Greece the Cup

The Cup final opposed Olympiakos to PAOK, a last chance for Thessaloniki to win a trophy this year. It was not to be – Olympiakos prevailed 3-1, perhaps the most memorable part of the final was the goals Damanakis (PAOK) scored: first in his own net, thus giving the lead to Olympiakos, and then the only goal for PAOK when everything was practically over.

PAOK finished empty-handed, but otherwise it was not a bad season for them: their line-up for the Cup final practically spells-out the inevitable limits of the club: Bladen Fortula, Jiannis Gounaris, Kostas Iosifidis, Shalamon, Siggas, Damanakis, Panagiotis Kermanidis (69’Triantafillidis), Vasillis Georgopoulos, Neto Guerino, Jiorgos Koudas (75′ Vasilis Vasilakos), Jiorgos Kostikos. Koudas the big star, well respected foreigners Neto Guerino and Bladen Fortula, some strong players like Iosifidis, but essentially not a superior squad, mostly depending on established for years players, but in the same time, players, who already reached their peaks and well known to everybody.

As for Olympiakos – a double, which is always great, but especially from a distance, a rather routine victory. 22nd title and 17th Cup. First double since 1975. Just cold numbers. Kazimierz Gorski added two more trophies to his biography too – well done.