Alexandros Paschalakis

Alexandros Paschalakis (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Πασχαλάκης; born 28 July 1989) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Super League club Olympiacos and the Greece national team.

Alexandros Paschalakis
Paschalakis playing with PAOK in 2018
Personal information
Full name Alexandros Paschalakis
Date of birth (1989-07-28) 28 July 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth Athens, Greece
Height 1.97 m (6 ft 5+12 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
Olympiacos
Number 1
Youth career
2002–2003 AEK Athens
2003–2005 Olympiacos
2005–2006 Ilioupoli
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Ilioupoli 0 (0)
2008–2012 Levadiakos 1 (0)
2012–2013 PAEEK 23 (0)
2014–2016 Panthrakikos 13 (0)
2016–2017 PAS Giannina 20 (0)
2017–2022 PAOK 115 (0)
2022– Olympiacos 50 (0)
International career
2019– Greece 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 April 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20 November 2022

Club career

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Early career

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Paschalakis started playing football in Terpsithea. He was at the youth team of AEK for a year and then at the youth team of Olympiakos for two years (2003–2005). He then moved to the team of Ilioupoli. At the age of 17 he transferred to the youth team of Galatasaray but could not sign a contract due to restrictions on the number of foreign players.

He signed for Levadiakos in the summer of 2008. He signed for PAEEK in the summer of 2012. Akhisar was interested in Paschalakis but he did not want to move there.[1][2] After returning to Greece and spending six months in limbo, he signed for Panthrakikos in January 2014, but played just 13 matches until January 2016.[3]

PAS Giannina

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Paschalakis signed for PAS Giannina on 26 January 2016, to replace Markos Vellidis' transfer to PAOK.[4] He did not play at all in his first six months in Ioannina. On 25 July 2017, the 28-year-old goalkeeper that was bound by a contract to the club until the summer of 2018, had made an appeal due to a delay in his annual salary. The Athenian goalie had an outstanding season playing in 27 games, four of which were in the UEFA Europa League. PAOK, along with Asteras Tripoli and Panathinaikos expressed interest in his acquisition, having nine clean sheets.[5] On 1 August, Paschalakis was released from PAS Giannina.[6]

PAOK

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On 7 August 2017, he signed a year contract with PAOK for an undisclosed fee.[7] On 2 December 2017, he made his debut in a 3–0 away win against Xanthi. A day later he renewed his contract with the club till the summer of 2020. The 28-year-old goalkeeper increased his earnings and the release clause would be set in the region of €5 million.[8]

It was initially planned that he would be back-up to Argentinian Rodrigo Rey, but since head coach Răzvan Lucescu gave him a chance, Paschalakis made himself PAOK's starter. As of 4 February 2018, Paschalakis holds PAOK's record for most consecutive minutes without conceding, with 971 excluding stoppage time (1008 in total), before conceding in a 1–3 away win over PAS Giannina,[9] to surpass current runner-up Kostas Chalkias with 859 min. Unsurprisingly, PAOK boast the Superleague's tightest defence with seven goals conceded in nineteen matches, a statistic which is largely down to Paschalakis' superb performances between the sticks.[10]

 
Paschalakis saving Quincy Promes's penalty against Spartak Moscow in 2018.

On 8 August 2018, Paschalakis saved second-half Quincy Promes's penalty in a 3–2 home win in the UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round, 1st leg against Spartak Moscow, helping his team to maintain the win.[11] At the first half of the 2018–19 season Paschalakis played every minute of domestic championship action, conceding a mere six goals in 15 matches while tallying an impressive nine clean sheets. On 17 January 2019, Paschalakis was awarded a new contract with PAOK through to 2022.[12]

On 25 April 2019, he made a number of saves in a semifinal second leg Greek Cup game against Asteras Tripolis, helping PAOK's title defence of the Greek Cup, as the newly crowned Super League champions secured a 0–0 draw in Tripoli to progress 2–0 on aggregate. PAOK, for the third consecutive season, would meet AEK Athens in the Greek Cup final.[13]

International career

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On 5 October 2018 Greece coach Michael Skibbe called up Paschalakis for upcoming 2018–19 UEFA Nations League matches against Hungary and Finland in the UEFA Nations League. "All players dream of someday representing their country and I am happy for this opportunity. I waited for a long time for this call," said Paschalakis.[14] On 30 May 2019, he made his debut in a 2–1 friendly game away loss against Turkey.

Personal life

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Paschalakis hails from Serres.[15] He was in a relationship with Greek singer Irene Papadopoulou [el] from 2019 to 2023.

Career statistics

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As of match played 29 May 2024[16]
Club Season League National cup[a] Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Levadiakos 2010–11 Football League 1 0 1 0
2011–12 Super League Greece
PAEEK 2012–13 Cypriot Second Division 23 0 2 0 25 0
Panthrakikos 2013–14 Super League Greece 5 0 5 0
2014–15 4 0 3 0 7 0
2015–16 4 0 2 0 6 0
Total 13 0 5 0 18 0
PAS Giannina 2015–16 Super League Greece
2016–17 20 0 3 0 4[b] 0 27 0
PAOK 2017–18 Super League Greece 17 0 7 0 0 0 24 0
2018–19 30 0 7 0 12[c] 0 49 0
2019–20 16 0 6 0 4[d] 0 26 0
2020–21 18 0 6 0 1[b] 0 35 0
2021–22 34 0 4 0 16[e] 0 54 0
Total 115 0 30 0 33 0 178 0
Olympiacos 2022–23 Super League Greece 24 0 1 0 2[b] 0 27 0
2023–24 26 0 2 0 13[f] 0 41 0
Total 50 0 3 0 15 0 68 0
Career total 222 0 43 0 52 0 317 0
  1. ^ Includes Cypriot Cup, Greek Football Cup
  2. ^ a b c Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, six appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  6. ^ Ten appearances in UEFA Europa League, three appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

Honours

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Club

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PAOK

Olympiacos

Individual

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References

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  1. ^ "Air Πασχαλάκης". 8 March 2017.
  2. ^ "Το ταξίδι του... Κανιθάρες της Ηπείρου, μέχρι την καταξίωση!".
  3. ^ "Ανακοίνωσε τον Πασχαλάκη ο Πανθρακικός". 8 January 2014. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018.
  4. ^ "Ανακοίνωση ΠΑΕ ΠΑΣ ΓΙΑΝΝΙΝΑ 1966". 26 January 2016. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017.
  5. ^ "Προσφυγή κατά του ΠΑΣ Γιάννινα ο Πασχαλάκης". sport24.gr. 25 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  6. ^ "Συμβιβαστική λύση ΠΑΣ με Πασχαλάκη που μένει ελεύθερος". sport24.gr. 1 August 2017.
  7. ^ "Στον ΠΑΟΚ ο Πασχαλάκης". 7 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Ανανέωσε με ρήτρα 5 εκατ. ευρώ ο Πασχαλάκης!". sport24.gr. 3 December 2017.
  9. ^ "Αέρας ο ΠΑΟΚ, 3–1 τον ΠΑΣ στα Γιάννινα". Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  10. ^ "Ο Πασχαλάκης γράφει ιστορία στην εστία του ΠΑΟΚ". Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  11. ^ "Μεγάλη Ανατροπή για τον ΠΑΟΚ 3–2 επί της Σπάρτακ στη Τούμπα". voria.gr. 8 August 2018. Archived from the original on 12 September 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  12. ^ "Πασχαλάκης ως το 2022 στον ΠΑΟΚ!". gazzetta.gr. 17 January 2019.
  13. ^ "Αστέρας Τρίπολης – ΠΑΟΚ 0–0". gazzetta.gr. 25 April 2019.
  14. ^ "Πασχαλάκης: "Περίμενα πολύ καιρό την κλήση στην Εθνική Ελλάδος"" (in Greek). sport24.gr. 5 October 2018.
  15. ^ Πασχαλάκης το βολικό παιδί στην εθνική του Άγγελου g-point.gr
  16. ^ Alexandros Paschalakis at Soccerway
  17. ^ "Panionios vs. PAOK - 28 February 2018 - Soccerway".
  18. ^ "Paok win Greek cup final over Olympiakos". Greek City Times. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  19. ^ "El Kaabi swoops to secure Greece's first major European trophy". UEFA. 29 May 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  20. ^ "Βραβεία ΠΣΑΠ: Oι κορυφαίοι της Superleague για τη σεζόν 2018-19! (pics)". NewsIT (in Greek). 28 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
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