Dimitris Kourbelis

Dimitris Kourbelis

Kourbelis playing for Greece U19
Personal information
Full name	Dimitrios Kourbelis
Date of birth	(1993-11-02) 2 November 1993 (age 28)
Place of birth	Korakovouni, Arcadia, Greece
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team	Panathinaikos
Number	21
Youth career
2007–2011	Asteras Tripolis
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2016	Asteras Tripolis	103	(2)
2016–	Panathinaikos	114	(6)
National team‡
2011–2012	Greece U19	14	(1)
2013	Greece U20	6	(0)
2012–2015	Greece U21	10	(1)
2017–	Greece	23	(1)
Honours Men's football Representing   Greece UEFA European Under-19 Championship Runner-up 2012 Estonia
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league onlyand correct as of 21:30, 13 March 2022 (UTC). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:12, 20 November 2020 (UTC).

Dimitris Kourbelis (Greek : Δημήτρης Κουρμπέλης, born 2 November 1993) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Super League club Panathinaikos, for which he is captain, and the Greece national team. ^[1]

Club career

Asteras Tripolis

On 31 May 2015, Kourbelis reached 100 appearances for Asteras Tripolis and scored his first goal in 2014–15 playoffs against Atromitos. ^[2] He made 131 appearances across all competitions in his career at Tripoli.

Panathinaikos

On 23 December 2016, Kourbelis signed a 3.5-season contract with Greek club Panathinaikos and was officially announced by Athens club, on an annual fee of €250,000. The Greens will pay €500,000 to his former club during the next three seasons, along with a 25% next transfer percentage and some appearances and targets bonus, which could increase the cost of 23-year-old international's move to the team of manager Marinos Ouzounidis to €700,000. ^{[3] [4]} The Greek international quickly earned respect within the club and his quick transition from Asteras Tripolis to Panathinaikos, proved his ability to overcome new challenges. On 5 January 2017, he made his debut with the club playing as a starter in a 1–0 away loss against Platanias and ever since, Kourbelis has become an irreplaceable option in the Green’s squad. Although Kourbelis might not have the abilities of a "game changing" player, he has managed to add quality to Panathinaikos’ game and become a backbone in the club’s roster. Last season, he showed great composure in important matches as one of his best games in the Green shirt was against rivals Olympiacos.

After the sale of Zeca to Copenhagen, despite the fact that he had spent only 8 months with the club, he was appointed as the new captain for the 2017–18 season. ^[5]

On 13 January 2018, according to Live Sport athletic newspaper, Genoa offered about €2 million to the financially struggling Greens, in order to secure the 24-year-old international defensive midfielder and captain of the club in the January transfer window, without ignoring other German and Italian clubs that asked about the market value of the player. ^[6] At the last week of the 2018 January transfer window, PAOK submitted a proposal to financial struggling Greens for the acquisition of the international midfielder. PAOK are offering Panathinaikos €1.5 million for Kourbelis, including the services of Ergys Kaçe, Giannis Mystakidis and Dimitris Konstantinidis for the second half of this season, but the player is reluctant for this transfer, besides the annual fee of €450,000. ^[7] At the last day of the January transfer window, the administration of PAOK did not manage to reach an agreement with Kourbelis, while Sampdoria will try to capture Panathinaikos' captain. The 25-year old defensive midfielder wants to compete in a team abroad with Italian club eyeing his case. The Genova's team is willing to offer about €2 million for Kourbelis and news update is expected. Nevertheless, Panathinaikos maybe capture either Konstantinidis, Kaçe and Mystakidis regardless the Kourbelis future. ^[8] Eventually, the captain of Panathinaikos will remain in the club for the rest of the season. ^[9] On 3 February 2018, Kourbelis suffered an injury during the first half of a home game against Panetolikos. He is expected to remain out of action for 3–4 weeks and his absence will definitely be a major blow for the plans of Panathinaikos' manager Marinos Ouzounidis. ^[10]

On 1 September 2018, he scored his first goal with the club in all competitions, with a penalty kick after 21-year-old winger Tasos Chatzigiovanis was fouled in the box by Lamia's goalscorer Daniel Adejo, sealing a 3–1 home win game. ^[11] On 24 November 2018, Kourbelis scored as Tasos Chatzigiovanis squared the ball for the captain. His initial shot struck Apollon defender Klodian Gino, but the ball fell favorably for Kourbelis to score from the rebound, in a hammering 5–1 home win game against struggling Apollon Smyrnis. ^[12]

On 27 November 2019, he renew his contract with the club until the summer of 2023 for an undisclosed fee. ^[13] On 22 January 2020, the Greek international defender let fly with an unstoppable shot from just outside the penalty area which left Balázs Megyeri no chance, in a hammering 3–0 home win game against Atromitos. ^[14] On 1 July 2020, the Greece international midfielder made a vital interception before striding forward and beat Fabian Ehmann with four minutes to go to the interval, giving the lead in a 2–0 home win game against Aris. ^[15] On 6 December 2020, he scored his first goal for the 2020-21 season, leading to a vital 2-1 away win against rivals AEK Athens. ^[16] On 17 December 2020, he faced a tear in the abductor muscle that will keep him out of the squad for a period of six months. After a very difficult year for the defender marred by injury (425 days to be exact), Kourbelis returned to action in an away 2021-22 Greek Cup quarterfinals game against Anagennisi Karditsa F.C. in February 2022. ^[17]

International career

On 9 June 2017, Kourbelis earned Michael Skibbe's first call to Greek National team as a result of his remarkable appearances to Panathinaikos. On the same match, he officially debuted in the Greek national team coming on as a late substitute in a 0–0 away draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifications.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 6 March 2022 ^[18]

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Asteras Tripolis	2011–12	Superleague Greece	15	0	2	0	—		17	0
	2012–13		20	0	5	0	3	0	28	0
	2013–14		18	0	2	0	2	0	22	0
	2014–15		26	2	1	0	7	1	34	3
	2015–16		20	0	2	0	4	0	26	0
	2016–17		4	0	—		—		4	0
	Total		103	2	12	0	16	1	131	3
Panathinaikos	2016–17	Superleague Greece	19	0	2	0	—		21	0
	2017–18		23	0	3	0	4	0	30	0
	2018–19		25	2	2	0	—		27	2
	2019–20		31	3	6	1	—		37	4
	2020–21		10	1	0	0	—		10	1
	2021–22		5	0	1	0	—		6	0
	Total		113	6	14	1	4	0	131	7
Career total			216	8	26	1	20	1	262	10

(* Include Superleague Greece Playoffs)
(** Include UEFA Europa League)

International

As of match played 18 November 2020

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Greece	2017	1	0
	2018	6	0
	2019	9	1
	2020	7	0
Total		23	1

International goals

Scores and results list Greece's goal tally first. ^[19]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	30 May 2019	New Antalya Stadium, Antalya, Turkey	Turkey	1–0	1–2	Friendly

Honours

Club

Asteras Tripolis

• Greek Cup runner-up: 2012–13

International

Greece U19

• UEFA European Under-19 Championship runner-up: 2012

Individual

• Super League Greece Team of the Year: 2017–18, ^[20] 2018–19, ^[21] 2019–20 ^[22]

References

1. "Asteras Tripolis squad". uefa.com . Retrieved 25 March 2012.
2. "Θεραπεία ο Λούι, "100άρης" με γκολ ο Κουρμπέλης". www.contra.gr. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
3. "Ανακοίνωσε Κουρμπέλη ο Παναθηναϊκός" (in Greek). gazzetta.gr. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
4. "Μποροβήλος: "Ο Κουρμπέλης δόθηκε με 700.000 ευρώ και 25% ποσοστό μεταπώλησης"" (in Greek). sport24.gr. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
5. "Κουρμπέλης ο νέος αρχηγός" (in Greek). novasports.gr. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
6. "Genoa CFC made offer to Panathinaikos for the purchase of Kourbelis". sdna.gr. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
7. ""Ναι" του Αλαφούζου, διστάζει ο Κουρμπέλης για ΠΑΟΚ" (in Greek). sport24.gr. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
8. "Ανατροπή: Προς Σαμπντόρια ο Κουρμπέλης (αποσύρει το ενδιαφέρον ο ΠΑΟΚ)" (in Greek). politis.com.cy. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
9. "Έμεινε στον Παναθηναϊκό ο Κουρμπέλης" (in Greek). sport24.gr. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
10. "ΣΟΚ με Κουρμπέλη στον ΠΑΟ – "Έγκλημα" από τον παίκτη στον τραυματισμό του" (in Greek). sportdog.gr. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
11. "Οι μπέμπηδες έκαναν τη διαφορά, 3–1 ο Παναθηναϊκός τη Λαμία" (in Greek). sport24.gr. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
12. "Παναθηναϊκός – Απόλλων Σμύρνης 5–1: "Κέντα" με Μακέντα το τριφύλλι" (in Greek). sport24.gr. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
13. "Παναθηναϊκός: Στο τριφύλλι για 3,5 χρόνια ακόμα ο Κουρμπέλης" (in Greek). sport24.gr. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
14. "Παναθηναϊκός – Ατρόμητος 3–0: Τριάρα και εδραίωση στην τετράδα με ωραία μπάλα" (in Greek). sport24.gr. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
15. "Παναθηναϊκός – Άρης 2–0: Τα έκανε όλα ο αρχηγός" (in Greek). sport24.gr. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
16. "ΑΕΚ - Παναθηναϊκός 1-2: Πράσινη κυριαρχία" (in Greek). sport24.gr. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
17. "Κέρδισε... ηρεμία και Κουρμπέλη ο Παναθηναϊκός στην Καρδίτσα!" (in Greek). www.sport-fm.gr. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
18. "Kourbelis profile". Soccerway. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
19. "Dimitris Kourbelis". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
20. "Τα βραβεία του ΠΣΑΠ για τη σεζόν 2017-18". TaMeteora.gr (in Greek). 2019-02-15. Retrieved 2022-01-11.
21. "Βραβεία ΠΣΑΠ: Oι κορυφαίοι της Superleague για τη σεζόν 2018-19! (pics)". NewsIT (in Greek). 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2022-01-11.
22. "Super League Interwetten: Η καλύτερη ενδεκάδα της σεζόν 2019-20". www.sport24.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 2022-01-11.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dimitris Kourbelis .

• Dimitris Kourbelis – UEFA competition record ( archive )
• Dimitrios Kourbelis at ESPN FC
• Dimitrios Kourmbelis at Soccerbase