Chris Ikonomidis

Chris Ikonomidis
Personal information
Full name Christopher James Ikonomidis
Date of birth (1995-05-04) 4 May 1995
Place of birth Cronulla, Sydney, Australia
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Playing position Attacking midfielder / Winger[2]
Club information
Current team
 Perth Glory
Number 29
Youth career
2005–2009 Cronulla RSL
2009–2012 Sutherland Sharks
2012–2013 Atalanta
2013–2015 Lazio
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2018 Lazio 0 (0)
2016 → Salernitana (loan) 14 (1)
2016–2017 → AGF (loan) 18 (1)
2018 → Western Sydney Wanderers (loan) 10 (3)
2018– Perth Glory 0 (0)
National team‡
2013–2015 Australia U20 5 (4)
2014– Australia U23 6 (0)
2015– Australia 6 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7 April 2018
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 November 2017

Christopher James "Chris" Ikonomidis (/ɪˌkɒnəˈmiːdɪs/ ih-KON-ə-MEED-iss; born 4 May 1995) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or as a winger for Perth Glory and the Australia national team.

He is notable in being capped by his senior national team despite not yet having played a single senior game at club level at the time.[3]

Club career

Early career

Ikonomidis came from a family who had always played football, started playing himself when he was four years old in Sydney at local team Cronulla RSL.[4] He played youth football for NPL NSW side Sutherland Sharks. In 2010, he was part of the team that won the Oceania zone of the Manchester United Premier Cup, qualifying for the finals in England. His performance in England, including four goals in a 7–0 defeat of a Wigan Athletic youth side.[5]

After scoring several goals on trial with Italian club Atalanta, including one against Chelsea, Ikonomidis was offered a youth contract on his 16th birthday.[4]

Lazio

In 2013, after 18 months at Atalanta, Ikonomidis was offered a three-year youth contract by Lazio.[6] After strong performances with Lazio's Primavera squad, Ikonomidis made his senior debut for Lazio on 10 December 2015 starting in the final Group Stage match of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League against AS Saint-Étienne.[7] Ikonomidis signed a new contract on 5 June 2015.[8]

Loan to Salernitana

For the second half of the 2015–16 season, Lazio loaned Ikonomidis to Salernitana from the Serie B.[9] He made his Serie B debut for Salernitana on 22 January 2016, playing the full match at home to Brescia, where his cross led to a Brescia own goal.

Loan to AGF

On 31 August 2016, Ikonomidis joined AGF in the Danish Superliga on a season-long loan in a bid for regular game time.[10][11] He made his debut on 12 September 2016, coming on as a 66th minute substitute in a 3–1 victory over Nordsjælland.[12] He had a good season at AGF, but AGF announced, that Ikonomidis was one out of five players, that wouldn't continue at the club for the 2017/18 season.[13]

Loan to Western Sydney Wanderers

On 31 January 2018, Ikonomidis joined A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers on loan until the end of the season.[14] At the end of the season he returned to Lazio.[15]

Perth Glory

On 11 September 2018, Ikonomidis signed a three-year contract with Perth Glory.[16]

International career

Ikonomidis is of Greek heritage and is eligible for senior call-ups to both the Australia national team and Greek national team. He turned down Greece in favour of Australia, being quoted in 2013 saying "I was approached by the Greek federation 12 months ago, but I said no. I am 100 per cent playing for Australia if given the chance".[6]

In 2013, he was called up by Paul Okon to the Australian U20's for the COTIF Tournament in Valencia, and again in the 2014 AFC U-19 Championship, where he played one game against the UAE.[17] He was also called up to the Olyroos for the 2013 AFC U-22 Championship in Oman (which was actually held in 2014), where he played against Kuwait[18] and Japan.[19]

On 11 March 2015, Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou named Ikonomidis in the senior squad for friendlies against reigning World Champion Germany and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to be held that month.[3] He was substituted on replacing Nathan Burns in the game against the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in Skopje on 30 March to earn his first senior Socceroos cap.[20] His competitive debut for the Socceroos came on 3 September 2015 during 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, when he was substituted on in the 61st minute during Australia's 5–0 win over Bangladesh at Perth Oval.[21]

Ikonomidis was named in the Olyroos squad for the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship,[22] although he was recalled later from the camp by Lazio for his loan to Salernitana.

Career statistics

As of 19 July 2018[23]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Lazio 2015–16 Serie A 00001010
Salernitana (loan) 2015–16 Serie B 1410000141
AGF (loan) 2016–17 Danish Superliga 1612100182
Western Sydney Wanderers (loan) 2017–18 A-League 1030000103
Career total4052110436

Honours

Club

Lazio

References

  1. ↑ "Chris Ikonomidis". socceroos.com.au. Football Federation Australia. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  2. ↑ "Lazio's Socceroo loaned out to Serie B club". socceroos.com.au. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  3. 1 2 Socceroos squad to face Germany FourFourTwo
  4. 1 2 Interview: Chris Ikonomidis Talks to Young Roos Young Roos
  5. ↑ Sutherland Sharks ready for Manchester United Premier Cup in England Football NSW
  6. 1 2 Unknown teenager Chris Ikonomidis on verge of breakthrough in Italy The Australian 03/08/2013
  7. ↑ #Starting11 Berisha; Basta, Mauricio, Hoedt, Konko; FAnderson, Cataldi, Parolo, Oikonomidis; Matri, Djordjevic. S.S. Lazio Official Twitter, 9 December 2015
  8. ↑ "Rinnovo Oikonomidis" (in Italian). S.S. Lazio. 5 June 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  9. ↑ Grosso, Roberto (10 January 2016). "Oikonomidis Loaned to Salernitana". Italian Football Daily.
  10. ↑ "Comunicato 31.08.2016" (in Italian). S.S. Lazio. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  11. ↑ Huguenin, Michael (1 September 2016). "Socceroos winger Ikonomidis joins AGF on loan". Goal.com.
  12. ↑ Somerford, Ben (15 September 2016). "Ikonomidis bullish on Danish impact". FourFourTwo.
  13. ↑ AGF siger farvel til fem spillere‚ bold.dk, 31 May 2017
  14. ↑ Rugari, Vince (31 January 2018). "Western Sydney Wanderers sign Socceroo Chris Ikonomidis for rest of the A-League season". The Daily Telegraph.
  15. ↑ "Wanderers confirm player departures". Western Sydney Wanderers. 30 June 2018.
  16. ↑ "Official: Ikonomidis leaves Lazio". Football Italia. 11 September 2018.
  17. ↑ Australia v UAE AFC Match Report
  18. ↑ Australia v Kuwait AFC Match Report
  19. ↑ Australia v Japan AFC Match Report
  20. ↑ Socceroos Stalemate in Skopje The World Game, SBS, 31 March 2015
  21. ↑ Australia v Bangladesh AFC Match Report
  22. ↑ Olyroos squad: Aurelio Vidmar confirms squad for AFC Under 23s Championship Tom Smithies, Fox Sports, 23 December 2015
  23. ↑ "C. Ikonomidis". Soccerway. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
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