sport.wikisort.org - Athlete

Taxiarchis Fountas (Greek: Ταξιάρχης Φούντας; born 4 September 1995) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a forward for Major League Soccer club D.C. United and the Greece national team.

Taxiarchis Fountas

Personal information
Date of birth	(1995-09-04) 4 September 1995 (age 27)
Place of birth	Messolonghi, Greece
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Position(s)	Forward
Club information
Current team	D.C. United
Number	11
Youth career
2011	Acheloos Neochoriou
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2013	AEK Athens	35	(4)
2013–2016	Red Bull Salzburg	0	(0)
2013	→ Liefering (loan)	6	(0)
2014	→ Grödig (loan)	7	(0)
2014–2015	→ Panionios (loan)	26	(4)
2015–2016	→ Asteras Tripolis (loan)	16	(1)
2016–2017	Panionios	19	(2)
2017–2018	Sonnenhof Großaspach	14	(1)
2018–2019	St. Pölten	21	(4)
2019–2022	Rapid Wien	68	(35)
2022–	D.C. United	21	(12)
National team‡
2011	Greece U17	4	(1)
2012–2014	Greece U19	11	(1)
2013	Greece U20	1	(0)
2015	Greece U21	3	(1)
2015–	Greece	10	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 07:05 19 September 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:53, 27 September 2022 (UTC).

Club career

AEK Athens

Taxiarchis Fountas was scouted by Toni Savevski, the head of AEK Athens' youth academy at the time. On 17 March 2012. Fountas made his senior debut for AEK Athens against Asteras Tripolis being the youngest player to play for AEK Athens in a Superleague game aged 16 years 6 months and 13 days old.[2] He played 31 minutes in this game. He made his first start for the club on 22 April on the final day of the 2011–12 regular season against Doxa Drama, completing the whole 90 minutes.

Fountas scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 win against Platanias on 28 October 2012, thus becoming the youngest player to score for AEK at the age of 17 years and 54 days.[3] He scored another goal against Veria on 18 October 2012 and another one against PAS Giannina on 3 November 2012. He was also awarded the MVP award after this match. He scored his 4th goal again against Veria on 16 March 2013 with a fine left foot shoot. When the club was relegated, the player was released. He also scored a snipe against Everton in a friendly match in the summer of 2012.

Red Bull Salzburg

In June Fountas was linked with a move to Red Bull Salzburg. A potential transfer was complicated by the financial problems of Fountas' club AEK Athens which was on the verge of financial collapse.[4] In September 2013, he joined the club on a four-year contract.[5] After the signing of his contract, Fountas joined FC Liefering of the Austrian Football First League on a six-month loan.

In January 2014, Fountas moved on loan to SV Grödig until end of season.[6][7] He made his first appearance in the Austrian Bundesliga a week later.

At the beginning of the 2014–15 season, Fountas moved on loan to Panionios, returning to the Greek Superleague.[8]

After Fountas' exceptional season with Panionios, he was loaned to Asteras Tripolis.[9][10] On 2 January 2016, he scored his first goal with the club to a 4–0 home win against Panthrakikos.[11] On 5 January 2015, few days after his first goal with his club in the Greek Superleague, he scored a goal in a 3–0 away win against AEL for Greek Cup.[12]

Panionios

On 21 July 2016, Fountas, who had been released from Asteras Tripolis, signed a one (plus one) year contract and officially returned to Panionios.[13] On 1 July 2017, under mutual agreement Panionios solved the player's contract.

Sonnenhof Großaspach

On 20 September 2017, as a free agent, Fountas signed a long season contract with German club SG Sonnenhof Großaspach.[14]

St. Pölten

On 14 July 2018, after a year in Germany, Fountas signed a long season contract, with Austrian club St. Pölten.[15] He scoerd four goals in 22 games in his only season.

Rapid Wien

This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience. (September 2022)

On 9 May 2019, Fountas signed a deal with Austrian club Rapid Wien through the summer of 2022, with his St Polten contract due to expire.[16] On 4 August, he scored his first goal for the club in a 2–2 away draw against his previous club and a week later he scored a brace against SC Rheindorf Altach,[17] contributing to his team's first win of the season. On 29 September, in a 3–3 home draw against TSV Hartberg, he scored another brace.[18] On 15 December, he scored his third brace of the season, sealing a 3–0 away win against Admira Wacker, which included him in the Team of the Week in the Austrian Bundesliga for matchday 18. Fountas led the club's scoring with 11 goals from 15 matches.[19][20]

On 3 February 2020, Rapid Wien's fans named Fountas as the best player of 2019.[21] On 1 July, he scored in his fifth game in a row, a 3–1 home win against LASK.[22] He finished the 2019–20 Austrian Football Bundesliga campaign with 19 goals, to help his club earn a berth in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers. He was the third-highest scorer in the league, trailing only Patson Daka (24 goals, RB Salzburg) and Shon Weissman (30 goals, Wolfsberger).

On 30 August 2020, in his first official game for the 2020–21 season, he scored a hat trick in a 5–0 Austrian Cup win against TSV St. Johann. On 11 September 2020, Fountas helped his club to win Admira by scoring a brace at the 2020–21 Austrian Football Bundesliga opener.[23] He scored again during a 2–1 defeat to Arsenal in the Europa League Group stage on 22 October, capitalising on an error by goalkeeper Bernd Leno to put the ball in the net.[24][25]

On 18 January 2021, Fountas spat at Lukas Malicsek in the friendly match between his club and Admira, with the Austrian Bundesliga punishing him for four games.[26] On 4 April, he scored a hat-trick in his team's 8–1 away win against Wolfsberger AC.[27]

On 8 August 2021, Fountas scored in the first half and with two quickfire second half goals in a 3–0 home win against Wolfsberger AC;[28] later in the month he netted in both legs of a 2021–22 UEFA Europa League playoffs tie against FC Zorya Luhansk in a 6–2 aggregate win over the Ukrainian side.[29][30]

D.C. United

On 25 January 2022, according to a report in The Washington Post, Fountas agreed a three-year contract with MLS club D.C. United and will become its highest paid player with a reported contract worth a total of $7 million. He was initially not expected to arrive from Rapid Vienna until summer 2022, when his contract expired.[31] On 21 March, it was announced that he would join D.C. United ahead of the summer.[32]

Fountas made his debut for D.C. United on 16 April 16, in a 2–3 loss against Austin FC.[33] In his second game and first start for the club, he scored two and assisted a further goal in a 3-2 win over the New England Revolution.[34]

Controversy

During a match between DC United and Inter Miami on September 18, 2022, he was accused of racially abusing defender Damion Lowe as he used the n-word.[35][36] He was later substituted, while MLS opened an official investigation into the incident.[37] Inter Miami coach Phil Neville commented on the incident: "It was a racist comment. It was unacceptable. A word was used. I think it's unacceptable in society. A word was used, I think, the worst word in the world. And that's it, really." Fountas denies the allegation.[38] MLS ultimately decided that the accusation by a Miami player who claimed to have heard Fountas saying something to Lowe (who apparently did not hear the comment himself) was "credible" but that it could not be verified.[39]

International career

Fountas made his international debut for Greece on 13 June 2015, against Faroe Islands where in one of the worst nights of Greek international football, Faroe Islands beat Greece for the second time for the preliminary round of UEFA Euro 2016. He came in the match on 81 minute replacing Panagiotis Kone.[40]

Career statistics

Club

As of 29 August 2022 (UTC).

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
AEK Athens	2011–12	Super League Greece	8	0	0	0	—		—		8	0
	2012–13		27	4	0	0	—		—		27	4
	Total		35	4	0	0	—		—		35	4
Red Bull Salzburg	2013–14	Austrian Bundesliga	0	0	1	0	0	0	—		1	0
FC Liefering	2013–14	2. Liga	6	0	1	0	—		—		6	0
Grödig (loan)	2013–14	Austrian Bundesliga	7	0	0	0	—		—		7	0
Panionios (loan)	2014–15	Super League Greece	26	4	7	0	—		—		33	4
Asteras Tripolis (loan)	2015–16	Super League Greece	16	1	4	3	4	0	—		24	4
Panionios (loan)	2016–17	Super League Greece	19	2	1	0	—		—		20	2
Sonnenhof Großaspach	2017–18	3. Liga	14	1	2	0	—		—		16	1
St. Pölten	2018–19	Austrian Bundesliga	21	4	1	0	—		—		22	4
Rapid Wien	2019–20	Austrian Bundesliga	27	19	2	1	—		—		29	20
	2020–21		24	9	2	4	5	1	—		31	14
	2021–22		17	7	3	1	11	3	—		31	11
	Total		70	37	7	6	16	4	—		93	47
D.C. United	2022	Major League Soccer	20	11	0	0	—		—		20	11
Career total			227	58	24	9	20	4	0	0	263	66

Honours

Red Bull Salzburg

• Austrian Bundesliga: 2013–14
• Austrian Cup: 2013–14

Individual

• Rapid Wien Best Player Award: 2019
• MLS All-Star: 2022

References

External links

• Taxiarchis Fountas at Soccerway
• Taxiarchis Fountas – UEFA competition record (archive)
• Taxiarchis Fountas at ESPN FC

На других языках

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[de] Taxiarchis Foundas

Taxiarchis Foundas (griechisch Ταξιάρχης Φούντας, * 4. September 1995 in Mesolongi) ist ein griechischer Fußballspieler.

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- [en] Taxiarchis Fountas

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[es] Taxiarchis Fountas

Taxiarchis Fountas (Missolonghi, Grecia, 4 de septiembre de 1995) es un futbolista griego que juega como centrocampista en el D. C. United de Estados Unidos.

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[fr] Taxiárchis Foúntas

Taxiárchis Foúntas (grec moderne : Ταξιάρχης Φούντας), né le 4 septembre 1995 à Missolonghi, est un footballeur international grec qui joue au poste d'attaquant à D.C. United en MLS.

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[it] Taxiarchīs Fountas

Taxiarchīs Fountas (Ταξιάρχης Φούντας; Missolungi, 4 settembre 1995) è un calciatore greco, attaccante del D.C. United.

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[ru] Фунтас, Таксиархис

Таксиархис Фунтас (греч. Ταξιάρχης Φούντας; род. 4 сентября 1995, Месолонгион) — греческий футболист, нападающий клуба «Ди Си Юнайтед» и сборной Греции.

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