Name Takis Loukanidis | Role Footballer | |
 | ||
TAKIS LOUKANIDIS TRIBUTE
Takis Loukanidis (Greek: Τάκης Λουκανίδης, born 25 September 1937) is a retired Greek footballer.
Contents
Career
Born in Paranesti, a village in the broader area of Drama, Loukanidis' father was killed by Bulgarian armed forces and soon after he was placed in an orphanage at age 10. He began playing football with the youth side of AEK Komotini, and joined the senior team of Doxa Drama F.C. in 1955.
He was wanted by all Greek football teams, by some Italian teams, by Fenerbahçe and also by some Cypriot teams. Finally, Antonis Mantzevelakis brought him to Panathinaikos, via the Cypriot APOEL. Takis Loukanidis made his debut on the 28 March 1962 against AEK Athens (score: 2-3). In the following match, on 1 April 1962, he scored his first goal with Panathinaikos, who beat Proodeftiki 5-0.
Loukanidis made 23 appearances and scored three goals for the Greece national team from 1958 to 1967. He made his debut in a 1-7 1960 European Nations' Cup qualifying defeat to France on 1 October 1958.