Odysseas Vlachodimos
is a goalkeeper for the most natural reason why one can become a goalkeeper.
His brother
Panagiotis
, three years older than him, today a winger for Dynamo Dresden in the German third division, wanted to kick the ball when they were both children and needed a
sparring player
to be a goalkeeper for that to be funny.
His little brother was the closest to hand, so little
Odi
had no choice but to learn to survive the
kicks
.
In time, it turned out that the youngest son of two Greek immigrants had a knack for goalkeeping.
At the age of seven, Stuttgart, where the family was based, already incorporated him into its quarry structure.
There he burned all the stages until he debuted with the first team in 2015, at the age of 19.
In parallel, the technicians of the German federation saw in him one of the most promising goalkeepers of his generation and he was international in all the lower categories, from the sub'15 to the sub'21, with which he won the 2017 European Championship , in which the Spain of
Saúl
,
Llorente
,
Ceballos
and
Asensio
was a finalist.
However, his love affair with his country of birth ended up breaking.
In 2015, shortly after making his debut for Stuttgart, his coach decided to relegate him back to the reserve team.
A decision that did not please Vlachodimos, who had already seen a few years before how his brother Panagiotis also resisted the passage to the first team of Stuttgart.
His decision was to meet him again at Panathinaikos, to stop again in training the balls that he finished off when they were children.
The jump to Benfica
His march to Greece did not prevent him from continuing to be summoned by the lower ranks of Germany.
And, after the sub'21 stage, that
Joachim Low's
technical team
kept him on their radar thinking about the absolute, despite the overcrowding of great goalkeepers in Germany.
Even more so when, after two years settled in the Athenian goal, Benfica decided to bet on him.
After
Ederson's
departure
to Manchester City, just a year earlier,
Bruno Varela
had not met expectations and in Lisbon they decided to bet on him, despite his still scarce 23 years.
They got it right.
Parallel to the progress of his career, came the interest of his parents' country of origin to sign him.
It is not at all strange that a footballer is international in lower categories with one team and then changes to another in absolute category and it is, in fact, a practice that has been spreading in countries with a lot of emigration in recent decades.
The boy had to make up his mind and bet on Greece, a less competitive team than Germany that guaranteed him a more stable international career.
Although, all is said, he was still 24 years old, with enough time to progress in European football.
In fact, Newcastle loved him last summer - they say that Benfica valued him at 40 million euros - and in Germany they say that Dortmund has him on their agenda for next season.
Since his debut with Greece, in November 2018, he has already played 10 games and has established himself as a starter in the plans of the Dutchman
John van 't Schip
, coach of the team that this Thursday faces Spain, with the very complicated challenge of qualifying to the 2022 World Cup.
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