Hellas Football

Saturday 24/11 ; AEK loses away to  Panetolikos extending their winless streak to 4 games.  Marinos Ouzounidis  calls out some of his players “If things continue like this,  im  obligated to make some decisions and changes. I have to find the players that are motivated to play for this team. Unfortunately, some of the guys seem like they want to play just to play.” Sunday 25/11; AEK owner Dimitris  Melissanidis  visits the training ground at  Spata , where he also calls out some players by name “If someone doesn’t want to be in the team he can tell me and he will leave.  Simoes ,  Labropoulos   and   Bakasetas  who don’t want to renew their contracts should bring me a transfer offer from a club in January and leave” Monday 26/11;  Marinos   Ouzounidis  announces that  Simoes ,  Labropoulos  and  Bakasetas  will be benched for the remainder of their time at AEK. Throug...

The Greek-Australian Chris Kalantzis is a rare breed, he would be one of the few players that is respected by both Olympiakos and Panathinaikos supporters. One of the best players to have ever come out of Australia, he made his top-flight debut in the Australian Championship at just 15 for the Big Greek-Australian club Sydney Olympic. He dazzled the Greek supporters there with his skills and pace and got them out of their seats whenever he received the ball, he was a true entertainer. His performances as a young man at Sydney Olympic brought him to the attention of several clubs. Olympiakos showed great interest and Kalantzis was all set to sign for the Piraeus club, before Panathinaikos swooped in to steal him from right under their nose. He would have 5 successful seasons with the Greens, before eventually finding his way to Olympiakos, where he spent another 5 great seasons. Here is our 1 on 1 with him. How did you end up at PAO and were there any other Greek clubs intere...

A key figure of the club, AEK’s captain has been recently met with heavy criticism on social media. Does he deserve it, or is it another prime example of fans overstating the negatives while failing to grasp what's going on? From Zero to Hero to.. Zero again During the summer of 2013, AEK fans were pleased to see that Petros Mantalos, a 22 year old talented attacking midfielder decided to snub rivals Olympiakos to join AEK from boyhood club Xanthi. From the very start of AEK’s new era – one that would start with Melissanidis at the helm of the club- he was destined to be the club’s leader. The next in a long series of iconic captains which included the likes of Demis Nikolaidis, Nikos Lyberopoulos and Stelios Manolas. He had an excellent first season at the club, one that would unfortunately end with an ACL injury that sidelined him for 7 months. The players, the club and the fans all rallied behind the captain after his horrific injury. He eventually returned and was part of ...

PAOK refusing to go down PAOK’s impressive 2-0 win over this season’s major improvers Panathinaikos proved that they are currently the best club in Greece. PAOK have completed a club record already this season by starting a league campaign with 8 wins from its first 9 league matches in the Greek Super League. Within the club’s first eight league matches, they have already beaten title contenders and arch rivals AEK Athens 2-0, Olympiakos 1-0, Aris 1-2 and Panathinaikos 2-0. However, Atromitos this weekend proved that they could have a major say in who wins the league title. Message of redemption ringing around the squad: Everyone involved within the club still strongly believe that they were wrongfully robbed of last season’s league title and ultimately winning the double (Greek Super League and Greek Cup). There is no doubt within the pre-season and throughout the season, PAOK touch on what occurred last season, and make sure that they this time win the league, while in the pro...

With the next target of Euro 2020 qualification in sight, the Greek national team is at a crossroads. On one hand, fans can breathe a sigh of relief as the heavily criticized Michael Skibbe was finally relieved of his duties as manager last week. Yet on the other hand, there is still a massive cloud of uncertainty surrounding the Ethniki that stems from the questionable decision making of the current president of the EPO (the Greek FA), Evangelos Grammenos. Is his new hire at head coach, Angelos Anastasiadis, the right man for the job? Or will the problems that have plagued the Ethniki since their fall from grace after the 2014 World Cup continue to keep this team stuck in the mud? Only time can tell. Galvanizing an Uninspired Team Let’s start with tactics and coaching style, which were a huge problem under Skibbe. Throughout his tenure, regardless of who was called up to the Ethniki, Skibbe did a horrible job of motivating the players to play hard and stick to a game plan. Off...