Veteran Greek goalkeeper scores hat-trick of perfectly taken penalties

Witnessing a goalkeeper score even once in a game is enough of a rarity, but a hat-trick from a keeper is usually the stuff of legend.

There are a few exceptions to the golden rule that keepers aren't goalscorers - Jimmy Glass and Peter Schmeichel, to name but two - while Oscarine Masuluke of Baroka even earned a Puskas Award nomination despite wearing goalie gloves when he scored a bicycle kick in South Africa.

Grigoris Athanassiou is the latest name to add to the list, though, and his treble in the Greek fourth tier is unlikely to be matched any time soon.

Athanassiou's goals might not have come at the highest level, but that is unlikely to matter too much after the veteran's remarkable feat.

37-year-old Athanassiou has some top-flight experience to his name, from stints in Greece and Cyprus, but has since dropped down the pyramid.

He took to the field for Pavlos Melas AO for their game against Aetos Vassilikon, and scored all three of the visitors' goals in a 3-0 victory.

The most surprising part? According to the keeper's Transfermarkt profile, he never scored a goal of any kind during his top-level career.

Not that you could tell, of course.

Athanassiou steps up like a seasoned pro for each of his spot kicks, even taking a leaf out of the book of Chelsea and Italy midfielder Jorginho with a hop, step and jump approach which gave his opposite number no chance.

While he might not have been a regular from the spot during his career at the highest level, one imagines he has shown his quality in training in order to have been trusted on the pitch.

Athanassiou is in good company when it comes to penalty-taking keepers.

Former Bayern Munich man Hans-Jorg Butt famously beat Juventus ' Gianluigi Buffon from the spot