Vasilis Torosidis

Vasilis Torosidis

Personal information
Full name	Vasileios Torosidis
Date of birth	(1985-06-10) 10 June 1985
Place of birth	Xanthi, Greece
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Playing position	Full-back Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Bologna
Number	35
Youth career
	Skoda Xanthi
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2007	Skoda Xanthi	76	(3)
2007–2013	Olympiacos	134	(12)
2013–2016	Roma	60	(4)
2016–	Bologna	9	(0)
National team‡
2007–	Greece	89	(9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 November 2016 (UTC). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 November 2016

Vasileios "Vasilis" Torosidis (Greek: Βασίλης Τοροσίδης; born 10 June 1985) is a Greek footballer who currently plays for Italian Serie A club Bologna and the Greece national team.^[2]

The 30-year-old is hugely versatile and regularly plays in different positions both for his club and country. Boasting great energy, a willingness to get forward and strong heading ability, the Greek star is a manager's dream as he can fill in all over the park. Although predominantly right-footed, he has a strong left peg and as a result can cover any position along the backline and in midfield. In midfield, his strongest position is as a defensive or central midfielder and he has also been used far higher up the pitch, most notably under Brazilian coach Zico when he was played behind the strikers.^[3]

Club career

Skoda Xanthi

Torosidis made his senior debut for Skoda Xanthi on 19 April 2003 at the age of 17 and scored his first goal in the Super League against Iraklis on 17 October 2005. Having made 76 impressive appearances for the club during a five-year stint, Torosidis drew the attention of the top Greek clubs AEK Athens, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos.^[4] He eventually joined Olympiacos on a five-year deal on 1 January 2007.^[5]

Olympiacos

Torosidis moved to Olympiacos in January 2007 and scored his first goal with the team against PAOK on 21 January 2007. He scored his first European goal for Olympiacos in the 2008-09 UEFA Cup 1st round 5–0 home leg win against FC Nordsjælland and scored another one in the competition's Group Stage 4–0 home win against Hertha BSC.

Torosidis with Olympiacos in 2008

Torosidis signed a renewal with Olympiacos in the summer of 2009 that will expire on 31 June 2013, which included a buy-out fee of €7 million.^[6] He has been monitored by such clubs as Newcastle United,^[7] Roma,^[8] Juventus,^[9] Atlético Madrid,^[10] and Bayern Munich.^[11]

On 24 February 2011, Olympiacos must play one game behind closed doors after supporters invaded the pitch and attacked some of the Panathinaikos players at the end of their controversial home win in the Athens derby took place on February 19th. Olympiakos captain Vasilis Torosidis has also been given a five-game ban by the Greek Super League following his sending off for headbutting midfielder Sebastian Leto in the closing stages of Saturday's game at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium. The punishments were handed down on Thursday after hundreds of fans invaded the pitch following the league leaders' tempestuous 2-1 win that took them 10 points clear of their local rivals with just seven matches to play. Some Olympiakos supporters threw punches and kicks at the visiting players and battled with police.^[12]

In January 2013, the 27-year-old refused to sign a new deal with the Greek champions after moving to the Athens outfit in 2007. Martin Jol, manager of Fulham F.C. has been linked with a move for the Greece international, who is believed to be available for around £500,000. The Fulham boss snapped up Giorgos Karagounis on a free transfer in the summer – and Torosidis is desperate for a fresh challenge in a different European league. “I’m not going to sign a new deal,” Torosidis told the Sun newspaper. “I want to move abroad.”^[13] On 22 January 2013, he moved from Olympiacos to Roma, signing a contract with the Roman club expiring on 31 June 2015.

Roma

On 23 January 2013, Torosidis moved to Italian Serie A side Roma for only €400,000 and signed a contract valid until 30 June 2015, with the option to stay for the 2015–16 season. The Italian club had beaten Fulham to the Greece international's signature, who had previously revealed he would not be renewing his contract with the Athens outfit. Olympiakos had been keen to sell the versatile defender this month in order to risk losing him for nothing at the end of the season.^[14] Roma's sporting director Sabatini in his introduction speech said: "He is an experienced player and has spent a long time playing for the best team in Greece, Olympiakos. He played over three hundred league matches for them as well as quite a few appearances in European competition and for Greece. I'm grateful to him for choosing Roma over the other offers he received. "What memories do I have of him? One above all else. When he made a major contribution to beating Lazio and eliminating them from the Champions League here in the Stadio Olimpico a few years back." ^[15]

He made his debut against Bologna in a 3–3 draw. He scored his first goal for Roma in a 2–3 away win over Atalanta. He also scored in the Coppa Italia semi-final match against Internazionale with a great strike right in Inter goalkeeper Handanovič's top corner. The match ended 2–3, with Roma securing a position in the 2013 Coppa Italia Final against Lazio, where they subsequently lost.^[16]

On 9 January 2014, with a very early Vasilis Torosidis goal, Roma labored to a 1-0 victory over Sampdoria in the Coppa Italia to help shake off the 3-0 league loss against Juventus last weekend. It was indubitably important for Roma to get over their first defeat of the season as quickly as possible, and to that end, Rudi Garcia sent out a side that was a mixture of first team players, fringe players, and youngsters.^[17] On 17 March 2014, Torosidis scored as Roma beat Udinese Calcio to maintain their grip on second place from Juventus in Serie A and restored the two-goal margin before Dusan Basta of Udinese ensured a nervous final 10 minutes for Roma.^{[18] [19]}

On 2 August 2014, Roma announced that Torosidis had signed a new contract with the Giallorossi, keeping him at the club until 2017.^[20][21] The 29-year-old, who represented his country at this summer’s World Cup in Brazil, explained his reasons for staying at Stadio Olimpico at a Press conference. “My future is at Roma, I signed for three years. I’m staying at Roma because they’re a big club with big targets and I want to win something with this team. We are a strong team with players of a great level. We want to win the Scudetto but it is not easy. It will be a season with a lot of matches. We need to be humble and ready for the season. All the fans are expecting a strong team and that’s what we are. We want to win the Scudetto. There will be a lot of difficult matches, there are teams like Juventus, Napoli and Fiorentina. We will see.” Torosidis told reporters.^[22] On 16 May 2015, in a game for Serie A against Udinese Calcio, the Giallorossi defeated the Zebrette 2-1, in which Torosidis got the winning goal to get the side three points, but the Greek international is not taking any credit for the win.^{[23] [24]}

On 29 September 2015, he scored his first goal with his left-foot like a real poacher, for the 2015-16 season in a 3-2 away loss against FC BATE Borisov for the UEFA Champions League, when with 8 minutes left he netted the Italian side's second after converting from close range.^[25] Torosidis suffered a lot of injuries during the season and he was forced to cut training after he has been diagnosed with a Grade I tear of the left calf muscle,^{[26] [27]} eventually losing his place in the starting XI. According to newspapers, La Liga side Málaga CF are interested in the Greek defender, who is not in the plans of Luciano Spalletti and consequently is in A.S. Roma summer transfer list. Roma have been searching for an alternative at right-back as it appears the Greek’s place in the Giallorossi side has not been confirmed.^[28]

Bologna

On 31 August 2016, the last available day in the Italian summer transfer window, Torosidis moved to Bologna for €1 million and signed a contract valid until 30 June 2018, with the option to stay for the 2018–19 season.^[29] On 11 September 2016, he made his first appearance with the club as a substitute in a 2-1 home win against Cagliari Calcio.

On 11 October 2016, Torosidis has added to the club's growing injury worries after being substituted only 18 minutes into his country's 2-0 World Cup qualifying away win against Estonia. The international left-back and captain of the Greek national team, who has played as a starter in all of his side's competitive matches this season, now seems likely to miss the next 15 days after suffering an apparent muscle injury.^{[30] [31]} On 23 October 2016, he returned to the squad as a starter in a 1-1 home win draw against U.S. Sassuolo Calcio. ^[32]

International career

Greece

Torosidis made his international debut in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier against Turkey. After Takis Fyssas' retirement, Torosidis became Greece's first-choice left-back, despite playing at right-back for his club.^[33] Following the qualifiers, Torosidis was selected in the Greek squad for Euro 2008. He scored his first international goal in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg.

On 18 June 2010, Nigerian midfielder Sani Kaita lashed out with a kick to his thigh, resulting with Kaita being shown a straight red card. Thereafter, he scored the crucial goal in Greece's World Cup Group Stage match against Nigeria which gave his country a 2–1 win, their first ever win at a World Cup.^[34]

Torosidis' own goal in a 1–1 draw with Romania, scored when a defensive clearance rebounded off him, did not prevent Greece securing qualification for the 2014 World Cup.^[35] It was just the third qualification of the Greece national team to a World Cup and the second consecutive of Torosidis. From his debut in the national team in 2007, Greece have never lost a rendezvous in a major competition (UEFA Euro 2008 and 2012, 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup) along with his teammates he wrote the described by many as the "Golden Era" of Greek football.

International goals

As of match played 10 October 2016. Greece score listed first, score column indicates score after each Torosidis goal.^[36]

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	6 September 2008	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	17	Luxembourg	1–0	3–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	14 October 2009	Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece	25			2–1
3	17 June 2010	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein, South Africa	28	Nigeria	2–1	2–1	2010 FIFA World Cup
4	8 October 2010	Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece	33	Latvia	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
5	26 March 2011	Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta	36	Malta	1–0	1–0
6	26 May 2012	Kufstein Arena, Kufstein, Austria	44	Slovenia	1–0	1–1	Friendly
7	15 August 2012	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway	49	Norway	1–0	3–2
8	6 September 2016	Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé, Portugal	85	Gibraltar	4–1	4–1	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
9	10 October 2016	A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia	87	Estonia	1–0	2–0

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 27 November 2016

International

As of 13 November 2016^[36]

Honours

Clubs

Olympiacos

• Superleague Greece (6): 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13
• Greek Cup (4): 2007–08, 2008–09, 2011–12, 2012–13
• Greek Super Cup (1): 2007

Roma

• Coppa Italia Runner-up: 2012–13

Individual

• Greek Football Player of the Year: 2009–10

References

External links

• Official website
• Official Roma profile

Greece Squads
Greece squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Nikopolidis 2 Seitaridis 3 Patsatzoglou 4 Spyropoulos 5 Dellas 6 Basinas (c) 7 Samaras 8 Giannakopoulos 9 Charisteas 10 Karagounis 11 Vyntra 12 Chalkias 13 Tzorvas 14 Salpingidis 15 Torosidis 16 Kyrgiakos 17 Gekas 18 Goumas 19 Antzas 20 Amanatidis 21 Katsouranis 22 Tziolis 23 Liberopoulos Coach: Rehhagel Greece squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 Chalkias 2 Seitaridis 3 Patsatzoglou 4 Spyropoulos 5 Moras 6 Tziolis 7 Samaras 8 Papadopoulos 9 Charisteas 10 Karagounis (c) 11 Vyntra 12 Tzorvas 13 Sifakis 14 Salpingidis 15 Torosidis 16 Kyrgiakos 17 Gekas 18 Ninis 19 Papastathopoulos 20 Kapetanos 21 Katsouranis 22 Malezas 23 Prittas Coach: Rehhagel 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 Greece squad – 2014 FIFA World Cup 1 Karnezis 2 Maniatis 3 Tzavellas 4 Manolas 5 Moras 6 Tziolis 7 Samaras 8 Kone 9 Mitroglou 10 Karagounis (c) 11 Vyntra 12 Glykos 13 Kapino 14 Salpingidis 15 Torosidis 16 Christodoulopoulos 17 Gekas 18 Fetfatzidis 19 Papastathopoulos 20 Holebas 21 Katsouranis 22 Samaris 23 Tachtsidis Coach: Santos