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Giannis Samaras
Personal information
Full name	Ioannis Samaras
Date of birth	3 May 1961 (age 63)
Place of birth	Melbourne, Australia
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	OFI (Director of Football)
Senior career*
Years	Team
1980–1984	Vyzas Megara
1984–1989	OFI
1988	South Melbourne
1989–1991	Panathinaikos
1991–1996	OFI
Total
International career
1986–1990	Greece
Managerial career
2000–2002	OFI
2012–2017	Panathinaikos (general manager)
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Giannis Samaras (Greek: Γιάννης Σαμαράς; born 3 May 1961) is a former footballer who played as a midfielder during the 1980s and 1990s. Born in Australia, he represented Greece at international level.

Club career

Samaras was born in Melbourne, Australia, to Greek parents who moved there at an early age. His father, Georgios, was a co-founder of South Melbourne FC, an Australian soccer club with strong ties to the Greek community and is Australia's most successful Football side.^[1] He moved to Greece at the age of thirteen. His son, also named Georgios, recently retired from professional football.^[2]

Ioannis began his football career in 1980 with Vyzas F.C., but before long he had attracted the attention of several bigger teams and he signed for OFI in the summer of 1984. He went on to play over 100 matches for Crete before he left for Panathinaikos FC in January 1989. In 1991, Samaras returned to Crete, playing 103 games and retiring in 1996. In 1988, Samaras made a guest appearance for South Melbourne Hellas (30 years after his father helped establish the club) and scored a goal as South Melbourne defeated Sydney Olympic 2-1 at Middle Park.^[3]

Samaras earned 16 caps for the Greece national team between 1986 and 1990.^[4] He scored one goal, on his eighth cap, in a 4–2 friendly win over Norway.^[5]

Samaras was appointed on 26 July 2010 as the new Technical Manager for the Panathinaikos F.C. academies, replacing Nikos Kovis.^[6]