Christos Kontis

Christos Kontis is a former professional footballer with a long and successful career in Greece and Cyprus, both as a player and as a coach.

During his playing career, he represented major clubs such as Ethnikos Piraeus (1995–1999), Panionios (1999–2000 / 2002–2004), Olympiacos (2000–2002), AEK Athens (2004–2006), and APOEL (2006–2011). His greatest achievements as a player include winning three Greek championships (2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03), as well as participating in the UEFA Champions League group stage during the 2001–02 and 2002–03 seasons. With APOEL, he won three Cypriot league titles, three Super Cups, and one Cypriot Cup.

He began his coaching career in 2011 at APOEL as assistant coach to Ivan Jovanović, with whom he celebrated winning the Cypriot championship and achieving the club’s historic run to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League in the 2011–12 season — an achievement unmatched by any Cypriot club to this day.

This was followed by a four-year collaboration (2013–2017) with Jovanović at Al Nasr in the United Arab Emirates, where they won, among other titles, the GCC Champions Cup (2013–14) and the UAE President’s Cup & Etisalat Cup (2014–15).

In 2017–18, he joined Olympiacos Piraeus as assistant coach and finished the season as head coach. In 2019–20, he worked at Hatta Club and remained there until the middle of the 2020–21 season, when he returned to Greece to join the coaching staff of Panathinaikos under Ivan Jovanović until December 2023.

In January 2024, he took charge of Volos NFC, successfully keeping the team in the Greek Super League. Immediately afterward, he managed Panathinaikos for one month, leading the club to victory in the 2023–24 Greek Cup.

Since October 2024, he has been the head coach of OFI Crete, making history by leading the club to victory in the Greek Cup, bringing his total to two cup titles in his coaching career.

Presentation – Day One

From Preparation to Victory – Managing a High-Pressure Final

Christos will present the methods he and his coaching staff used to prepare the team for the historic achievement of winning the Greek Cup.

Drawing from the experience of a high-pressure match, he will analyze how footballers are prepared psychologically and mentally for a “do-or-die” game, how the training process is structured during the week leading up to the match, and what tactical approach is selected to maximize team performance.

The presentation focuses on the connection between mentality, training, and tactics, with the goal of achieving results under highly demanding conditions.