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Theodoros Zagorakis (Greek language|Greek:
Θεόδωρος
Ζαγοράκη&#
962;; born October 27, 1971, in Kavala, Greece) is
the captain of PAOK and the Greece national
football team that won the 2004 European Football
Championship.

A gritty but stylish midfielder, Zagorakis started
his career with FC Kavala, but moved to PAOK
Thessaloniki in 1992. He stayed with PAOK until
1998, when he moved to England|English club
Leicester City F.C. While in England, he took part
in two consecutive League Cup finals at Wembley
Stadium, losing the first against Tottenham
Hotspur in 1999 and defeating Tranmere Rovers in
2000. 

Zagorakis headed back to Greece in 2000, joining
AEK Athens, where he won the Hellenic Cup in 2002.
On July 14, 2004, he was released by AEK as a
result of the club's serious financial
difficulties. After failed talks with
newly-promoted Spain|Spanish club Levante Union
Deportiva|Levante, he signed a two-year contract
with Italy|Italian Serie A side Bologna F.C.
1909|Bologna on July 16, moving on a Bosman
ruling|Bosman free transfer.

Zagorakis signed a 2-year contract with PAOK FC
(21/7/2005), after Bologna released him for free,
in July 2005 (Bologna was relegated from Italian
Serie A, and could not afford his wages). His fee
was anounced to be someting less than 900,000
euros per year, a significant cutback on his
previous wages. When Zagorakis landed in Macedonia
Airport in Thessaloniki, 5000 PAOK supportes where
there to welcome him back.


Zagorakis goes by the nickname "Theo", which was
given to him by Leicester fans. He prefers shirt
number 7, which he 
wears for Greece and will wear again for PAOK.

Zagorakis is also captain of the national team. 
His first cap was in 1994, against the Faroe
Islands national football team|Faroe Islands.  He
played an important role in Greece's victory in
the 2004 European Championship, and was named the
Player of the Tournament by UEFA. Zagorakis is
currently Greece's all-time leader in cap
(football)|caps, earning his 100th against
Kazakhstan national football team|Kazakhstan on
November 17, 2004. He is now at 101 caps (scoring
his first ever goal on a free kick against Denmark
in World Cup 06 qualifying, in Athens), and has
never missed an international game due to injury. 

As trivial information, Zagorakis was featured on
the cover of the Greek edition of FIFA series|FIFA
2000. Also his body naturally produces high levels
of testosterone that in the past have been thought
to be because of performance enhancing drugs. It
has long been proven that it is indeed a natural
but rare phenomenon, and causes him a lot of
nuisance in drug tests. Gossip TV shows in Greece
link him with a different super-model / pop singer
almost every other month, but he is still single.



Interestingly, Zagorakis bears a striking
resemblance to Australian actor Hugh Jackman.