Gus Kartes

Who is Gus Kartes?

Gus Kartes, also known by his Greek name Kostas Karterouliotis is a Greek-American soccer player, who is not active.

Kartes initially became notable in 1996 when, at the age of 15, he signed a 5-year, $2 million contract with Greek soccer giants Olympiakos, becoming the youngest player to ever sign a first-division contract in Greece. Kartes did not fulfill Olympiakos's hopes, however, garnering little first team playing time, and eventually bought out his contract with a year remaining in order to return to America and play in Major League Soccer. Upon returning to the United States, the Colorado Rapids acquired Kartes in a lottery, but traded him to his hometown Tampa Bay Mutiny in exchange for draft picks. Kartes played the 2001 season for the Mutiny, but was largely unimpressive, registering no points in 516 minutes. After the Mutiny were contracted at the end of the 2001 season, Kartes went undrafted in the allocation and dispersal drafts. It is widely believed that Kartes's soccer short-comings were due to his father being known as a soccer dad. This turned many teams away from this promising young man.

Following this, Kartes returned to Greece to play for Kalamata FC of the Greek second division. He returned to the United States in 2004 to sign with the Chicago Storm of the Major Indoor Soccer League. The Storm was coached by fellow Greek-American Frank Klopas.