The federal manager, Nikos Kechagias, invited today Dimos Makris and Vangelis Kontogiannis to the Greek National Team U19. This is a very important recognition of our hard work, because it means that 2 of the 3 goalkeepers of the National Team have been trained by the Athens Goalkeepers Academy!
This is another “award” for AGA, which is the leading Goalkeeping Academy in Greece. The happiness that is ”painted” in the smile of our athletes when they make their dreams come true is our greatest reward.
In the North Group
The two goalkeepers will be part of the North Group of the U19 Greek National Team. The Technical Director of the Greek Football Federation, Mr. Costas Konstantinidis, decided that the U19 team will gather for training in two groups: North and South, because of the pandemic.
The players of the U19 National Team will participate in the next few days in training sessions and friendly matches. The aim is to stop their abstinence from training and prepare for the qualifiers of the European Championship.
Who is who: Dimos Makris
Dimos Makris was born in 2002, he is playing for Aris Thessaloniki and has followed for years the training program of Athens Goalkeepers Academy.
In January 2020 he went to the UK, in order to have tryouts with clubs such as Liverpool and Rangers. After this, Makris and the Head of our School, Mr. Christos Lambrou, went in Italy. There, Makris was trained and evaluated by the technical staff of Genoa, at its training center. Despite the fact that his tryouts were successful and the Italians liked it, the transfer was not able to proceed, due to the pandemic.
For the same reason Makris did not manage, three months later, in April 2020, to travel to Spain. The talented goalkeeper was among those who were evaluated and selected to go to Spain, in order to have tryouts by LaLiga clubs. However, that trip was unfortunately canceled due to covid-19.
Who is who: Vangelis Kontogiannis
Vangelis Kontogiannis was born in 2002, he is a player of Panetolikos and has also been part of the training program of AGA. The talented goalkeeper joined our Academy during the Summer Camp of 2019 and was evaluated by the Head Goalkeeping Coach of Liverpool’s Academy, Mr. Mark Morris, whom AGA brought to Greece, in the context of our cooperation.
In fact, Kontogiannis was among the goalkeepers who were selected to travel to Britain together in January 2020, in order to have tryouts by clubs such as Liverpool and Rangers. This is a clear sign of his worth, although he eventually chose not to follow, remaining loyal to his current team.
In September 2020 Kontogiannis signed his first professional contract with Panetolikos.
Congratulations to Makris and Kontogiannis
Athens Goalkeepers Academy congratulates Dimos Makris and Vangelis Kontogiannis for being part of the U19 Greek National Team and wishes them good luck!
