Vasilis Torosidis, Born in Xanthi, Made in Piraeus

Vasilis Torosidis, Born in Xanthi, Made in Piraeus

After 333 appearance, four clubs and an 18 year career in which he won seven league titles and four cups as well as four domestic doubles with Olympiakos, and making over 100 appearance for Greece, Vasilis Torosidis announced his retirement from football after he won his final trophy in last Saturday's Greek Cup final. 

With the possibility of the former Greek international hanging up his boots rumoured throughout the previous season, it was little surprise that he chose this moment to leave the beautiful game having helped his side win their first domestic double for five years. 

He showed true leadership in the dressing room despite not playing as much in the second and final stint in Piraeus and it will be a huge loss for Olympiakos now that he has decided to retire. With Toro gone, it is time to reflect on the marauding right backs' amazing career, which is exactly what this week's blog will be about. 

I will be taking a look at his humble start for his local side Xanthi, his first stint in Piraeus which led to him making his debut for Greece. He moved to Italy with Roma and then Bologna before returning to Olympiakos for one last hurrah before he decided to retire. So without further ado, let's dive in.   

Xanthi and humble beginnings 

Having graduated from the academy of his home town of Xanthi, Toro made his senior debut aged just 17, in April 2003 against Iraklis towards the latter stages of the domestic campaign where his side would comfortably finish mid-table. 

Over the next few seasons Torosidis started to see more game time at right back, playing intermittently at first but slowly became an important part of a Xanthi side that finished 4th reached in 2004/05 and qualified for the UEFA Cup first round for both 2005/06 and 2006/07. 

By this time Torosidis was attracting quite a lot of attention from the big 3 in Greece, with Olympiakos, Panathinaikos and AEK all linked with a move for the then talented 22 year old. Eventually after making 76 appearances over five years for his home side, champions Olympiakos won the race for Torosidis, signing the right back midway through the season in January 2007. 

It was in Piraeus that the Greeks' career went supernova.

Move to Piraeus and First International Call Up

After making his debut in January, Toro, in the same month scored his first goal for Olympiakos in a match against PAOK and helped Thrylos two a third consecutive league title, with him playing a vital part to the second half of their season. Around the same time Torosidis made his international debut in a Euro 2008 qualifier against Turkey. 

He would eventually become the replacement for legendary left back Takis Fyssas, on the left side of defence, and although he did not naturally play in this position for his club, this is where Torosidis grew to become a more versatile fullback, with the Greek international becoming adept at playing in both positions. 

He would eventually get the call to play for the European champions for Euro 2008, where they were sadly eliminated in the group stages. 

By this time however Torosidis had already won his first domestic double in 2007/08 with Olympiakos and was not only recognised as one of Greece's best fullbacks but was being touted by some of Europe's biggest sides. 

The likes of Newcastle United, Roma, Juventus, Atletico Madrid and even Bayern Munich were monitoring him during his first stint in Piraeus. This was also due to his exceptional performances for Thrylos in Europe. Having reached the round of 16 in the Champions League in 07/08 he would score in the UEFA Cup first round in a 5-0 smashing of FC Nordsjælland in the first leg in Piraeus and would score again during the group stages in a 4-0 win over Hertha Berlin during the 08/09 campaign. 

It was during this season also that Torosidis helped Olympiakos to a second consecutive domestic double. The next season, 2009/10 was one to forget for the Piraeus side, finishing 5th and seeing their bitter rivals, Panathinaikos, beat them to the title with Giorgios Karagounis and co. Despite this poor result for the club Torosidis did have his most productive goal scoring campaign in all competitions with 6 and was named Greek Football Player of the Year. 

 

He also was just as vital for the national team in this time as he, along with Greece, qualified for the 2010 World Cup, the Ethniki's first time in the tournament since 1994. Although they did not get out of a rather tough group containing Argentina, Nigeria and South Korea. 

They were able to get their first ever World Cup win, coming back from a goal down to defeat Nigeria 2-1 with Torosidis scoring the winner. 

 

In the following league campaign in 2010/11, after a poor start to their European campaign by being knocked out of the third qualifying round by Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv, Olympiakos were able to reclaim their Greek Super League crown with Torosidis being rewarded for his services to the club by becoming the captain. 

During the last couple of years of his time in Piraeus, Toro was instrumental in helping Olympiakos establish themselves as the dominant force in Greek football, through his influence both on and off the pitch as captain of the side and it would start the beginning of Thrylos long title winning run, with a domestic double in 2011/12 and another third title in a row in 2012/13 as well as helping them remain competitive in Europe. 

For Greece, the right back was showing his importance, scoring winners against Latvia and Malta during Greece campaign to reach Euro 2012, which they managed after a playoff win against Croatia. 

Greece would go on to reach the quarter finals where they were knocked out by Germany.

 

By 2013 however, news was starting to circulate that the Olympiakos captain wanted to find new challenges abroad and was even linked with a move to Fulham, as fellow Greek international Giorgios Karagounis had just signed with the London club. 

Despite an excellent first half to the 2012/13 season where Thrylos would go on to retain the title, Roma came calling with an offer for the Piraeus captain and he signed with the Italian club, leaving Olympiakos after six years of service to the club.

Departing Olympiakos and European Career

During his time in the Italian capital Torosidis while never a mainstay in the first team did show consistency and became a valuable part of the squad in his three and a half seasons with Roma. 

That very same season, scoring his first goal for the club against Bologna as well as reaching the Coppa Italia final, scoring in the semi final win over Inter Milan, only to lose in the final to city rivals Lazio. 

The following three campaigns saw Torosidis, with 14/15 seeing the arrival of fellow former Olympiakos player Kostas Manolas, Roma finished 2nd place twice, the Europa league Round of 16 in 14/15 and 3rd in 15/16, the as well as reaching the Champions League round of 16. 

For Greece, Torosidis was still hugely important, as they qualified for their second consecutive World Cup in 2014, reaching the round of 16 for the first time in their history and were only denied a place in the quarter finals after losing on penalties against Costa Rica. 

Post the World Cup in Brazil, he was named as Greece's captain and successor to retiring legend Giorgios Karagounis. 

 

The 2015/16 campaign would be Toro's last for Roma. After having a rather injury hit season, he would go on to lose his place in the starting Xi. 

On the last day of the 2016 summer transfer window he was sold to Bologna for 1 Million Euros. In his first season the now veteran full back was able to help his side stay up in Serie A and he was able to play most of their games in 2016/17 although injuries were still a problem for him. 

By 2017/18 recurring thigh injuries began to plague him further, keeping him out for a large part of the season. Despite this Bologna were able to stay up once again. 

Although he was fully fit and training with the squad again by the end of the campaign, Torosidis and the club both came to an agreement to terminate his contract in the summer of 2018. 

Return to Piraeus and Ending on a High

During the very same summer, and after a 5 year spell away, Torosidis returned to Olympiakos where he would remain for the twilight years of his career. While he was no longer a starter for Thrylos, he was still just as important a leader in the dressing room, in training and when he played, on the pitch. 

After a very poor season in 17/18, with a considerable lack of leadership, no understanding of the ethos of the clubs values and importance of the domestic campaign from many of the players, Toro was one of the veterans in the squad who would definitely bring that mentality back to the club. He popped up with a number of goals during his first season back with two in the Europa League both against F91 Dudelange home and away as well as in the Greek Cup. 

While he and Olympiakos did not manage to win the title in 18/19, you can certainly see that the club was starting to go in the right direction. 

Much like the latter stages of his career in club football that same could be said for his international career. 

As captain, Toro was unable to help inspire Greece to qualify for a major tournament since 2014, coming closest by reaching the playoffs of the 2018 World Cup where they were out matched over two legs by eventual finalists Croatia. 

The veterans international career can still be considered a success however, as he won 101 caps for Greece, the 4th highest for the Ethniki, and even scored 10 goals, a decent return for a defender. He eventually retired from the national team in 2019.

To Finish of this historic look at Toro's career, I will take a brief look at the final season of his career, that being the one just gone, 2019/20. 

Despite hardly featuring for the club during this campaign with Elabdellaoui and Gaspar as the first and second choice right backs, Toro was able to show his worth to the squad by playing on either flanks when called upon to do so, most notably in his final game for the club in the Greek Cup final which was played on the 12th of September. 

With a dominant Olympiakos side he was able to help clinch not only the clubs first title in Three years but also the first domestic double for five years as well as Toro's and fourth and final one. It was an end to a career fit for a true legend of the Greek game and I am sure that many Thrylos fans would agree that is exactly what Vasilis Torosidis deserves. 

Hellas Football 

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