As recently as a couple of years ago, Odysseas Vlachodimos was a regular of European football elite. He was the undisputed first-choice goalkeeper at one of the giants of Portuguese football, SL Benfica, and he frequently rubbed shoulders with the likes of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the Champions League. He remains the key shot-stopper in his national team setup too, having played over 40 times between the sticks for Greece. Now, however, at club-level at least, he is resigned to a role which no goalkeeper favours.
For the first time since his curious arrival from Nottingham Forest for a fee in the region of 20 million pounds, the Greek had an impromptu opportunity to endear himself to the Geordie faithful. Thrust into action against AFC Wimbledon in United’s League Cup campaign due to an untimely injury to regular backup Martin Dubravka, Vlachodimos readied himself for the task ahead: to keep the plucky visitors goalless and see Newcastle seamlessly through to the next round of the competition. Even his introduction seemed odd and unexpected; the stadium announcer declared that John Ruddy was Dubravka’s replacement!
This is the story of the Greek God turned emergency reinforcement. This is the strange story of Odysseas Vlachodimos.
Born in Germany but of Greek Origin, Vlachodimos’ story began in the youth setup of his local side, VfB Stuttgart, where he made just a handful of senior appearances before departing, fittingly, for Panathinaikos of Athens, Greece. His stellar play in the Greek capital would pay dividends, with the goalkeeper catching the eye of Lisbon giants SL Benfica. Once settled in his new home, Odysseas would quickly usurp the starting job at the Estadio Da Luz, becoming a mainstay in a side that played some pretty good football in Europe.
Vlachodimos was on top of the world and, seemingly, it was only up from there. He was still very young (for a goalkeeper), and his potential was thought of to be through the roof. It was…
Source link : https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2024/10/06/the-strange-story-of-odysseas-vlachodimos/
Author : Sam MacDougall
Publish date : 2024-10-06 15:05:08
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