Ioannis Fountoulis, the captain of Greece, has been a true national team leader for years. He has won numerous individual awards, was the best scorer of the 2017 World Championships and the 2018 European Championships. Fountoulis won bronze at the 2015 World Championships, three third places in the World League, etc.
However, all these results are in the shadow of fantastic successes achieved by Greece in 2021.
Greece played excellently in the Olympic tournament and won silver – the first-ever Olympic medal for the male national team. A few months before the Games, Greece took bronze in the World League.
Fountoulis has given a significant contribution to all Greece’s successes in the last several years, but he has had a magnificent career in clubs. He won the 2018 Champions League and two silver medals (2015 and 2019) playing for Olympiacos. This year, he won silver in the CHL with Ferencvaros. After two seasons in Ferencvaros, he returned to Olympiacos and started a new march to trophies with Greece’s best club.
Ioannis Fountoulis’s Top 5 of 2021
1. Dusan Mandic (SRB)
Serbian National Player I Club: Pro Recco, Novi Beograd I Position: Right Driver
He had an amazing season, and he played on his best level both with Recco and the national team. He won the gold medal in Tokyo and the Champions League and was the MVP of the Final 8. Undoubtedly he deserves first place in my choice.
2. Angelos Vlachopoulos (GRE)
Greek National Player I Club: Brescia, Novi Beograd I Position: Driver
Last season, Vlachopoulos proved his quality once again. He was one of the key players in Brescia’s most successful season. They dethroned Recco in Italy after many, many years, and they took bronze in the Champions League with him being the best scorer of the competition. But his most important achievement this year was the silver medal in Olympic Games with Greece, and he was one of the best players on the national team.
3. Filip Filipovic (SRB)
Serbian National Player I Clubs: Szolnok, Olympiacos I Position: Right Driver
One more Olympic gold was added to his amazing career and he was voted the MVP of the tournament once again! Filipović also had a very successful season with his club. He won the Hungarian Championship and the Euro Cup playing for Szolnok. His contribution to these successes was enormous.
4. Francesco Di Fulvio (ITA)
Italian National Player I Club: Pro Recco I Position: Left Driver
Di Fulvio and Denes Varga are players with unique skills. They have the ability to make our sport look more beautiful with their actions and their style of play. Dumi (Varga- Ed.) had a really hard season with some injuries. Despite that fact, he won the bronze in Tokyo. I know that he is not satisfied, but I am sure he will come back stronger. On the other hand, Francesco won the Champions League and played the whole year on the highest level, so I chose him.
5. Nikola Jaksic (SRB)
Serbian National Player I Club: FTC, N0vi Beograd I Position: Center Back
There are a few players in the world that can play the position of defender and center-forward equally well. The first is Jaksic and the second is Argyropoulos. Jaksic won the gold medal in Tokyo, and he also reached the final in the Champions League.
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