Music: {allcanada} Stamatopolous' Home Swede Home

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

{allcanada} Stamatopolous' Home Swede Home

The Canadian goalkeeper was born in Greece, grew up in Markham, Ont., met his wife while living in the Arctic Circle and has spent most of his club career playing in Scandinavia.

Stamatopolous, 32, recently made a rare return to his "home and native land," backstopping Canada to a 4-0 win over St. Kitts and Nevis in Toronto in a World Cup qualifier earlier this month.

The Canadian shot-stopper currently calls Stockholm home while tending goal for AIK in the Allsvenskan, the Swedish first division. His previous ports of call have included Kalamata FC (Greece), Enkopings SK and Bodens BK (Sweden), Tromso, Fotballklubben Lyn and Fredrikstad Fotballklubb (Norway).

But Stamatopolous has found a home in Sweden's capital city, helping AIK finish runners-up in the Allsvenskan this past season.

"I'm loving it in Stockholm. It's a great club by Scandinavian standards. AIK is a big club with a big fan base. I'm just loving that we came in second, which was a great achievement," Stamatopolous told sportsnet.ca.

AIK took Stamatopolous on loan at the beginning of 2010. He only made a handful of appearances but AIK was impressed enough with what they saw and signed the Canadian to a four-year contract in January prior to the start of the 2011 season.

Having bounced around a fair bit during his career, Stamatopolous was glad to settle down in Sweden.

"It's very similar to Canada, in the sense that people work the same hours, and the standard of living is high," Stamatopolous explained. "But it's also a very European city in that people go out to cafes and walk along the water."

Although he's spent the majority of his career playing abroad, Stamatopolous still finds life away from home somewhat difficult, especially with a growing family -- he has an 18-month-old son and his pregnant wife is expected to deliver the couple's second child in April.

"It's tough because we have no one here. We can't rely on family. We can't leave the kids to go out for a drink. Someone always has to stay home. It's tough but you get to bond as a family because we're always together," Stamatopolous said.

Stamatopolous met his wife, who is half Norwegian and half Greek, while playing for Tromso, a Norwegian club located inside the Arctic Circle.

"One other Greek person in the whole city and I met her. I lived in Greece and in Toronto with a big Greek community and I met her in Norway," Stamatopolous quipped.

"I was speaking Greek on the phone one day, she walked by and overheard me and it just went from there."

A return to BMO Field for the St. Kitts match brought back fond memories for Stamatopolous, who played 12 games for Toronto FC in 2007 during the club's inaugural MLS campaign.

"Coming through that tunnel at BMO for the first time gave me goose bumps, with the fan base and playing before the hometown crowd. It was unbelievable," Stamatopolous said of his time spent on loan at TFC.

Stamatopolous made his debut for Canada in 2001 in a friendly against Malta, and only recently returned to the national team fold last month after a two-year absence.

If Stamatopolous is to add to his seven caps and establish himself as Canada's No. 1 goalkeeper during the next round of World Cup qualifying, he'll have to beat out veteran Lars Hirschfeld (38 caps) and newcomer Milan Borjan (five caps).

"At this level, it's tough because they're top-notch 'keepers," Stamatopolous said of the competition for the top spot. "I'm just glad to be in the mix. It's good for Canada, and at the end of the day, may the best man win."