The Greek Maradona | The Best Player You’ve Never Heard Of

Known by many as the “Maradona of the Balkans”, Vasilis Hatzipanagis, is widely considered to be the best Greek player of the last 50 years. Born to Greek political refugees to the USSR in October 1954 and after playing 3 seasons in Pakhtakor (Uzbekistan), he moved in Greece after a lot of paperwork in 1975 for the club of Iraklis, Thessaloniki. Due to visa issues, Vasilis only played one match outside of Greece against Valencia, however for Iraklis fans, he is a legend. Welcome to COPA90 Stories, a brand new channel exploring the greatest footballing stories from across the planet. For more info and content: Sign up to our weekly COPA90 Stories newsletter: