International Career
Stoltidis was a member of the Greece side defeated in the 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship final by Spain. In November 1999, he made his debut for the senior national team and he went on to represent Greece at the Athens Olympics in 2004. Despite performing at a high rate for his club Olympiakos, he was left out of the UEFA Euro 2004 championship winning squad and the FIFA World Cup 2006 or UEFA Euro 2008 campaigns. Finally, after years of media speculation, Stoltidis was called to the National Team under Rehhagel for a friendly against the Czech Republic. He declined the invitation stating "I'm no longer at an age where I can perform on all those fronts at the required level. Apart from my gratitude to the fans for their support, I want to assure them that, had this call come earlier in my career, when I was capable of competing on all fronts at a high level, I would have put myself at the disposal of the coach without hesitation."
Read more about this topic: Ieroklis Stoltidis
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