As Ivan Jovanović substituted him off, Scottish fans gave him a standing ovation, acknowledging his raw footballing brilliance.
“Remember the name…,” UEFA wrote on its official account about 17-year-old Konstantinos Karetsas, the young star captivating football fans everywhere. But at the end of the day, he’s still just a kid.
His father, Vaios Karetsas, emphasized exactly that in an interview with Politica 89.8, where he also expressed his family’s deep love for Greece and revealed a simple truth: no matter how much attention Konstantinos is getting, tomorrow morning, he still has to wake up early for school.
A Special Moment with His Parents
Speaking about the emotional embrace between Konstantinos and his parents after the match in Glasgow, Karetsas said:
“At that moment, we were all speechless. It was a warm hug, and we all got chills. I told him he made us proud, and all he kept saying was, ‘Thank you so much, I love you all.’ As a parent, there’s nothing better than hearing your child say thank you. Right now, Konstantinos is living in a whole different world with football.”
His Confidence on the Pitch
“You don’t learn confidence; you either have it or you don’t. Konstantinos had it from a young age, playing against bigger and stronger kids. He used to get frustrated, but I told him, ‘It’s okay, you’ll grow, and one day you’ll give it your all.’ We’re just watching his journey unfold. When we tell him not to stress, he says, ‘Why should I stress? I’ll just score another goal.’ We’re beyond happy, and we don’t even know what else to say.”
The Greek Support and His Future
“So many Greeks have reached out to us, not just to me but also to my wife, saying ‘Well done.’ That’s our role as parents. Konstantinos has talent, and we’ll see where it takes him. I told him what happened was incredible, but tomorrow it’s back to school. The club picks him up for training, and his dream now is to win the league with Genk. What matters most is that he enjoys football. If he stops enjoying it, he won’t perform. If another club comes calling, we’ll see. But right now, we’re only focused on Genk.”
Choosing Greece Over Belgium
“There was always a chance he could choose Belgium, as he was born and raised there. But we raised our children as Greeks in every way. Konstantinos has felt Greek for a long time, but in football, you never know. Fortunately, everything went well. The Greek FA sent Dimitris Papadopoulos and Vasilis Torosidis to talk to him, and they didn’t pressure him at all. They just had a great conversation, and everything fell into place naturally. Konstantinos always said, ‘Dad, if I have to choose, I’ll always pick Greece.’ The national team jersey means everything to him. It’s his homeland. He never kisses club badges—only the Greek one.”
Life Off the Pitch
“We’re living a dream. But tomorrow morning, Konstantinos has school. He’s a good student, in the highest academic level, studying economics. His only thought is to enjoy playing football, stay healthy, and we’ll take care of the rest. Since he was little, he was always with a ball. He even stopped watching cartoons—my wife and I would look at each other and say, ‘Look at this, he’s watching football on TV at four years old.’”
His Football Journey
“I was his first coach. He started in a lower-tier Belgian team to learn to play with kids his age. In one season, he scored 200 goals. At halftime, I had to tell him to stop scoring and pass more, to learn not to be selfish. A year later, Genk came for him, and he’s been there since he was eight.”
Managing the Hype
“On social media, Konstantinos only allows comments from friends. We told him, ‘This isn’t reality. Hard times will come, and people will write things. You have to block out the noise and stay grounded.’ And that’s exactly what he does.”
Despite the growing spotlight, one thing remains unchanged—tomorrow morning, like any other 17-year-old, Konstantinos Karetsas has school.
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