1.
Greece
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Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures. The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
2.
New Democracy (Greece)
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The New Democracy, also referred to as ND by its initials, is a liberal-conservative political party in Greece. In modern Greek politics, New Democracy has been the main political party. The party was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and in the year it formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic. New Democracy is a member of the European Peoples Party, the Centrist Democrat International, New Democracy was founded on 4 October 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis, in the beginning of the metapolitefsi era following the fall of the Greek military junta. He intended New Democracy to be a modern and progressive political party than the right-wing parties that ruled Greece before the 1967 Greek coup détat. The next major issue for the New Democracy cabinet was the creation of the Constitution of Greece, in the 1977 election, New Democracy won again a large parliamentary majority of 171 seats, albeit with a reduced percentage of popular vote. Under Karamanlis, Greece redefined its relations with NATO and tried to resolve the Cyprus dispute following the Turkish invasion of the island and it was the first conference of any Greek political party whose delegates were elected by the members. Meanwhile, Karamanlis relinquished the premiership in 1980 and was elected as President of Greece by the parliament, georgios Rallis was elected as the new leader of New Democracy and succeeded Karamanlis in premiership. 87% share of the vote and 115 seats. In the same day, on 18 October 1981, New Democracy was also defeated in the first Greek election to the European Parliament, in the subsequent elections of November 1989, New Democracy took one more comfortable win, increasing its share to 46. Eventually, in the 1990 election Mitsotakis New Democracy defeated once again Papandreous PASOK with a lead of 8. 28%, in foreign policy, the priorities were the restoration of confidence among Greeces economic and political partners, NATO and the United States. In the 1993 elections, New Democracy suffered a defeat with 39. 30% of the vote, something that led to Mitsotakis resignation. In the early 1996 legislative election, New Democracy was defeated again by Costas Simitis PASOK registering 38. 12%, however, in the spring of 1997 a new conference took place, in order to elect a new president among others. Kostas Karamanlis, nephew of the founder, was elected the sixth president of New Democracy. The regions that consistently support New Democracy include the Peloponnese, Central Macedonia, on the other hand, the party is weak in Crete, the Aegean Islands, Attica and West Greece. On 16 September 2007, Kostas Karamanlis won re-election with a majority in Parliament. You have spoken loud and clear and chosen the course the country will take in the few years. On 2 September 2009 Karamanlis announced his intention to call an election, the parliament was dissolved on 9 September, and the 2009 legislative election was held on 4 October. New Democracys share of the vote dropped to 33. 47% and they won only 91 of 300 seats
3.
Vehicle registration plates of Greece
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Greek vehicle registration plates are composed of three letters and four digits per plate. The letters represent the district that issues the plates while the numbers begin from 1000 to 9999, similar plates with digits beginning from 1 to 999 are issued for motorcycles which exceed 50 cc. With the exception of Athens and Thessaloniki, all districts are represented by the first 2 letters, the final letter in the sequence changes in Greek alphabetical order after 9,000 issued plates. For example, Patras plates are ΑΧΑ-1000, where ΑΧ represents the Achaia prefecture of which Patras is the capital, when ΑΧΑ-9999 is reached the plates turn to ΑΧΒ-1000 and this continues until ΑΧΧ is finished. Only the letters from the intersection between the Latin and Greek alphabets by glyph appearance are used, namely Α, Β, Ε, Ζ, Η, Ι, Κ, Μ, Ν, Ο, Ρ, Τ, Υ, Χ. This is because Greece is a party to the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. The rule applies in a way in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Combinations used for residents are L-NNNN and are limited. Until 2003, taxis used L-NNNN, the plate was aligned with the prefecture, when number plates were introduced to Greece, they were numbered and in the late 1950s the system was L-NNN and LL-NNN. The letters were Greek letters and Latin letters, respectively, in 1956, the system was NNNNNN. In 1972, they became lettered and the system was LL-NNNN while trucks used L-NNNN, in 1983, the system was LLL-NNNN and the first two letters are prefecture letters. In 2004, the euroband was added, the first 2 of 3 letters of a licence plate usually represent the prefecture where the car was registered. Π. — Disabled in war ΔΟΚ — Test plates ΔΣ — Corps Diplomatique or foreign delegation Ε. Α. or ΕΛ. ΑΣ. — Hellenic Police ΛΣ — Coast Guard ΞΑ — Foreign missions ΕΣ — Hellenic Army ΠΑ — Hellenic Air Force ΠΝ — Hellenic Navy ΠΣ — Fire Guard ΠΚ — President of the Government, i. e
4.
Suburb
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A suburb is a residential area or a mixed use area, either existing as part of a city or urban area or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city. In some areas, such as Australia, China, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and a few U. S. states, new suburbs are routinely annexed by adjacent cities. In others, such as Arabia, Canada, France, and much of the United States, Suburbs first emerged on a large scale in the 19th and 20th centuries as a result of improved rail and road transport, which led to an increase in commuting. Suburbs tend to proliferate around cities that have an abundance of adjacent flat land, the English word is derived from the Old French subburbe, which is in turn derived from the Latin suburbium, formed from sub and urbs. The first recorded usage of the term in English, was made by John Wycliffe in 1380, in Australia and New Zealand, suburbs have become formalised as geographic subdivisions of a city and are used by postal services in addressing. In rural areas in both countries, their equivalents are called localities, the terms inner suburb and outer suburb are used to differentiate between the higher-density suburbs in proximity to the city center, and the lower-density suburbs on the outskirts of the urban area. The term middle suburbs is also used, Suburbs, in this sense, can range from areas that seem more like residential areas of a city proper to areas separated by open countryside from the city centre. In large cities such as London, suburbs include formerly separate towns and villages that have been gradually absorbed during a growth and expansion. In the United States and Canada, suburb can refer either to an residential area of a city or town or to a separate municipality or unincorporated area outside a town or city. The earliest appearance of suburbs coincided with the spread of the first urban settlements, large walled towns tended to be the focus around which smaller villages grew up in a symbiotic relationship with the market town. The word suburbani was first used by the Roman statesman Cicero in reference to the large villas, as populations grew during the Early Modern Period in Europe, urban towns swelled with a steady influx of people from the countryside. In some places, nearby settlements were swallowed up as the city expanded. The peripheral areas on the outskirts of the city were generally inhabited by the very poorest, by the mid-19th century, the first major suburban areas were springing up around London as the city became more overcrowded and unsanitary. A major catalyst in suburban growth came from the opening of the Metropolitan Railway in the 1860s, the line joined the capitals financial heart in the City to what were to become the suburbs of Middlesex. Harrow was reached in 1880, and the line extended as far as Verney Junction in Buckinghamshire, more than 50 miles from Baker Street. Unlike other railway companies, which were required to dispose of surplus land, in 1912, it was suggested that a specially formed company should take over from the Surplus Lands Committee and develop suburban estates near the railway. However, World War I delayed these plans and it was only in 1919, with expectation of a housing boom. The term Metro-land was coined by the Mets marketing department in 1915 when the Guide to the Extension Line became the Metro-land guide and this promoted the land served by the Met for the walker, visitor and later the house-hunter
5.
Urban sprawl
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In addition to describing a particular form of urbanization, the term also relates to the social and environmental consequences associated with this development. In Continental Europe the term peri-urbanisation is often used to denote similar dynamics and phenomena, There is widespread disagreement about what constitutes sprawl and how to quantify it. For example, some commentators measure sprawl only with the number of residential units per acre in a given area. But others associate it with decentralization, discontinuity, segregation of uses, the term urban sprawl is highly politicized, and almost always has negative connotations. It is criticized for causing environmental degradation, and intensifying segregation and undermining the vitality of existing urban areas, due to the pejorative meaning of the term, few openly support urban sprawl as such. The term has become a cry for managing urban growth. Definitions of sprawl vary, researchers in the field acknowledge that the term lacks precision and he argued that a better way to identify sprawl was to use indicators rather than characteristics because this was a more flexible and less arbitrary method. He proposed using accessibility and functional space as indicators. Ewings approach has been criticized for assuming that sprawl is defined by negative characteristics, what constitutes sprawl may be considered a matter of degree and will always be somewhat subjective under many definitions of the term. The following characteristics are associated with sprawl, This refers to a situation where commercial, residential, institutional and industrial areas are separated from one another. Consequently, large tracts of land are devoted to a use and are segregated from one another by open space, infrastructure. The degree to which different land uses are mixed together is used as an indicator of sprawl in studies of the subject. Job sprawl is another land use symptom of urban sprawl and car-dependent communities, spatial mismatch is related to job sprawl and economic environmental justice. Job sprawl has been documented and measured in various ways and it has been shown to be a growing trend in Americas metropolitan areas. The Brookings Institution has published articles on the topic. In 2005, author Michael Stoll defined job sprawl simply as jobs located more than 5-mile radius from the CBD, and measured the concept based on year 2000 U. S. Census data. These two authors used three geographic rings limited to a 35-mile radius around the CBD,3 miles or less,3 to 10 miles and this compares to the year 1998 -23. 3%,34. 2%, and 42. 5% in those respective rings. The study shows CBD employment share shrinking, and job growth focused in the suburban and exurban outer metropolitan rings, Sprawl is often characterized as consisting of low-density development
6.
Tram
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A tram is a rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets, and also sometimes on a segregated right of way. The lines or networks operated by tramcars are called tramways, Tramways powered by electricity, the most common type historically, were once called electric street railways. However, trams were used in urban areas before the universal adoption of electrification. Tram lines may run between cities and/or towns, and/or partially grade-separated even in the cities. Very occasionally, trams also carry freight, Tram vehicles are usually lighter and shorter than conventional trains and rapid transit trains, but the size of trams is rapidly increasing. Some trams may also run on railway tracks, a tramway may be upgraded to a light rail or a rapid transit line. For all these reasons, the differences between the modes of rail transportation are often indistinct. In the United States, the tram has sometimes been used for rubber-tired trackless trains. Today, most trams use electrical power, usually fed by a pantograph, in some cases by a sliding shoe on a third rail. If necessary, they may have dual power systems — electricity in city streets, trams are now included in the wider term light rail, which also includes segregated systems. The English terms tram and tramway are derived from the Scots word tram, referring respectively to a type of truck used in coal mines and the tracks on which they ran. The word tram probably derived from Middle Flemish trame, a Romanesque word meaning the beam or shaft of a barrow or sledge, the identical word la trame with the meaning crossbeam is also used in the French language. The word Tram-car is attested from 1873, although the terms tram and tramway have been adopted by many languages, they are not used universally in English, North Americans prefer streetcar, trolley, or trolleycar. The term streetcar is first recorded in 1840, and originally referred to horsecars, when electrification came, Americans began to speak of trolleycars or later, trolleys. The troller design frequently fell off the wires, and was replaced by other more reliable devices. The terms trolley pole and trolley wheel both derive from the troller, Modern trams often have an overhead pantograph mechanical linkage to connect to power, abandoning the trolley pole altogether. Conventional diesel tourist buses decorated to look like streetcars are sometimes called trolleys in the US, the term may also apply to an aerial ropeway, e. g. the Roosevelt Island Tramway. Over time, the trolley has fallen into informal use
7.
Water polo
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Water polo is a competitive team sport played in the water between two teams. The game consists of four quarters, in which the two attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into their opponents goal. The team with the most goals at the end of the game wins the match, each team made up of six field players and one goalkeeper, with typically six additional players available for substitution throughout the match. Except for the goalkeeper, players participate in offensive and defensive roles. Water polo is played in an all-deep pool seven feet deep. The game is thought to have originated in Scotland in the late 19th century as a sort of water rugby, William Wilson is thought to have developed the game during a similar period. Mens water polo was among the first team sports introduced at the modern Olympic games in 1900, Water polo is now popular in many countries around the world, notably Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia. The present-day game involves teams of seven players, with a polo ball similar in size to a soccer ball. One of the earliest recorded viewings of water polo was conducted at the 4th Open Air Fete of the London Swimming Club, held at the Crystal Palace, another antecedent of the modern game of Water Polo was a game of water ‘hand-ball’ played at Bournemouth on 13 July 1876. This was a game between 12 members of the Premier Rowing Club, with goals being marked by four flags placed in the water near to the midpoint of Bournemouth Pier. The game started at 6,00 pm in the evening and lasted for 15 minutes watched by a large crowd, the rules of water polo were originally developed in the late nineteenth century in Great Britain by William Wilson. Wilson is believed to have been the First Baths Master of the Arlington Baths Club in Glasgow, the first games of aquatic football were played at the Arlington in the late 1800s, with a ball constructed of India rubber. This water rugby came to be called water polo based on the English pronunciation of the Balti word for ball, early play allowed brute strength, wrestling and holding opposing players underwater to recover the ball. Players held underwater for lengthy periods usually surrendered possession, the goalie stood outside the playing area and defended the goal by jumping in on any opponent attempting to score by placing the ball on the deck. The rules of water cover the play, procedure, equipment. These rules are similar throughout the world, although variations to the rules do occur regionally. There are seven players in the water from each team at one time, there are six players that play out and one goalkeeper. Unlike most common sports, there is little positional play
8.
Basketball
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Basketball is a non-contact team sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players each. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by passing it to a teammate and it is a violation to lift, or drag, ones pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. The game has many techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking. The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coachs game plan, Basketball is one of the worlds most popular and widely viewed sports. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague, the FIBA Basketball World Cup attracts the top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for teams, like EuroBasket. The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup features the top womens basketball teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Womens Basketball Premier League, in early December 1891, Canadian Dr. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied, after rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot elevated track. Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and these laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith, dribbling was not part of the original game except for the bounce pass to teammates. Passing the ball was the means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a part of the game around the 1950s
9.
Spartakos Glyfadas
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Spartakos Glyfadas is a baseball team based in Glyfada, Greece. Spartakos is the most successful Greek baseball team having won 6 Greek Baseball league championships and 3 Greek Baseball Cups, the team plays in the Greek Baseball league where they are the current champions. Spartakos participated in the first Greek Baseball league championship in 2000, the same year they won the inaugural Greek Baseball Cup after beating A. O. Pelopas Patron in the final 23-13, the season opener found Spartakos facing Evriali Glyfadas and won fairly easily 13-2. On May 19th Spartakos demolished Aris Baseball with 32-0 after a 5-inning mercy rule was applied. This 32 runs difference is a new Greek league record
10.
Baseball
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Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of nine players each, who take turns batting and fielding. A run is scored when a player advances around the bases, Players on the batting team take turns hitting against the pitcher of the fielding team, which tries to prevent runs by getting hitters out in any of several ways. A player on the team who reaches a base safely can later attempt to advance to subsequent bases during teammates turns batting. The teams switch between batting and fielding whenever the team records three outs. One turn batting for both teams, beginning with the team, constitutes an inning. A game is composed of nine innings, and the team with the number of runs at the end of the game wins. Baseball has no clock, although almost all games end in the ninth inning. Baseball evolved from older bat-and-ball games already being played in England by the mid-18th century and this game was brought by immigrants to North America, where the modern version developed. By the late 19th century, baseball was widely recognized as the sport of the United States. Baseball is now popular in North America and parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, in the United States and Canada, professional Major League Baseball teams are divided into the National League and American League, each with three divisions, East, West, and Central. The major league champion is determined by playoffs that culminate in the World Series, the top level of play is similarly split in Japan between the Central and Pacific Leagues and in Cuba between the West League and East League. The evolution of baseball from older bat-and-ball games is difficult to trace with precision, a French manuscript from 1344 contains an illustration of clerics playing a game, possibly la soule, with similarities to baseball. Other old French games such as thèque, la balle au bâton, consensus once held that todays baseball is a North American development from the older game rounders, popular in Great Britain and Ireland. Baseball Before We Knew It, A Search for the Roots of the Game, by David Block, suggests that the game originated in England, recently uncovered historical evidence supports this position. Block argues that rounders and early baseball were actually regional variants of other. It has long believed that cricket also descended from such games. The earliest known reference to baseball is in a 1744 British publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, David Block discovered that the first recorded game of Bass-Ball took place in 1749 in Surrey, and featured the Prince of Wales as a player. William Bray, an English lawyer, recorded a game of baseball on Easter Monday 1755 in Guildford and this early form of the game was apparently brought to Canada by English immigrants
11.
Eurovision Song Contest
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The competition was based upon the existing Sanremo Music Festival held in Italy since 1951. The contest has been broadcast every year for sixty years, since its inauguration in 1956 and it is also one of the most watched non-sporting events in the world, with audience figures having been quoted in recent years as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally. Eurovision has also been broadcast outside Europe to several countries that do not compete, such as the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and China. An exception was made in 2015, when Australia was allowed to compete as a guest entrant as part of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the event. In November 2015, the EBU announced that Australia was invited back as a participant in the 2016 contest after their success in 2015, following their success again in 2016, Australia will compete again in 2017. Since 2000, the contest has also been broadcast over the Internet via the Eurovision website, winning the Eurovision Song Contest provides a short-term boost to the winning artists career, but rarely results in long-term success. Notable exceptions are ABBA, Bucks Fizz and Céline Dion, all of whom launched successful careers after their wins. Ireland holds the record for the highest number of wins, having won the contest seven times—including four times in five years in 1992,1993,1994 and 1996. Under the current voting system, the highest scoring winner is Jamala of Ukraine who won the 2016 contest in Stockholm, under the previous system, in place from 1975 to 2015, the highest scoring winner is Alexander Rybak of Norway with 387 points in 2009. Satellite television did not exist, and the Eurovision Network comprised a terrestrial microwave network, the name Eurovision was first used in relation to the EBUs network by British journalist George Campey in the London Evening Standard in 1951. The first contest was held in the town of Lugano, Switzerland, seven countries participated—each submitting two songs, for a total of 14. This was the only contest in more than one song per country was performed, since 1957. The 1956 contest was won by the host nation, Switzerland, the programme was first known as the Eurovision Grand Prix. This Grand Prix name was adopted by Denmark, Norway and the Francophone countries, the Grand Prix has since been dropped and replaced with Concours in French, but not in Danish or Norwegian. The Eurovision network is used to carry news and sports programmes internationally. However, in the minds of the public, the name Eurovision is most closely associated with the Song Contest, a country as a participant is represented by one television broadcaster from that country, typically, but not always, that countrys national public broadcasting organisation. The programme is hosted by one of the participant countries, during this programme, after all the songs have been performed, the countries then proceed to cast votes for the other countries songs, nations are not allowed to vote for their own song. At the end of the programme, the song with the most points is declared as the winner, the programme is invariably opened by one or more presenters, welcoming viewers to the show
12.
Giorgos Karagounis
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Georgios Giorgos Karagounis is a former Greek professional footballer. In his club career he has played for Panathinaikos, Apollon Smyrni, Internazionale, Benfica, internationally, Karagounis represented the Greece national team between 1999 and 2014. He was a member of the Euro 2004 winning squad, and also represented Greece in Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup, Euro 2012, with 139 appearances, he is the most capped player in the history of the Greek national team. Giorgos Karagounis began career as a footballer in 1996 when he signed on loan for Apollon Smyrnis from Panathinaikos. In his first couple of years with the Athens-based club, he showed signs of his talent as a very energetic player in the centre of midfield who could also score goals. After two seasons with Apollon he returned to his parent club Panathinaikos in 1998, the club where he learned his trade, at Panathinaikos he became a fixture in the first team for the next five years. He scored six times in 24 league games during his first season with the Greens, in the UEFA Champions League appeared in all 12 of Panathanaikos games, scoring a memorable goal from a direct free-kick against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Karagounis left Panathinaikos and Greece to move to Italy to sign for Italian Serie A club Inter Milan in the summer of 2003, during his first season with Inter, he wasnt a regular started in the league, mainly appearing in European and domestic Cup matches. At the end of his first season in Italy, despite Karagounis spending a lot of time on the bench and he still did enough to be called up to represent Greece at the 2004 UEFA European Championship in Portugal. After helping Greece win UEFA Euro 2004, he returned to Italy for the 2004–05 season, under Roberto Mancini, he was again mainly used in European and domestic Cup ties, rather than in league games. He won the 2005 Coppa Italia, helping Inter beat Roma in the final, in 2005, he moved to Portugal to sign a three-year contract with Benfica, who are based at the Estádio da Luz, the stadium where he won the Euro 2004 final with Greece. Karagounis scored a couple of memorable long-range goals while in Portugal, against Shakhtar Donetsk, Karagounis first season at Benfica was challenging, as he had difficulty establishing himself as a first-team regular. After a successful stint with Benfica, Karagounis seemed ready to return to play in Greece and he returned to Estádio da Luz to play for a Benfica All-Stars team in a charity match against a team that included Zidane and Ronaldo in 2010. Karagounis contract with Benfica was due to expire in July 2008, after his release in the summer of 2007, Karagounis immediately returned to Greece and to Panathinaikos, signing for the club for the next three years. He quickly re-established himself in the again, scoring key goals. With his acquisition by the Athenians regarded as the start of a new era at the club, Karagounis emerged not only as a figure at club level. He established himself as the Captain of the national team, karagounis’ grit and dedication continued to give Panathinaikos an edge as the team made progress in Europe. On 3 September 2009, Karagounis extended his stay until 2012, as captain of the team he won his second Super League title and the Greek Cup
Glyfada
