International Career
He was called up to the USSR's Under-19 squad. He was promoted to the senior squad and represented the Soviet Union in the 1976 Olympic qualifying tournament (at the time USSR fielded a full national team for the Olympics, as the Soviet Top League was considered an amateur one). His debut was made in a 3-0 home win against Yugoslavia. He even managed to score his team's last goal in his debut. Hatzipanagis featured in three more matches (two matches against Iceland and one Norway). However, despite being told by national coach Konstantin Beskov that his ability was "way above Greece's level", he turned his back on the Soviet league – where as a left-sided attacker he was considered second only to the great Oleg Blokhin – to move to the land of his fathers. Another highlight for Hatzipanagis was his first appearance for the Greek national side, in a friendly match against Poland at the Apostolos Nikolaidis stadium in May 1976. The Athens crowd were bewitched by the long-haired wonder, who seemed to do whatever he wanted with the ball. Afterwards, however, Hatzipanagis was notified that he was ineligible for international duty having played for USSR. His second appearance with the national team came many years after his retirement: he played for 20 minutes in the friendly match against Ghana on 14 December 1999 - where he was honored by the Greek federation for his overall contribution to the game of football.
Read more about this topic: Vasilis Hatzipanagis
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“A black boxer’s career is the perfect metaphor for the career of a black male. Every day is like being in the gym, sparring with impersonal opponents as one faces the rudeness and hostility that a black male must confront in the United States, where he is the object of both fear and fascination.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)