Hellas Football

The new era has begun under a freshly re-signed Skibbe with qualification to Euro 2020 a must. With the two friendly matches that just took place, here are the thoughts of some of our bloggers. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Greg Gavalas For me the two friendlies showed exactly what I and many other thousands can see but for Michael Skibbe, the Greek Head Coach. We saw more of the same in Athens against Switzerland, the established core that was in particularly static in the midfield with the exception of Zeca and Donis. Fortounis' form needs to improve and Samaris needs to be given a break from the Ethniki. His passes to the sideline's a couple of times all but confirming this. Bakakis showed in both games what a fresh and young right back can do over the statesman Torosidis. Skibbe once again showed his bizarre selection when he picked 3 left backs and started a center back there instead. The second game with...

Its not often we get to interview a player so when the opportunity came to do one with current PAO defender Tasos Avlonitis we jumped at the chance. We thank him for giving up his time to do this. What was it like growing up and were football opportunities more limited for you as opposed to a young player from a bigger city? I grew up in Chalkida, a place near Athens but the football academies were few. Only 1-2 academies and one big disadvantage was that when I was a child, there wasn’t any professional teams in the Evia Prefecture. This was a big disadvantage for the children and for the academies’ targets. The children in Athens has much more opportunities to grow up in a better environment and be more professional. Do you remember your first professional match for Egaleo? My first professional game was against Pas Giannina (away). I was 17 years old. What was the jump from Panionios to Olympiakos like? My jump from Panionios to Olympiakos, a Club that was in the C...

With all focus on PAOK, Savvidis, AEK & the postponement of the Greek Super League, I turn your attention to the Football League, Greece's second football tier, where the race for promotion has heated up. A month ago ARIS Thessaloniki FC sat comfortable in the drivers seat, set to run away with top spot whilst Panachaiki looked comfortable in second spot and automatic promotion, but Aris having drawn their round 19 & 20 games gave an opportunity to a red hot OFI team to take top spot and they took it with a 3-0 win over Trikala on Saturday. ARIS managed to take top spot again by beating OFI's Cretan rival in Ergotelis 3-0, where Platellas, Kassos & new signing Chanti all hit the back of the net. Early promotion favourites Panachaiki have had an inconsistent 2 months, managing 3 wins, 2 draws & 2 losses. These results have put the club from Patras into 3rd spot, with 43 points, 10 points of the league leaders h owever this past Monday saw anoth...

We have heard plenty of commentary and read quite a bit about the incidents at the Toumba Stadium  on Sunday  night, let’s get the thoughts of someone who was actually there and witnessed the events, PAOK fan and our friend, Alain in Thessaloniki. From Alain Anastasakis, Being born in France of Greek descent and with a Grandfather born in Kalamaria, I suppose it was in the blood to become a PAOK fan. I had planned to go back to Thessaloniki for a while, as it has now been 5 years since I’ve been back. I took the opportunity to go back at this time, for this very important game for PAOK, that unfortunately as we all know now, ended so terribly. The excitement was building in Thessaloniki ever since the decision was made to return the 3 deducted points, as well as overturn the stadium ban for PAOK’s match with AEK. The mad dash for tickets was overwhelming and fortunately, I happened to be one of the lucky ones who had gotten a ticket. For the entire season, PAOK supporters h...

When you mention the name Predrag Djordjevic to Olympiakos supporters most will smile and reminisce about the glory days when he was at the club and how a player signed from the lower leagues in Greece would go on and become of the clubs best ever foreign players. Signed in a combined deal with Stelios Giannakopoulos from Paniliakos in the mid 90's after successive promotions with the club he would go on to form a neat combination on the left hand side of the field with Georgatos. Not afraid to take on defenders and shoot he would always chip in with vital goals or assists when need be and was noted for his deadly free kicks. His cool calm demeanor meant no matter what was in front of him he would not shirk away from the task. Within his first five seasons at Olympiakos he had already amassed 50 goals which was an amazing return considering he was not an out and out striker. His skills and form was not only shown in the Alpha Ethniki as he would regularly score goals and assist t...

Times may be tough right now for Panathinaikos fans, but they can take comfort in past glories and use that as the fuel pushing for change at the beleaguered club. For multiple generations, a big part of that success stemmed from the on-field efforts of star Polish signing Krzysztof Warzycha. The Polish international was signed by the Greens in 1989 after winning the League and becoming top scorer in his native country with Ruch Chorzow. It is safe to say no one could have foreseen the success he would have in the famous Green and the reputation he left behind. His influence was so immense that he deserves to come into contention as one of the greatest Panathinaikos players ever. He celebrated 5 League titles (1990, 1991, 1995, 1996 and 2004) and 5 Greek Cups (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 2004). This highlights his longevity and consistency as a leading marksman. The fact that his Panathinaikos career spanned from 1989 right up until 2004 says it all. Strikers, however, are jud...