Kostas Fortounis

Kostas Fortounis

Fortounis with Greece in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Konstantinos Fortounis
Date of birth	(1992-10-16) 16 October 1992
Place of birth	Trikala, Greece
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder Winger
Club information
Current team	Olympiacos
Number	7
Youth career
2003–2008	Olympiacos
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008–2010	Trikala	13	(0)
2010–2011	Asteras Tripolis	24	(1)
2011–2014	Kaiserslautern	70	(2)
2014–	Olympiacos	60	(27)
National team‡
2010–2011	Greece U19	14	(1)
2011–2015	Greece U21	14	(4)
2012–	Greece	24	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 December 2016. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 November 2016

Konstantinos "Kostas" Fortounis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Φορτούνης; born 16 October 1992) is a Greek footballer^[1] who plays for Olympiacos and the Greece national team.

Club career

Trikala

After leaving Olympiacos' youth team in 2008, Fortounis moved to Trikala to play for AO Trikala. After an impressive spell in the Under-21 side scoring four goals in 14 matches, he began his career with the first team in the fourth division, where from 2008-2010 he played in 30 matches and scored 26 goals.^[2]

Asteras Tripolis

Because of his good appearances with the Greece under-17 national team, Vangelis Vlachos, Asteras's manager convinced him to join the Peloponeesean team. He made his debut in a draw with PAOK in Tripolis. Used predominantly as a substitute, the teenager clocked up 24 league appearances, scoring his first Super League goal on 19 September 2010 in a 2–2 draw at AEK Athens FC, unable, however, to save the side from relegation.^[3] Due to his good performances at Asteras, Juventus made an offer in the winter transfer window for a loan transfer until summer with an option to buy him.^[4] Asteras finally declined Juventus's offer.

1. FC Kaiserslautern

In the 2011 summer transfer window, Fortounis moved to Kaiserslautern on a contract until June 2015 after being transferred for an undisclosed fee.^[5] In his first season with the club, the midfielder made 28 league appearances^[6] but endured a second successive relegation. He reportedly attracted interest from Dutch champions Ajax and Italian champions Juventus midway through the season.^[7]

In the 2012–13 season he scored twice in 24 appearances as he helped Kaiserslautern to a third-place finish in the German second tier only to miss out on promotion due to defeat in the promotion/relegation play-off with Hoffenheim.^[3] On 16 April 2014, he missed his first final of his career in the semifinal of DFB-Pokal by facing as a substitute a 5–1 loss from the German champions Bayern Munich.^[8]

Olympiacos

On 22 July 2014, Fortounis signed a four-year contract with Olympiacos returning to the club after six years. He finished his first season at Olympiacos with 10 goals and 5 assists in a total of 36 games in the league and in the Europa League.^[9] In the Greek Cup final, he scored the third goal in the 80th minute as Olympiacos achieved a record 27th cup win by defeating Skoda Xanthi 3–1.^[10] Meanwhile, Fortounis celebrated the first double of his career.

Fortounis opened the 2015–16 Superleague Greece season for Olympiacos by scoring in a 3–0 win over Panionios, the first season's goal of the club.^[11] In his second match of the season against Levadiakos, he secured the victory by scoring the second goal in stoppage time. He was named "Man of the Match".^[12] On 22 September 2015, he scored twice in Olympiacos's 3–1 defeat of Skoda Xanthi, also assisting his teammate Jimmy Durmaz for the opening goal. He was again named "Man of the Match".^[13] On 26 September 2015, he scored for the second league match running against PAS Giannina in a 5-1 home win.^[14] On 29 September 2015, he scored the second goal in an UEFA Champions League away match against Arsenal, giving the lead to his club as his corner was spilled by David Ospina and, as the goalkeeper attempted to gather it, crossed the goalline. Fortounis proved a huge threat from set pieces as he found Felipe Pardo on the edge of the box to score the first goal.^[15] His performance gained him a spot in the UEFA Champions League "team of the week".^[16] In October, it was reported that Tottenham were scouting him after his performance in London against Arsenal and that they had inquired about his price tag being informed that Olympiacos could sell the Greek attacking midfielder with a fee in the region of €15 million.^[17][18] On 17 October 2015, in the 7th matchday of the Greek Super League he scored two goals in a 4–0 home win against rivals AEK Athens FC after being brought onto the pitch in the second half.^[19]

On 4 November 2015, in a 2–1 victory over 10-man Dinamo Zagreb in the UEFA Champions League, Fortounis missed a penalty before making an assist in the 90th minute.^[20][21] On 29 November 2015, Fortounis netted twice (one penalty) helping his club to reach a 3–1 home win against his former club Asteras Tripoli. It was the 11th win in a row for the club equalizing the club record from the 1966-67 season. Once, he was declared "Man of the Match" and his contribution to this club record came along with his first place in the top scorers table so far in the season.^[22][23] On 5 December 2015, he scored with a penalty kick in a 4–3 away win against Panthrakikos.^[24] On 19 December 2015 Fortounis converted two penalties helping Olympiacos to a 2–0 victory against Kalloni, their 15th win of the first half of season during which they remained unbeaten.^[25][26] On 31 January 2016, he scored a brace and assisted once in his club's 3–0 win over PAS Giannina at Zosimades Stadium. He was named "Man of the Match" once more.^[27] On 11 February 2016 and despite the rumours linking him with Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Fortounis wants to renew his contract at Olympiacos. The Bundesliga club are very keen on Fortounis, having watched him in action recently, however the player himself is not looking for a transfer.^[28] On 21 February 2016, in a crashing 4-0 victory against Atromitos he scored the last goal as a late substitute.^[29] According to newspapers' reports Tottenham continue to keep an eye on Olympiacos attacking midfielder. A Tottenham scout watched Fortounis in action in the 4-0 win over Atromitos and he is going to check him again on Thursday for the second leg against RSC Anderlecht in the UEFA Europa League .^[30] On 25 February 2016, he scored his first goal in European competitions with a penalty kick in a club 2-1 home loss from R.S.C. Anderlecht for the 2nd leg of the last 32 of UEFA Europa League.^[31] On 20 March 2016, Fortounis became only the third player in Olympiacos' history with 10+ goals and assists in one season after Super League's away match against Asteras Tripoli. Argentine midfielder Chori Dominguez achieved this "double-double" last season (15 goals, 11 assists), while former captain of the team Predrag Đorđević had done it for three consecutive years, from 2001-02 until 2003-04.^[32] On 10 April 2016, he netted a goal and gave an assist in a 5–2 away win against Panetolikos, helping his club to acquire the 27th victory in 29 matches.^[33] Fortounis scored with a foul kick his 18th goal in his last game for the Championship and after solid performances that eventually led him to be crowned league top scorer in the 2015–16 campaign helping his team to win the championship for 6th time in a row, breaking a number of records.^[34]

On 3 June 2016, Olympiakos officially announced the extension of international Greek midfielder contract with the club until the summer of 2020, with an annual fee of €1 million.^[35] On 2 October 2016, Fortounis scored his first goal for the 2016-17 season in the 3–0 home derby win against rivals AEK Athens.^[36] On 24 November 2016, in a UEFA UEFA Europa League group stage he scored from a free-kick to open scoring in a final 1-1 home draw against BSC Young Boys and was chosen MVP of the match.^[37]

International career

He has represented Greece at U-21, U-19 and U-17 level.

Fortounis' debut with the Greece came against Belgium in February 2012 as a suspension with the U-21 side allowed Fernando Santos to call-up the Kaiserslautern's prospect to the senior squad. Showing plenty of maturity against the Belgians, Fortounis was also given test runs against Slovenia and Armenia in the final two Greece friendlies ahead of UEFA Euro 2012. Strong runs down the left flank in Greece’s friendlies allowed Fortounis to form a strong bond with the likes of Giorgos Karagounis and José Holebas down the left side; thus forming a strong chemistry between the trio all the while improving Greece’s transition game and attack.^[38] Eventually was picked in the Greece squad for Euro 2012.^[39]

Fortounis was not a part of the Greece national team squad for 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.^[40] Eventually his transfer to Olympiacos was beneficial for his career. He started playing again for the national team, being a key player for the squad.^[41] On 29 March 2016, on the 19th minute he converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner and 12 minutes later, with a right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner, gave a 2-0 lead in a lost 2-3 friendly international game against Iceland.^[42] On 8 October 2016, after a solid performance against Cyprus that sealed with a 2-0 victory, the international attacking midfielder has suffered an injury and will miss away match of Greece National Team against Estonia on 10 October.^[43]

Style of play

Fortounis’ ability to combine well with his colleagues down the flank, while also being able to drive the net in order to create a goal-scoring opportunity. Fortounis’ speed on and off the ball make him an efficient player to have in the line-up as his time with the ball usually creates an attack for his team. His speed is another factor that is to his benefit, as he is able to burst past markers with flare and trickery. He describes himself as a player who can find gaps in the opposition defence but not particularly good at dribbling or one-on-ones.^[38]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 4 December 2016^[44]

International goals

Scores and results list Greece's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref
1.	29 March 2016	Karaiskakis Stadium, Pireaus, Greece	Iceland	1–0	2–3	Friendly	[45]
2.				2–0
3.	6 September 2016	Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé, Portugal	Gibraltar	3–1	4–1	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification	[46]

Honours

• Superleague Greece:2
  • 2014-15, 2015-16
• Greek Cup:1
  • 2014–15; Runner-up: 2015–16

References

External links

• Kostas Fortounis at National-Football-Teams.com
• Kostas Fortounis – FIFA competition record
• Kostas Fortounis – UEFA competition record
• Kostas Fortounis career statistics at Soccerbase
  
• ESPN FC profile

Greece squad – UEFA Euro 2012
1 Chalkias 2 Maniatis 3 Tzavellas 4 Malezas 5 K. Papadopoulos 6 Makos 7 Samaras 8 A. Papadopoulos 9 Liberopoulos 10 Karagounis (c) 11 Mitroglou 12 Tzorvas 13 Sifakis 14 Salpingidis 15 Torosidis 16 Fotakis 17 Gekas 18 Ninis 19 Papastathopoulos 20 Holebas 21 Katsouranis 22 Fortounis 23 Fetfatzidis Coach: Santos