11 facts on Apostolos Giannou

With World Cup qualifiers and a Greek friendly confirmed, the Socceroos are poised to add an exciting new name to their squad in Greek Super League goal-machine Apostolos Giannou. But, who is he?

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11: Giannou was at the same Greek club as Sydney FC’s Robert Stambolziev. In 2009 the pair were on the books of Kavala.

10: Did you know he's born the day before Australia Day in 1990. 

9: Born in Greece, in a town called Naousa, Giannou and his family moved to Melbourne when he was a child, where he was known as Paul. 

8: He played his junior football at Oakleigh Cannons and South Melbourne. He was also coached at the VIS by current Phoenix boss Ernie Merrick.

Paok Thessaloniki's Apostolos Giannou (L) vies for the ball with Rapid Vienna's Gerson (R) in the UEFA Europa League in 2012.

7: The striker is a former Joey having been coached by Ange Postecoglou in the national youth team a decade ago. 

6: He's a tall lad measuring 185cm. He's aged 26 and has scored 13 goals this season in the Greek Super League, where’s he’s spent much of the last decade.

5: Giannou has had stints at Apollon, Kavala, PAOK, Platanias (loan), Panionios and Asteras Tripoli. 

4: Giannou has this week signed a lucrative three-year deal with Chinese Super League club Guangzhou R&F, where he'll be coached by former Nagoya Grampus favourite Dragan Stojkovic.

Apostolos Giannou

3: He's also played for the Greek youth teams and once for the senior Greek national team as a substitute in a friendly against Turkey last November. 

2: He likes debuts. Giannou scored on his Kavala debut against AEK, and made his debut for Asteras Tripoli last year against Panthrakikos, scoring a goal in the 2-0 away win.

1: Giannou has also scored in Europe, having bagged Asteras’ second goal against APOEL FC in Europa League group stage action last November. The Greek club finished behind Schalke and Sparta Prague in their group.

Socceroos v Greece - use this one