Bundesliga Top Goalscorer: 2006–07
• Top scorer 2010 World Cup Qualifiers UEFA section

Personal life

Shortly after the 2008 European Championships, his wife Vasso gave birth to twins Nikolaos and Mikaela-Lamprini.^[17]

References

External links

• Article in German sports magazine kicker (German)
• Theofanis Gekas at fussballdaten.de (German)
• Theofanis Gekas at National-Football-Teams.com