With the Greek National Team jersey, he wore the national emblem 61 times and scored 18 goals. But the goal in Moscow had something different. It was the moment when Nikos Machlas passed from the category of good strikers to the category of footballers who enter the memory of a people.

Our conversation, at our meeting in Heraklion, inevitably started with the FIFA World Cup 2026. From that great stage that few Greek footballers had the opportunity to experience at the time. Interview with Manos Staramopoulos, English Chief Editor of Discoveryfootball.com

Machlas thinks a little before answering.

“The World Cup is something unique. It is the pinnacle for every footballer. When you are there, you do not only represent yourself or your team. You represent a country, a flag, a people. I have never forgotten that goal against Russia. Not because it was just an important goal, but because it sent Greece to the World Cup for the first time. It was a moment that belonged to everyone.”

The conversation could not remain only in the past. The World Cup 2026 is here and Machlas looks at it with the eyes of someone who knows what this competition means.

“Brazil is always one of the favorites and now they have a man with enormous experience like Carlo Ancelotti. Spain is the holder of the European title and has perhaps the most complete game plan. Argentina still has Lionel Messi and that in itself changes the balance. Portugal has a very strong generation, with Cristiano remaining a point of reference and with players like Vitinha and Joao Neves giving new momentum. And I have the feeling that England can present themselves more mature than ever this time.”

From the big stage of world football, the conversation returns to where it all began. In Heraklion. At OFI. To its roots.

“OFI is the reason I fell in love with football. I have it in my heart. For me, it is not a club; it is an idea, it is part of my very life. That is where I grew up, that is where I became a man, that is where I learned to dream.”

When the conversation reaches the man who has marked his path as much as anyone, his voice lowers.

“Eugene Gerrard was not just my coach. He was my second father. He shaped me as a footballer but above all as a person. He taught me to respect the game and to respect myself.”

From Crete to Arnhem and from OFI to European recognition, Machlas still remembers the moment when he felt that all of Greece was traveling with him.

“When Zorbas entered the Vitesse stadium after every goal, I felt that I was not the only one celebrating. I felt that I was taking Greece with me. In Holland I learned what professionalism means. There football is a science, but it is also a joy.”

And indeed, his journey has been unique.

Nikos Machlas is the first and only Greek footballer to win the European Golden Shoe, as the top scorer in all European championships, wearing the jersey of the Dutch club Vitesse.

In the 1997-98 season, he scored 34 goals in 32 matches and went down in history. From OFI to Vitesse, to Ajax, to Seville, to Iraklis, to the return to Crete and to the finale with APOEL of Cyprus, his path has always had something of the same flame: instinct, passion, truth. Shortly before the discussion ends, he returns to where it all began.

In Crete. To OFI. And to the child who once ran after a ball without knowing that he would become one of the greatest scorers that Greek football has ever produced.