Vangelis Moras (Greek: Βαγγέλης Μόρας; born 26 August 1981) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is the current manager of Athens Kallithea.
Moras started his football Ampelokipoi Larissa playing as a striker having Marco Van Basten as his idol. In 1999, aged 18, along with his Ampelokipoi teammate Kostas Paparizos, he moved to Beta Ethniki side AEL. During his 2-year sting with AEL, Moras was converted to a defender after Serbian coach Nebojsa Licanin changed his position. In 2001 after AEL were relegated to Gamma Ethniki he signed for Proodeftiki helping the club win promotion and return the first division in 2002.
After his first season in the first division, Moras was transferred to AEK Athens on 7 August 2003 for a fee of €260,000, as a personal choice of the manager, Dušan Bajević. He stayed at the club even at the new effort made by the administration of Demis Nikolaidis in 2004 and left in 2007. With AEK he also competed in European in the UEFA Champions League group stage in 2003 and in 2006, while also played in the Cup final on 10 May 2006 losing to Olympiacos.
Moras left AEK Athens after the expiration of his contract. On 1 July 2007, he signed for the Italian club Bologna. After his first season there, the club was promoted to the Serie A. Moras scored his first goal for Bologna against S.S.C. Napoli scoring the winning goal.
He made 104 appearances in his career at Bologna in all competitions.
On 14 October 2011, it was confirmed that the player joined Premier League team Swansea City. FIFA gave Swansea City the green light to sign Vangelis Moras on a three-month deal. The Greek defender, a free agent having left Bologna in the summer, agreed terms with Swansea after a trial in South Wales, scoring a goal in a friendly against Llanelli on 7 October 2011. Delays in processing the paperwork looked set to leave Rodgers with only one fully fit centre-half for Saturday's trip to Norwich. He made his Premier League debut in a 2–2 draw with Wolves on 22 October 2011. He left the club after his three-month deal expired in January 2012.
Cesena officially signed Moras a free agent after his short-term contract with Swansea expired and signed a new deal until the end of the season. The Sea Horses announced that Moras will undergo his medical on Thursday before taking on his first training session.
In his interview, the defender who was under contract until June, was ready to take the field against Novara: "I am happy for my arrival even with a two-years' delay, as last season we were very close. With Swansea I did not go well (only 7 games with 6 of them with the reserve-team), so I desperately want to go back to Italy and I thanks Cesena for this opportunity."
Furthermore, he said that "the situation is difficult but we can save, I'm used to fighting. I know the coach, it was he who took me to Italy, in Bologna, where I stayed four seasons, the best time of my career so far. I am a close friend of Antonioli together we were rossoblù: it was old then, it's old now, nothing has changed."
On 21 January 2012, he made his debut with Cesena in a 5–1 loss with Roma. He left the club after his six-month deal expired in June 2012.
On 1 July 2012, Moras signed for the Italian club Hellas Verona. After his first season there, the club was promoted to the Serie A. In June 2013, Panathinaikos was chasing the signature of the Greek international. The Athenian giants missed out on European football for the first time in almost two decades.
Panathinaikos offered him a two-year contract worth around €200-250,000 a year.
Eventually, the upcoming deal with Panathinaikos did not come to an end, and the Greek defender signed with the club for another year. Moras scored his first goal for Verona against Varese, scoring the winning goal.
In a game against Bologna, Moras did not react to a biff from Jonatan Cristaldo during the Serie A match between his club and Bologna FC at Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi on 2 March 2014 in Verona. Additionally, on 9 April 2014, in an interview, he said "Europe? I don’t even want to hear that word," he told reporters at a trade event this week. "We are thinking about every Sunday's game, we will see at the end where we will be. I am not thinking about Europe, it is the only thing that can make me feel bad. Now we hope to close the season out very well, because it is good for the club and for the fans. This was a very difficult season, we were able to achieve safety in March and this was an important thing. It was not easy to reach this target and teams with more experienced players were not able to do it, and we have. Now let's enjoy this moment, we have been through some difficulties and we now think to finish well."
Vangelis Moras was part of the 23 players of Greece to fly to Brazil. Hellas Verona's Fernando Santos, coach of Greece, decided to bet big on him. The first to believe in the quality of Vangelis Moras of Bologna was Fabrizio Salvatori, who took him in red and blue, " ...was released, and really wanted to come to Italy – says Salvatori exclusive to GianlucaDiMarzio.com – He accepted a year contract with an option for three more years if he had done well, and so it was with Bologna in Serie B came by a couple of goals in that year, and contributing significantly to the promotion. He steadily grows in confidence, which led him to play in the World Cup. He is a versatile player who improves every year. But even before this is a great guy who deserves this call, after he has done very well this year in Verona."
On 8 July 2014 Hellas Verona renewed Greek international Moras’ contract until June 2015. The defender put pen to paper on a new deal, which includes an option to add another year until June 2016. On 21 April 2015 Vangelis Moras reached 100 appearances with the jersey of Hellas Verona and Greek international defender celebrated, by holding a Greek flag on Instagram.
On 17 May 2015, Vangelis Moras in an interview, expressed his concern regarding the future of the club in the midst of rumors suggesting that the club might be sold. Speaking after his side's 2–1 win over Empoli, the Greek centre-back also demanded more clarity from owner Maurizio Setti despite the Italian businessman having recently stated that the club will not be sold in the summer. "The president has denied the sale of the club, but I want more certainty," said the 33-year-old to Sky Sport Italia."And I hope all things are sorted and we’ll be ready to start again properly from next season." There were a number of Gialloblu players whose contracts were set to expire in the summer of 2015, including that of Moras.
On 18 September 2015, Moras stated that he wants to finish his career with Hellas Verona " Ours is not a job like any other, in a football team we are mates, the fans and the company. I am at Verona for four years and for me it's like a second family. All helped me to deal with this difficult problem, all were close to me and I can only say thank you to the men with whom I have a relationship important and special. I feel part of this team and I want to close my career here. Toughest opponents? No doubt those lower down in the standings, one must not underestimate them because they might put you in more trouble than large. " said to calcionews. On 29 November 2015, he scored his first goal for the 2015–16 season in a 2–3 away loss against Frosinone with his header squirming through Nicola Leali's hands in a goalkeeping howler.