Dimitris Pelkas

Dimitris Pelkas
Pelkas playing for PAOK in 2018
Personal information
Full name Dimitrios Pelkas
Date of birth (1993-10-26) 26 October 1993
Place of birth Giannitsa, Greece
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position Attacking midfielder / Winger
Club information
Current team
 PAOK
Number 10
Youth career
2007–2012 PAOK
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012– PAOK 85 (15)
2013–2014 → Apollon Kalamarias (loan) 17 (7)
2014–2015 → Vitória Setúbal (loan) 24 (2)
National team‡
2011–2012 Greece U19 3 (0)
2012–2015 Greece U21 5 (0)
2015– Greece 10 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7 October 2018
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:57, 12 October 2018 (UTC)

Dimitris Pelkas (Greek: Δημήτρης Πέλκας, born 26 October 1993 in Giannitsa, Pella) is a Greek professional footballer who plays for PAOK as an attacking midfielder.

Career

Given the famous number 10 previously worn by PAOK legend Giorgos Koudas, the talented midfielder made his club debut on the 2 August, against Bnei Yehuda in the Europa League coming on for Apostolos Giannou. He scored his first professional goal in the return leg against Bnei Yehuda in a 4-1 home win. He made his league debut for the club on the 3 September 2012 against Atromitos.

On 22 August 2013, Pelkas signed for a year contract with Apollon Pontou on loan from PAOK playing in Football League. He has been among the top players of the club scoring 14 goals and making 10 assists.[1][2]

On 7 July 2014, Pelkas signed a new one-year contract with Vitória on loan from PAOK playing in Portuguese Primeira Liga.[3] Vitória guaranteed him playing time, and Pelkas in many games made the difference. Playing for Setubal, he heard that the Portuguese club will buy him against €350.000 and then sold him to Sporting for €1 million, but thankfully for PAOK that did not happen.[4] The young midfielder will get his opportunities, as pointed out by Vitória F.C. manager Domingos Paciência at the newspaper «Metrosport». "I spoke with the president of PAOK Zisis Vryzas, and he told me that he (Pelkas) is a quality, talented player who needs time to show his abilities. At Vitória he will get his chances to show us what he's made of. The Portuguese league, as the Greek one has a lot of power and he must show us that he can handle it." [5]

On 27 July 2015 Dimitris Pelkas has signed a new contract with PAOK, which will keep him in Toumba until 2018.[6]

His indisputable best professional year so far eventually attracted the interest of many clubs among that of Sporting that based on his previous performance with Vitória is very likely to proceed with the acquisition of the player for an initial amount of €1,5 million, even if his clause reaches the €5 million.[7] On 18 October 2015, Pelkas scored his first Superleague goal with PAOK for the 2015-16 season against Iraklis in a 3-3 away draw.[8] On 21 February 2016, he scored against rivals Panathinaikos helped his team to escape with a 2-2 away draw.[9] On 27 February 2016, he opened the score in a 2-0 home Superleague win against Asteras Tripoli. [10] On 8 December 2016, he scored his first goal for the 2016-17 season, in a crucial 2-0 home UEFA Europa League win against Slovan Liberec ensuring club's progress to the next round.[11] On 20 September 2017, Pelkas is undoubtedly the man of the match in the Greek Cup game of PAOK with Levadiakos with the Greek midfielder to fail in a penalty and a minute later to achieve a terrific goal.[12]

On September 29, 2017, Pelkas agreed to a contract extension with PAOK, until the summer of 2021.[13] On 30 September 2017, reached 100 appearances with the jersey of PAOK in all competitions. [14] On 27 August 2017, he scored his first goal for the 2017-18 season in a 3-1 home game, against Kerkyra On 15 October 2017, he scored in a 4-0 home win game against Lamia [15] On 10 December 2017, he scored a brace in a thriumphic 4-0 home win game against rivals Panathinaikos. [16] On 14 January 2018, he scored in a 3-0 away win game against Kerkyra [17] On 3 February 2018, he opened the score in a crucial 3-1 away win against PAS Giannina, and PAOK remain in first place of Super League on the road to the title of 2017-18 season. [18] On 17 February 2018, after a frustrating first half, Pelkas opened the score in the 56th minute when a superb exchange of passes between Robert Mak, Maurício, and Diego Biseswar ended with the latter teeing up international midfielder perfectly to slot home, secured yet another 2-0 win against Lamia for Razvan Lucescu’s unstoppable team, who only this week were named the world’s top-ranked form team win 14 wins in a row in all competitions.[19] On 12 May 2018, a late Pelkas tap-in helped PAOK overcome AEK to lift the Greek Cup at the Olympic Stadium in Athens after an enthralling final ended in a deserved 2-0 win for the Salonica club, as PAOK retain Greek Cup to wreck AEK’s double dream.[20] [21]

On 8 August 2018, Pelkas scored when José Ángel Crespo made an incredible pass for Leo Matos and the latter made enormous attempt by rolling back the ball to the penalty area with the Greek international pushing him to the net, in a 3-2 home win game for UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round , 1st leg against Spartak Moskva. [22] On 4 October 2018, he scored after an assist from Léo Jabá in a 4-1 away emphatic win against BATE Borisov in Belarus for UEFA Europa League Group stage. [23]

International career

On 2 October 2015 Interim Greece coach Kostas Tsanas called up midfielder Dimitris Pelkas for the match against Northern Ireland and Hungary for UEFA Euro 2016. "All players dream of someday representing their country and I am happy for this opportunity. It is an honour for me," said Pelkas.[24] On 7 October 2015, he made his international debut as a substitute in the 3-1 away loss game against Northern Ireland.

Career statistics

Club Season League Cup Continental[A] Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
PAOK 2012–13 1003031161
Total 1003031161
Apollon Kalamarias 2013–14 1771000187
Total 1771000187
Vitória Setúbal 2014–15 2425200294
Total 2425200294
PAOK 2015–16 32473102499
2016–17 1537341267
2017–18 248104303712
2018–19 401182133
Total 7515251125512531
Career total 12624341328618843

Honours

PAOK

References

  1. ↑ Στην Καλαμαριά ο Πέλκας! [Pelkas with Kalamaria]. skygoal.gr (in Greek). Archived from the original on 9 July 2014.
  2. ↑ "Pelkas on loan to Apollon Kalamarias". paokfc.gr. archive.is. 23 August 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  3. ↑ Apostolos Pagonis (4 July 2016). Στη Σετούμπαλ ο Πέλκας [Pelkas with Setúbal]. gazzetta.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  4. ↑ Δημήτρης Πέλκας: Ζωή σαν παραμύθι [Dimitris Pelkas: Life is a fairytale]. www.sport24.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  5. ↑ Πασιένσια: "Θα παίξει στη Σετούμπαλ ο Πέλκας" [Paciência: "I will play for Setúbal Pellas"]. Yahoo!. archive.is. 6 July 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  6. ↑ "Pelkas signs new contract with PAOK". www.sdna.gr. 27 July 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  7. ↑ ""Ζεστή" για Πέλκα η Σπόρτινγκ!". www.sdna.gr (in Greek). 16 October 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  8. ↑ Φοβερό ματς στο Καυτανζόγλειο, 3-3 ο Ηρακλής με τον ΠΑΟΚ! [Wonderful match in Kafantzoglio, Hercules 3-3 PAOK!]. www.sport24.gr (in Greek). 18 October 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  9. ↑ Ilias Kallonas (21 February 2016). Παναθηναϊκός - ΠΑΟΚ 2-2 [Panathinaikos - PAOK 2-2]. www.contra.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  10. ↑ "PAOK return to victories against Asteras Tripolis". www.sdna.gr. 27 February 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  11. ↑ "PAOK Liberec 2-0". www.uefa.com. 8 December 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  12. ↑ "ΠΑΟΚ-Λεβαδειακός 2-1: Βρίσκει ρυθμό". www.onsports.gr. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  13. ↑ "Ανανέωσαν με τον ΠΑΟΚ οι Πέλκας και Κουλούρης". www.sport24.gr. 29 September 2017.
  14. ↑ "Η κρούση του Κονσεϊσάο στον Πέλκα!". www.sport24.gr. 30 September 2017.
  15. ↑ "ΠΑΟΚ χωρίς άγχος, άνετα 4-0 την Λαμία". www.sport24.gr. 15 October 2017.
  16. ↑ "ΠΑΟΚ vs Παναθηναικος 4-0". www.newsit.gr. 10 December 2017.
  17. ↑ "Κέρκυρα - ΠΑΟΚ 0-3" (in Greek). www.gazzetta.gr. 14 January 2018.
  18. ↑ "ΠΑΣ Γιάννινα - ΠΑΟΚ 1-3". www.gazzetta.gr. 3 February 2018.
  19. ↑ "Έσπασε το μπλόκο της Λαμίας, 2-0 ο ΠΑΟΚ". www.sport24.gr. 17 February 2018.
  20. ↑ "Ανώτερος και Κυπελλούχος ο ΠΑΟΚ, 2-0 την ΑΕΚ". www.sport24.gr. 12 May 2018.
  21. ↑ "Το σήκωσε ο ΠΑΟΚ στο ΟΑΚΑ της φωτιάς γιατί το άξιζε..." contra.gr. 12 May 2018.
  22. ↑ "Μεγάλη Ανατροπή για τον ΠΑΟΚ 3-2 επί της Σπάρτακ στη Τούμπα". www.voria.gr. 8 August 2018.
  23. ↑ "Μπάτε Μπορίσοφ - ΠΑΟΚ 1-4". www.gazzetta.gr. 4 October 2018.
  24. ↑ "Με Πέλκα η Εθνική κόντρα σε Β. Ιρλανδία - Ουγγαρία" [Pelkas and the National Division will play against Northern Ireland and Hungary]. www.sport24.gr (in Greek). 2 October 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
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