On 4 November 2010, a young Cypriot midfielder announced himself to the world.
Hopes were high that Dimitris Froxylias could go on to emulate the achievements of some of his celebrated teammates as he came off the bench against Anderlecht to become the youngest player ever to represent AEK Athens in European football.
It was the most auspicious of beginnings for the 17-year-old, but his hopes of kick-starting a rise through the ranks of the 11-time Greek champions were soon dealt a cruel blow.
Injury stalled the youngster’s progress and the early setback sent him spiralling in a direction that he would not have predicted on that night; through eight clubs in seven years in Greece and Cyprus before landing at Dumbarton last summer.
His new home has been good to him so far, as Froxylias earned a call-up to the Cyprus national team this week on the back of scoring a wonder goal against TNS in the Irn-Bru Cup semi-finals that sent ‘Ton to their first national final since 1912.
Looking back on that glorious European debut now, he takes a philosophical outlook.
“It was the best moment of my life until now,” he said.
“But afterwards I got injured and I was unlucky because I had an operation. It was a bad moment after that game.
“Football is like that, you get bad moments and good moments. It always helps you become stronger because a life in football is very hard. You need to find the psychology to come back after an injury.
“I had very experienced players with me at AEK when I was there, because some of them had won the European Championships in 2004. I had some national team players who helped me a lot, I played with some very good and experienced players for three years while I was there.”
Froxylias, who remains in touch with the likes of Roma defender Kostas Manolas and EURO 2004 winner Traianos Dellas, made the bold move of leaving his comfort zone and heading to Scotland last summer as he sought a fresh start.
Dumbarton manager Steve Aitken needed to see just two training sessions before deciding to sign the winger and his instinct has been rewarded so far with two stunning free-kicks in the Irn-Bru Cup as well as four league goals, including a winner against Brechin on Tuesday.
But it was the strike against TNS, a marvellous effort from range to win the game with five minutes remaining, that has stood out so far and Froxylias insists it made the 566-mile round trip to Shropshire more palatable.
“It was special for me because after more than 100 years Dumbarton went to the final and I’m very glad for that,” he said.
“If you score goals like that and get to a final it’s something different, something special for the players and the team.
“It was a big trip, but we played really well and when we won we celebrated afterwards and didn’t think about being tired or anything, we were very happy – all the team and the staff.”
Froxylias now faces a huge week ahead, as he plans to jet back to Scotland straight after Cyprus’ friendly with Montenegro on Friday to be available for the cup final clash with Inverness Caledonian Thistle a day later.
His route to fulfilling that early promise may not have been the most conventional, but winning an international debut and domestic silverware within 48 hours will go some way to proving he still has a lot to offer.
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