Greek Soccer Legend Kostas Nestoridis one of the best strikers in the history of AEK Athens and Greek football died in Athens on Tuesday. He was 93.
Nestoridis was born on 15 March 1930 in Drama, northern Greece and was the youngest of three children of a Pontian Greek family.
In 1955 while playing for Panionios he was approached to sign for the two giants of Greek football Olympiacos and Panathinaikos who recognized his soccer genius.
However, he rejected their offers without the consent of Panionios because as he has said he wanted to play for AEK remaining faithful to his refugee origins. For his refusal, he received a two-year ban from the Football Association.
He eventually signed for AEK in September 1957. His arrival at the Athens club marked a period of renewal for the yellow and black team.
“Captain Nestoras”, as he was called, immediately established himself at the club and it didn’t take him long enough to become a star player domestically.
Until today he remains one of the club’s highest-scoring players, widely regarded as one of the greatest players to ever play for the yellow-blacks.
What I saw Kostas Nestoridis doing is neither taught or learned
He and another legend of the AEK, Mimis Papaioannou, formed one of the club’s most formidable goalscoring partnerships. In the 8 seasons he played for AEK, he was always the top scorer of the team except in 1964, when Papaioannou surpassed him.
He had scored 13 times with a direct corner kick, one of them being one of the goals the 3–3 in the play-off match against Panathinaikos on 23 June 1963, which won the title for AEK after 23 years and Nestoridis his only Greek Championship of his career. He also won with AEK a Greek Cup in 1964.
In the summer of 1966, Nestoridis left AEK after 11 years of presence and being constantly in search of a better life and a more complete professional rehabilitation he moved in Australia and signed for the expatriate South Melbourne Hellas, as a player–coach.
Nestoridis played with Greece a total of 17 times: 2 as a player of Panionios and 15 as a player of AEK Athens, scoring 3 goals. The number of his appearances was very little for a player of his level, as he did not have good relations with the respective selectors of the national team. He made his debut in the blue and white jersey on 14 October 1951.
Those who saw Nestoridis in action had something to say about his elaborate actions.
“All the great players I saw, including Di Stéfano, Puskás and Pelé, did things humanly. What I saw Nestoridis doing is neither taught or learned,” Ljubiša Broćić, the legendary Serbian coach once said of Nestoridis.