The former Benfica player is the protagonist of the 106th edition of the heading ‘What is made of...?’ from Sport to Minute, which aims to remember the route of some football names that left the lights of the spotlight.
© Getty Images
17/10/2026
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Konstantinos Katsouranis, also known as Kostas Katsouranis, was one of the most important names in the history of football in Greece, since he was on the squad that won the only international title of his selection, in front of Portugal, at the Luz Stadium, to raise the European Championship trophy of 2004.
Born June 21, 1979, a young Hellenic native of Patras began to grow into the world of football, where he took his first steps in the Doxa Chalandritsas, before moving to the senior echelon and headed to Panachaiki in 1996/97.
He stayed there for a total of six seasons, when he decided to trade the team for the Greek giant AEK in 2002/03, after having participated with Greece in the Under-21 European Championship.
He ended up in this class of Athens for four years, being undisputed holder in the Hellenian midfield, although he was unable to win any club title.
Katsouranis arrived at AEK as owner and master of the place at the eleven holder© Getty Images
It was even before he had a proposal to go to Benfica that Kostas Katsouranis eventually tasted the victory, against all odds, as he led Greece to win the 2004 European Championship, which took place on Portuguese soil, beating 0-1 in the final the selection of Portugal.
Katsouranis holding the Euro2004 trophy on a stage I didn't know I was coming back to© Getty Images
It was only in 2006/07 that Katsouranis was transferred to Benfica, for a sum of around 2.5 million euros, again to hold indisputable title in the Club of Light, despite being his first experience outside the Hellenic championships.
In the first season, he became known to one of the great rivals of the eagles for a crushing entrance on Anderson, in a Classic at the Dragon Stadium between FC Porto and Benfica, which ended with the Brazilian average having to leave and present a fracture in the leg.
Katsouranis made a total of 122 games by Benfica, scoring 15 goals and watching 16 others© Getty Images
Katsouranis was not even admonished and even scored one of the goals of the attempt of the incarnates to return to the fight for the result, before Bruno Moraes made the goal of portist victory, for 3-2, at 90+2 minutes.
The international medium for Greece had to wait for its last season as an eagle to the chest to win a trophy, with the League Cup to be the favorite event to join the palmaret, before returning to its homeland and representing the Panathinaikos, who paid a sum of around EUR 3.5 million to Benfica in 2009/10.
In the Panathinaikos made the double, with the conquest of the championship and the Cup of Greece© Getty Images
And the average needed only one season to make an impact, by making 10 important goals for winning the championship and the Greek Cup, in those that were his last career trophies.
Until its completion, it still passed through PAOK and Atromitos, where it ended its journey as a professional football player, having a strange and short time in India, playing 14 matches at Pune City in 2014.
What now, Katsouranis?
At the moment, the former Hellenic player eventually founded a football academy in his country, named Falcons Football Academy, in Pallini, Athens.
The former medium has been very interventional with his club teams, in order to pass on some teachings to the new generations of what he has been learning in his professional career.
He is also a football analyst on a Betarades.gr program, commenting on Greek football as an expert.
Every week Sports to the Minute presents you with a new edition of the heading ‘What is made of...?’, which aims to remember the path of some personalities of the football world who ended up falling into oblivion.