Dimitris Salpingidis ( ; born 18 August 1981) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was known to be "a very quick and useful tool on the counter attack." Club career PAOK Born in Zagliveri, Salpingidis started out as a Greco-Roman wrestler before discovering his calling in football. Salpingidis began his football career through the youth ranks of PAOK. Before football Salpingidis was participating in wrestling in which he was very good at, with a dream of competing in the Olympics. He didn't make it as a wrestler but his dream came true as footballer in 2004. On 30 September 1999 he marked his official debut against Lokomotivi Tbilisi with a goal in a 2–0 win. Acknowledging his potential and in order to gain much needed experience, the team soon loaned him for two successive seasons to Kavala where he finished top scorer of the Second Division. His plea for a return to PAOK was granted by his mentor, Angelos Anastasiadis and he became an integral part of the team. On 25 August 2002 he made his league debut for PAOK in a 4–1 win against Panathinaikos. He scored his first league goal in 2–3 away win against OFI. Despite playing out of position as a right midfielder he managed to earn a place in the starting line-up, just a few months after returning from loan. Plagued with financial problems, the next season saw the club experiencing an exodus of its top players such as striker Ioannis Okkas and ex-Newcastle United forward Giorgos Georgiadis, Salpingidis, at the age of 21, then became first-choice striker and captain of the team. The 2003–04 season proved to be the best in many years, as the club finished an unexpected 3rd, qualifying for the Champions league, despite running on a very low budget. His significance for PAOK was such that in the summer 2004 he was given permission to miss a match with the Greek Olympic team so that he could participate in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers against Maccabi Tel Aviv. The elimination at the hands of the Israeli team, followed by the sack of coach Anastasiadis and subsequent financial turmoil hit the team badly, resulting in his exodus less than 2 years later. In the 2005–06 season he was top-scorer in the league with 17 goals. Panathinaikos In the summer of 2006, as the club's president Giannis