Nikos Pentzaropoulos

Nikos Pentzaropulos (Νίκος Πετζαρόπουλος; 17 January 1927 – 29 March 1979) was a Greek footballer, who played as a goalkeeper, mainly for Panionios. He earned the nickname "the Hero of Tampere" (ο Ήρωας του Τάμπερε), after his performance with the Greek Olympic team in 1952.

Early years and distinction
Pentzaropulos began playing football in 1940 at the local team, Keravnos Kallitheas. In 1943, at the age of 16, he was discovered by the goalkeeping coach of Panionios, Giorgos Roussopoulos, who quackly realized his talent and joined the club. He established himself quickly to first team from a young age and in 1948 he became an international with Greece for the first time.

He was distinguished for his exceptional reflexes, his ability to save the ball and his successive interceptions on penalty-kicks. In a match at Karaiskakis Stadium against Olympiacos, where Pentzaropoulos kicked the ball from the keeper's box but, due to the strong wind, the ball fell towards the middle of the field. Andreas Mouratis of Olympiacos, who was renowned for his strong shots, unleashed a powerful shot sending the ball towards the goal post of Panionios. On the 6-yard-line, as the ball was passing over him, Pentzaropoulos jumped on the air, turned his body 180 degrees, stretched and punched the ball to safety, falling into the nets. The crowd was cheering for him for his stunning save and Mouratis ran to him, helped him get up and kissed him.

Internazionale
His performances against Denmark at the 1952 Olympics was not to be unnoticed, as the coach of Internazionale, Alfredo Foni, who was on the stadium was impressed and suggested him to sign a professional contract at the Italian club. Since the Greek football was amateur at the time and the footballers had any income at all, the professionalism and the exceptionally high wage that was suggested by Inter impressed him, since he was not from a wealthy family and he barely made his living. The dream of a professional career in a European top club made him depart for Milan in August 1952. He signed a professional contract with Inter and started training with the Italian club, hoping that the administration of Panionios would concent for the transfer. However, the unexpected departure of his was negatively handled and they didn't give in to the financial exchanges that the Italians were offering. The desirable transfer never took place, despite staying almost one year in Italy. In friendly matches with Inter, Pentzaropoulos was also impressive. Indicative of the Italians' adulation for his figure, was an article of an Italian newspaper with a big picture, which was portrayed Pentzaropoulos, blocking the ball high in the air, with the title of the article being "The flying goalkeeper" with the caption "Pentzaropoulos can fly...".

Return to Panionios
Pentzaropoulos returned to Greece, disappointed and embittered in 1953. He had an welcome was at Larissa station and after a while he came back to action with Panionios. However his performances didn't remind his previous impressive form that gave him the nickname "the flying goalkeeper" and disappointed he retired from football at the age of only 28.

International career
Pentzaropoulos had a total of 11 games with Greece, while also playing in 3 friendly matches against Turkey with an Athens Mixed Team. He made his debut as on 28 November 1948, in a friendly match against Turkey, entering as a substitute in the second half with his team losing 1–2 and the score remained as it was until the end of the match. During the period 1949–1952 Pentzaropoulos played 8 matches, all of which were for the Mediterranean Cup against Egypt (1–3), Italy B (2–3, 0–3), France B (0–1), Syria (8–0) and Turkey (1–2, 3–1, 1–0).

Afterwards, he became a member of the Olympic team in 1952 Summer Olympics at Helsinki, where he made his greatest performance in Tampere. On 15 July 1952, in the match against the Denmark, at the presence of 7,000 people Pentzaropoulos made the greatest game of his career, making a lot of interventions against the hammering shots of the Danish footballers. Eventually the match ended in a 1–2 defeat and Greece were eliminated, but Pentzaropoulos was cheered by the crowd. He was called the "Hero of Tampere" from the Greek journalists who were constantly posting glowing articles dedicated to him, while the international press was accordingly encomiastic, with many European newspapers publishing articles with the title "The New Zamora was born", comparing him, with the greatest goalkeeper at the time. His last match with Greece was on 25 July 1952, after their elimination from the tournament, against United Kingdom in a 4–2 win.

Managerial career
The later years, Pentzaropoulos was involved with coaching and after that he coached the youth team of Panionios. He envisioned the establishment of a goalkeeping school. In a short time before his death, Pentzaropoulos taught his secrets to the young Antonis Manikas, which in a few years later praised his teacher after he saved 15 penalties in 3 years, becoming an international.

Death
Pentzaropoulos died on 27 March 1979, at the age of only 52 from cancer, failing to witness Panionios conquering the Greek Cup, a few months later. The sad news were spread all over the country and the sport press was showing long time features.