Height: 195cm
Weight: 125 kg
Clubs: Panathinaikos 1993-2002, Miami 1996-1998
International: Greece 1996-2002
The Rock has led one of the most amazing sporting lives of all time. Famous for his WWF wrestling, The Rock has also gained huge fame as a brilliant footballer, although his playing time has been cut into by other commitments. What makes his story even more remarkable is that a man with absolutely no Greek heritage plays in Greece, for Greece, and for a Greek club, while still wrestling year round in America.
The Rock was interested in a number of sports as a youngster, but eventually focused on football (or “soccer”), even though his great strength seemed more appropriate for American football. A prodigious talent, The Rock worked his way through the ranks, and was convinced into signing up for Panathinaikos in 1993 after playing a game at home for his University side against a touring Panathinaikos youth team. The Rock went to Greece on a footballing scholarship, which enabled him regular visits home to concentrate on his blossoming wrestling career, while still earning occasional appearances for the Panathinaikos first team where he impressed. The Rock, having been told he was not wanted by American soccer unless he could commit himself to the sport, wisely opted to take Greek citizenship in 1994. The scholarship had by this point ended and The Rock had by late 1995 become a WWF superstar. He still visited Greece regularly, maintaining his citizenship and ties with Panathinaikos, where he was officially on “unpaid leave”.
In 1996 The Rock took 4 months off wrestling as he decided what was the best choice for his eventual career, and he was wisely selected to make his debut for Greece, where he had just become eligible to play. The willingness of the Greek and Panathinaikos selectors to accommodate The Rock’s every wish, in the hope of having his incredible skill available as regularly as possible, was vital in him carving out a successful career in football. During that brief spell in 1996, The Rock established himself as a class player at the highest level.
The Rock continued to do his best to practise his football while his wrestling career exploded. In May 2000 he refocused on football, and for the next 2 years he put wrestling on the backburner as he spent as much time as possible as he could on football. International appearances for Greece in 1998 and 1999 had maintained his somewhat dubious eligibility for a country he still held citizenship to, despite not having lived there for several years and having no Greek blood. Nevertheless, The Rock fitted comfortably into the Greek side and for Panathinaikos in 2000/01 and 2001/02, playing as a pacy and powerful left-winger with a wicked shot, and an expert free kick taker who also had the ability to take on and beat his marker. He formed a mighty front three with Martin Denyer and Arsenal in a golden era for Greek football. Unfortunately for The Rock, his adventures in football were never to be a long running affair. His form, which had understandably never quite matched what it could have had he focused totally on football, started to fade in mid 2002, and he eventually decided it was time to retire to a life of wrestling, movies, and fame. At the age of 30 The Rock retired after a loss to Jamaica in the Bledisloe Club. The Rock left the game as a popular figure who never quite achieved what he might have, although he could still look back with pride on his career.
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