Panos Armenakas

Panos Armenakas
Personal information
Full name Panagiotis Armenakas
Date of birth (1998-08-05) 5 August 1998
Place of birth Newport Beach, California
United States[1]
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Udinese
Number 98
Youth career
2002–2010 Sydney Olympic
2011–2012 Brescia
2012–2014 Watford
2014– Udinese
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016– Udinese 0 (0)
National team‡
2014 Greece U17 2 (0)
2014–2015 Australia U17 7 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 May 2015.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 29 October 2015

Panagiotis "Panos" Armenakas (born 5 August 1998) is an Australian footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Serie A club Udinese Calcio.

Armenakas has played youth football for Sydney Olympic, Watford and Udinese Calcio.

Originally, Armenakas represented Greece U-17, but more recently has played for the Australian U-17 side.

Early life

Armenakas was born in Newport Beach, California before moving to Sydney, Australia at a young age.[1] He is of American, Australian and Greek nationality.[2]

Club career

Armenakas started his youth career playing for Sydney Olympic, after being scouted in a park by ex-Socceroo Jim Patikas.[1] At the age of six, he was invited to spend three weeks training with FC Barcelona's elite juniors squad.[3] While in Europe, he also spent time with Bolton Wanderers.[4][5] In 2010, he moved to Europe, initially joining Brescia before signing with Watford's Youth Academy.[6] After spending two years with Watford, he signed a three-year deal with fellow Giampaolo Pozzo owned club, Udinese.[7] By signing with the Italian club, Panos became the youngest Australian ever to sign a professional contract in any of the top five leagues in Europe.[8] In November 2015, Armenakas signed a contract extension, keeping him at Udinese until 2018.[9]

International career

Armenakas initially represented Greece at under-17 level, playing in two friendly matches against Turkey U-17 in August 2014.[10][11]

In late 2014, Armenakas accepted a call up to the Australian U-17 squad, to play in the 2014 Nike International Friendlies tournament in the United States,[2] where he made his debut in a loss to Brazil U-17 in November 2014.[12] In October 2015, he was selected in Australia's 21-man squad for the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile.[13] During this time, he was also selected by The Guardian as one of the best fifty young talents in world football.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Taneka, Taku (16 October 2014). "Panos Armenakas". Inside Sport. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  2. 1 2 Murray, Les (27 October 2014). "Teenage prodigy Armenakas chooses Australia". The World Game. SBS. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  3. ↑ "Future star of football". Neos Kosmos English Edition. 2 October 2007. Archived from the original on 2 October 2007. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  4. ↑ Kay, Oliver (10 November 2005). "Chelsea and United prepare for battle over seven-year-old". The Times.
  5. ↑ "Australian To Experience Bolton Atmosphere". thefootballnetwork.net. 8 November 2005. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  6. ↑ "Armenakas' astronomical climb". Neos Kosmos English Edition. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Panos Armenakas decides to leave Watford for Udinese despite interest from Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea". Daily Mail. 11 July 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  8. ↑ Ratcliffe, Joey (3 April 2015). "How will the Socceroos line up in 2018?". theblogfc.com.au. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  9. ↑ SEG Football [SEG_Football] (27 November 2015). "Panos Armenakas (@panaldinho10) signed a contract extension with @Udinese_1896 until 2018. Congrats, Panos!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ↑ "Turkey Greece – National Team Matches Details" (in Turkish). Turkish Football Federation. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  11. ↑ "Turkey Greece – National Team Matches Details" (in Turkish). Turkish Football Federation. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  12. ↑ "Brazil Earns Convincing 4–0 Win against Australia in Nike Friendlies Opener". United States Soccer Federation. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  13. ↑ "Joeys squad named for 2015 U-17 FIFA World Cup Chile". Football Federation Australia. 2 October 2015.
  14. ↑ "Next Generation 2015: 50 of the best young talents in world football". The Guardian. 7 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
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