Sep
5
It is official. Alvaro Recoba (known by the nickname El Chino) is taking his game to the Greek Super League on behalf of Panionios, a smaller Greek team with large aspirations. The Uruguay International has signed a 2-year deal and is expected to arrive in Greece this Sunday. Apparently, current Panionios player Lampros Choutos who had played for Inter Milan alongside Alvaro was instrumental in convincing the striker to make the move to Greece.
This is by far Panionios’ biggest signing ever. Recoba’s coming to Greece is also one of the biggest signings of any Greek club. Some other notable soccer stars who spend a few years playing for Greek teams include the Brazilians Rivaldo, Gilberto Silva, Giovanni, Diogo, and the French Christian Karembeu and Ukranian Oleg Protasov just to name a few.
Recoba played for many years (from 1997 to 2007) for Inter Milan scoring numerous goals. In fact, he scored 2 goals in his first game with the Italian club against Brescia in San Siro to turn a 1-0 loss to a 2-1 victory for his new club. His coming to Inter was overshadowed by the concurrent signing of Brazilian superstar Ronaldo but after Recoba’s antics in his first appearance he quickly became the fans’ favorite player; and he remained a favorite until today.
Alvaro Recoba has also played 69 times for the Uruguay national team and he has scored 12 goals. He will make a great addition for Panionios who recently lost their star strike Rafik Djebbour (he scored 18 goals in 38 games last season) to Athens soccer club AEK. If Recoba was scoring goals with ease in Serie A, expect him to be scoring a storm in the Greek Super League. It will be great fun to watch him wreck havoc on Greek defenses over the next 2 years.