Sokratis Papastathopoulos

Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Greek: Σωκράτης Παπασταθόπουλος) (born 9 June 1988) is a Greek professional footballer who plays for Werder Bremen on loan from Genoa and the Greek national team, as a defender. Since the surname Papastathopoulos cannot fit on his club shirt, his first name Sokratis is usually displayed instead; however, a common nickname for him is Papa. He is often compared to the likes of Stelios Manolas and Tony Adams by fans and is the youngest player ever to captain AEK Athens.

Club career

AEK Athens

Papastathopoulos joined AEK Athens from Apollon Petalidiou. On 26 October 2005 he made his debut for AEK Athens in a Greek Cup match against PAS Giannina scoring in the 7th minute of the game leading AEK Athens to a 3–0 win.

Loan to Niki Volou

In January 2006 he was loaned to Greek Second Division club Niki Volou for six months in order to gain first team football and gather valuable experience. He made a total of 15 appearances for Niki Volou.

Return to AEK Athens

During the 2006–07 Greek Super League, Papastathopoulos managed to make 14 appearances whilst competing against the likes of Bruno Cirillo, Traianos Dellas and Vangelis Moras. In AEK Athens' UEFA Champions League 2006-07 campaign, Papastathopoulos managed to play in 3 out of the 6 group games. In these 3 games AEK Athens managed 1 win (the famous 1–0 victory over Milan), 1 draw (the 2–2 away draw with Anderlecht) and one loss (the 3–1...
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