Russian edition Sport24told the story of the Soviet football player of Greek origin Vasilis Hadzipanagis, who fled the USSR to Greece in 1975, but now regrets it.
Despite the fact that Anatoly Zinchenko, who left for the Austrian Rapid in 1980 from the Leningrad Zenit, is usually called the first legionnaire of Soviet football, in fact this is not entirely true. Back in 1975, Vassilis Hadzipanagis left the USSR championship – he went to the Greek championship and became one of the main legends of local football.
It is easy to guess that Vasilis is an ethnic Greek, but he was born in Soviet Tashkent. His parents, forced to migrate from Thessaloniki for political reasons (due to the defeat of the Greek Communist Party in the civil war and the restoration of the monarchy), moved to the USSR back in 1949. In the early 70s, their son began his career in the local Pakhtakor, scoring a goal in his debut game against Shakhtar Donetsk.
Vasilis did not play for Pakhtakor for long – he left when he was 21 years old. But by this time, Hadzipanagis managed to play 96 matches and score 22 goals. The indicators for the average Pakhtakor were simply magnificent.
Vasilis is on the right in the picture.
Finally removes the question of whether Vasilis can be considered a fully Soviet football player, his belonging to the USSR national team. He played for the youth team, was called up to the main team (even though he did not play a single match for it), and played four matches for the Olympics, taking part in the selection for the 1976 Games. True, Vasilis himself was hardly happy about this – the fact of playing for the Soviet national team did not allow him to defend the colors of the Greek national team after the move.
Surely Hadzipanagis would have remained playing for the USSR national team, if not for the next political changes in his historical homeland. In the mid-70s, as a result of a referendum (and before that, a military coup), Greece became a parliamentary republic with a new constitution. As a result of these changes, ethnic Greeks were allowed to return: and although Vasilis’ parents did not plan to do so, he insisted.
“Did my parents convince me to return to Greece? Vice versa! I … them! I would not say that my father was very eager to go there. And I dreamed about Greece. I drove it into my head – “the land of the ancestors,” Vasilis recalled for “SE”.
Despite invitations from the first clubs of the Soviet Union (Hadzipanagis mentioned Spartak and Dynamo in an interview), Vasilis went to Greece, settling in the middle Iraklis. Vasilis played for him for the rest of his career – until 1991.
In Greece, Vasilis’ talent was fully revealed – one can only regret that he did not stay in the USSR and did not play for the main team. On the other hand, had he stayed at Pakhtakor, Vasilis could have died in a plane crash in 1979. In any case, fate turned out differently – Hadzipanagis became a legend not only of Iraklis, but of all Greek football: in 2003, the local football federation recognized him as the best player in Greece over the past 50 years.
There were all reasons for this. Vassilis scored six goals in his career from direct corners only in official matches, played for the world team and even today receives comparisons with Leo Messi because of the similarity of dribbling.
By the way, Vasilis himself draws such analogies.
“Which of the current players resembles me? Messi. So many people in Greece say. There is something in common between us – speed, technique, short movements. I’m actually taller.”
Hadzipanagis’ career could have been truly great – he was interested in Arsenal, Stuttgart, Lazio and all the big clubs in Greece. But, according to Vasilis himself, nothing happened because of the position of Iraklis, who did not want to let him go: “There were wild laws in Greece. I signed a two-year contract with Iraklis, but according to these laws, the club could automatically renew it for 10 years without my desire. I became free at the age of 33 – what kind of Arsenal was there, it was too late to go.
After ending his career in 1991, Vassilis worked as a sports director in the Greek Football Federation, and then opened his own academy. Now 67, he has visited Russia and Uzbekistan several times and is still fluent in Russian.
And he admits that it would be better if he did not leave the Soviet Union: “Do not believe it, but I still regret that I left the USSR. In terms of football, I lost a lot. But you can’t bring back the past…
Despite the fact that Anatoly Zinchenko, who left for the Austrian Rapid in 1980 from the Leningrad Zenit, is usually called the first legionnaire of Soviet football, in fact this is not entirely true. Back in 1975, Vassilis Hadzipanagis left the USSR championship – he went to the Greek championship and became one of the main legends of local football.
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