Lefteris Lyratzis
 Lyratzis with Greece in 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Eleftherios Lyratzis | ||
| Date of birth | 22 February 2000 | ||
| Place of birth | Kavala, Greece | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Right-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team |
NEC (on loan from PAOK) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2012–2018 | PAOK | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018– | PAOK | 38 | (1) |
| 2019–2020 | → Volos (loan) | 24 | (1) |
| 2024 | → Asteras Tripolis (loan) | 11 | (0) |
| 2024– | → NEC (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2015–2016 | Greece U17 | 14 | (1) |
| 2018 | Greece U18 | 4 | (0) |
| 2017–2019 | Greece U19 | 18 | (0) |
| 2019–2022 | Greece U21 | 12 | (0) |
| 2022 | Greece | 1 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 9 June 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 June 2022 | |||
Lefteris Lyratzis (Greek: Λευτέρης Λύρατζης; born 22 February 2000) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Dutch Eredivisie club NEC on loan from PAOK.
Career
[edit]Early career
[edit]He is a son of Kavala footballer Nikolaos Lyratzis. He was six years old when he first started training at Keravnos Krinidon. His family moved from Kavala to Thessaloniki in 2012 just for PAOK. It was here that Lefteris became a man, and here, where his two younger brothers also played football. Lyratzis can play both as right and left interior midfielder, can use both feet comfortably and score, has a great character and is a brilliant student. One of the U14s’ skippers last season, he distinguished himself in all tournaments that he participated with PAOK.[1] He has always been a ‘leader’ at PAOK. He won the championship with the Under-14s and Under-15s during the 2014–15 season, and also when playing for the Under-17s, with which he also won a league title. Then again with the Under-19s he was also a title winner in the 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons. Lyratzis has also represented Greece at every youth level, but his best career memory to date is the goal he scored for PAOK against Paris Saint-Germain at the Lennart Johansson tournament at the age of 13.
PAOK
[edit]A combination of hard work, maturity and continuous improvement saw him join the first team for pre-season training in the summer of 2018. In the 2018–19 season he played four times for the full senior side, and the next season he went out on loan to Volos. On 28 June 2019, Lyratzis signed a long season contract with Super League club Volos on loan from PAOK.[2] On 4 January 2020, Lyratzis opened the scoring for Juan Ferrando’s visitors after 35 minutes, helping his club to acquire a vital 2–1 away win against OFI. It was his first goal in the Super League.[3] On 12 December 2021, he opened the score in a 2–1 home win game against Lamia. It was his first goal with PAOK in all competitions with the club.[4] The 2021-22 season will be unforgettable for Lefteris Lyratzis. The young extreme defender of PAOK waited until December to play as a key player and from the moment he received the baptism of fire he became important for Răzvan Lucescu. To the point that even his teammates in the internal voting that took place in the locker rooms of Dikefalos to promote him as the best young football player of the team.[5]
On 2 September 2024, Lyratzis was loaned by NEC in the Netherlands.[6]
Career statistics
[edit]Club
[edit]- As of 29 February 2024
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| PAOK | 2018–19 | Super League Greece | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 13 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | 13 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | 27 | 1 | |||
| 2022–23 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 17 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| Total | 38 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 10 | 0 | — | 64 | 1 | |||
| Volos (loan) | 2019–20 | Superleague Greece | 24 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 1 | ||
| Asteras Tripolis (loan) | 2023–24 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||||
| Career total | 66 | 2 | 19 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 95 | 2 | ||
Honours
[edit]- PAOK
References
[edit]- ^ "Λευτέρης Λύρατζης: Το "next big thing" του ΠΑΟΚ". kavalapost.gr. 27 May 2018.
- ^ "Ανακοίνωσε Λύρατζη ο Βόλος". www.sport24.gr. 28 June 2019.
- ^ "ΟΦΗ - Βόλος 1-2: Φοβερό "διπλό" με ήρωα τον Γκαραβέλη". www.sport24.gr. 4 January 2020.
- ^ "ΠΑΟΚ - Λαμία 2-1: Παυσίπονο από Κούρτιτς και VAR". www.gazzetta.gr. 12 December 2021.
- ^ "Ο Λύρατζης αναδείχθηκε καλύτερος νέος παίκτης της σεζόν από τους συμπαίκτες του". www.sport24.gr. 31 May 2022.
- ^ "N.E.C. huurt Lefteris Lyratzis van PAOK Saloniki" [NEC loans Lefteris Lyratzis from PAOK Saloniki] (in Dutch). NEC. 2 September 2024. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
External links
[edit]
- Eleftherios Lyratzis – UEFA competition record (archive)
- Eleutherios Lyratzis at ESPN FC
- Eleutherios Lyratzis at Soccerbase
- 2000 births
- Footballers from Kavala
- Living people
- Men's association football defenders
- Greek men's footballers
- Greece men's youth international footballers
- Greece men's under-21 international footballers
- Greece men's international footballers
- PAOK FC players
- Volos F.C. players
- Asteras Tripolis F.C. players
- NEC Nijmegen players
- Super League Greece players
- Greek expatriate men's footballers
- Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands
- Greek expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
- 21st-century Greek sportsmen