Place of birth Drama, Greece Name Triantafyllos Machairidis Role Footballer | –1990 Pandramaikos Height 1.88 m Years Team | |
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Full name Triantafyllos Machairidis Date of birth (1973-11-10) 10 November 1973 (age 42) | ||
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Triantafyllos Machairidis (Greek: Τριαντάφυλλος Μαχαιρίδης; born 10 November 1973), is a former Greek professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.
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Club career
Machairidis began his professional career in 1990 with boyhood club Pandramaikos. After two spells with Pandramaikos and Skoda Xanthi, Triantafyllos would sign for Greek football giants AEK Athens in 1996. His stay with the Athens side would prove to be successful, as on his first appearance his side won the Greek Super Cup defeating Panathinaikos on penalties. He was also an integral part of the AEK side who won the 1996–97 Greek Cup. After two successful seasons with AEK, Machairidis moved to Thessaloniki, to play for P.A.O.K. F.C..
On 30 December 1999 at the age of 26, Machairidis was signed by Benfica of Portugal who was at the time led by German coach Jupp Heynckes. Machairidis debuted for the Encarnados on the 9 January 2000 in the Derby de Lisboa match against Sporting CP. Despite his stay with Benfica being short, Machairidis would feature regularly in a side who finished third in the domestic league campaign behind Porto and Sporting CP. He would finish the 1999–2000 season with sixteen appearances to his name.
In the transfer season of 2000, Machairidis failed to report to the preseason, with threats of having to compensate Benfica for unilaterally terminating his contract. After negotiations, he joined Kalamata on loan for the remainder of the season, leaving permanently in June 2001. Following Benfica, Triantafyllos would sign for Alki Larnaca of Cyprus where he would remain their for two seasons before finishing his career with boyhood club Doxa Drama in 2004.