The 23-year-old made 13 appearances before swapping countries yet again, this time on a one year loan to play in the Greek Superleague with Athens-based side Panathinaikos.
The All Whites winger, who is of Greek descent, says it was a dream come true to play for the side he has followed since a young age.
“I have been a Panathinaikos fan all my life and once the opportunity came up I didn’t think twice,” Barbarouses says.
Having had a slow start to life with the Greek side, Barbarouses believes he has found his stride and is starting to make an impact at the club.
“My start of the season was disrupted by having all the Olympic Games preparation, which meant I missed the whole of our preseason which was difficult,” he says.
“So when I got back I found it hard to get into the side as the manager had seen a lot more of the other players. But as the season went on I worked hard and had a very good run in the last couple of months and I think I have left a good impression on the club and fans.”
While Barbarouses didn’t get a chance to take to the field in the UEFA Champions League, he made 11 appearances for Panathinaikos during the season and says he’s happy with the chances he’s had with the club.
“I was in the squad for a lot of the group stage games but never came on. All in all, considering that I missed a lot of the preparation, I’m happy with how my season ended on a personal note and I think if we were in mid-season now I would be playing regularly.”
Having played for both the Roar and the Wellington Phoenix in the A-League, Barbarouses says he tries to follow the competition as best he can, especially if his former sides are playing.
“I still follow the league as a whole as well as I can, through social media mostly. If a game is on while I have spare time I will definitely watch, especially if Roar or Phoenix are playing. I still have regular contact with a lot of my old team mates.”
Still mulling over his options for the future, Barbarouses says he expects everything to become clear in the coming weeks. In terms of his international career, the All White says New Zealand has a good chance of making back-to-back World Cups.
“It will be a difficult play-off whoever we play come December but I think if we can have a good build up to those games we have every chance to make it back-to-back, which will be an amazing achievement,” he says.
“We have a very strong squad now that has been built from the last couple of years, with a good bunch of players competing at a good level. I think if we can keep pushing ourselves we can achieve a whole lot as a group.”
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