Olympiacos Piraeus

[Faliro]

I agree, it seems he really needs someone to teach him the basics about crosses. Luckily he has been shielded so far because Manolas and Siovas are extremely good cbs, so they have been doing a lot of his work for him.

As for feijsa - just when he might have got a run of games - and perhaps done something to elevate himself, he got injured and was out for quite a while - as you probably seen, he is quite delicate with injuries..

As for the media, yea, Spain, Greece, Portugal... we all love our football and sports. Greece and portugal I believe do exceptionally well considering how small our populations are.

The quote about the panathinaikos stadium i read too.  that is exactly it. I mean the difference between it and the karaiskaki is night and day.

Well, Olympiakos have one of the best basketball teams in Europe - some seasons simply the best. The arena (very cool arena) is located right next to the karaiskaki - just across poseidon avenue. The team is owned by the Angelopoulos brothers and has been for years. They are steal and shipping magnates and exceptionally wealthy - in reality if we are being sincere they are worth together over 6 billion euros. The club is extremely successful and although some league games may seem a bit empty, the derbies are usually sell outs. I don't think they lose too much money with this team somehow, they are too clever. I think you are correct though, their investment in the team probably overshadows many football teams in Greece.

AEK got relegated from the top league, but when they back it will be a stronger league again. There are still PAOK, Aris and Panathinaikos in the top league and some exceptional smaller teams.

Panathinaikos basketball team is not owned by the fans like their football club. It is owned by the Giannakopoulos family who are very wealthy too. that is why they too can buy big players.

[Fever]

Exactly what happened here...
And I don't think you want to get us started on injuries... this season has been a nightmare so far.

Yeah definitely. And we are a lot more alike than we think.

Oh ok, that explains it.   
You should be proud of that, I value a lot that both portuguese and greek giants are multi-sports clubs. 
Portugal was never as passionate about basketball as Greece is but Benfica in the 90s was a very good european side. I don't think Benfica ever met Olympiacos, but we did beat PAO once in 1996. Unfortunately Portugal got more and more football-oriented each year and nowadays Benfica are hardly Eurochallenge level... and we are the only fully professional team in the League. 

[Faliro]

This again sounds very similar. Can you believe when i was a kid basketball was the biggest sport in Greece? It only changed at the end of the 90's.

After the Greek national team won Euro basket in 87 I think it was, the Greek government was extremely clever (the only time in history). They forced every school in Greece to build a basketball court. That helped cement the sport in the minds of Greeks.

Greece for some strange reason also loves volleyball and waterpolo like crazy.

I have to say, I admire your stadiums hugely you built for Euro 2004.

I think in general Euro 2004 made many portuguese realise how similar Greece is to their own country in many ways. We had a military Junta like you etc, similar size country and population, old culture... and we overachieve for our size.

I think you should have gone to the game tomorrow!! I think it would have been a great experience for you!!

[Shoky]

I'm particularly surprised with Panathinaikos and their change of stadium.

Actually, the situation with Panathinaikos was so funny - not for them - obviously they were horrified.. but for everyone else, it has been very entertaining. A couple of seasons ago they got a rich backer called Pateras. He spent a lot of their money, they had Cisse and other players.., they finally won the league. Then he left due to fights in the boardroom and another idiot took over. The club sold all its players and became very weak. They were playing at the national stadium - OAKA last season (their dream of a new independent stadium at Votanikos died) where they have played for years - this is a very big stadium, over 70,000 seats. However they could not afford the electricity bill and the lights were shut off.. So they complained, but of course no one listened - you don't pay, no lights.. So they had to play their games at the stadium during the day!!! 

Then their new  'leader' (their club is owned by their fans like Barcelona) decided to take them back to their historical ground at leoforos.. he spent a tiny bit of money to make the stadium usable and that is their home now. They are a dying club.

Also it seems the picture of Portugal with two dominating teams is quite similar to Greece. That is why it is vital in my opinion AEK return, they have a huge following. I don't care so much about Panathinaikos - watching them suffer is very satisfying. They spend their existence complaining about referees and creating conspiracy theories about why they are shit.

Que parecenças loucas com o foculporto no último parágrafo.
A mim não me surpreende nadinha. O Olympiacos sempre teve a fama.

[Shoky]

Can I ask what are your opinions about Fernando Santos. Personally I dont like the way he designs a team and I think he is quite corrupt.

He is an idiot, a chicken, a coward and a fucking loser.

[JustMe]

O Shoky até em inglês bate no Santolas

[Faliro]

Nikolaos Gaitanas

[Fever]

This again sounds very similar. Can you believe when i was a kid basketball was the biggest sport in Greece? It only changed at the end of the 90's.

After the Greek national team won Euro basket in 87 I think it was, the Greek government was extremely clever (the only time in history). They forced every school in Greece to build a basketball court. That helped cement the sport in the minds of Greeks.

Greece for some strange reason also loves volleyball and waterpolo like crazy.

I have to say, I admire your stadiums hugely you built for Euro 2004.

I think in general Euro 2004 made many portuguese realise how similar Greece is to their own country in many ways. We had a military Junta like you etc, similar size country and population, old culture... and we overachieve for our size.

I think you should have gone to the game tomorrow!! I think it would have been a great experience for you!!

I knew it was quite popular with the masses, especially young people, but not that popular.
I admire greek basketball a lot, for me it always represented the essence of what european basketball is, or should aspire to be. The pragmatism, intelligence and fundamentals Greek NT always shows makes me picture kids on the streets doing pick and rolls and playing proper 5 vs 5 tactical basketball instead of street basket. 

The traditionally most loved team sport besides football in Portugal is weirder than Water Polo, it's Roller Hockey. Benfica is actually european champion.  In the end of the 90s Portugal grew stronger in basketball and handball.
But what proves that nowadays it's all about football is that the second biggest sport in the country right now is... Futsal.

Euro 2004 stadiums are generally good and improved our League's image a lot, but's... that pretty much it. In typical southern european fashion, they were over our possibilites. And though they look good, our league is still shit, corrupt and hugely uncompetitive.
We built 30k people stadiums for clubs that average 2k. And some of them are now vacant. But I guess you know what I'm talking about considering you hosted Athens 2004...

Thanks. I hope one day I do

[Rodri_19]

Nikolaos Gaitanas

Who do you think it's our best player?

[Fever]

Just what I was talking about, this is tomorrow's cover for the second biggest sports newspaper here:



"Shots at Roberto."/"Shoot at Roberto". (hard to translate, something between the two)

Mocked before the match even starts.

[Ricardo Teixeira]

Isso é uma forma de dizer 'tiro ao pato'...
Record ao seu estilo...

[Faliro]

Nikolaos Gaitanas

Who do you think it's our best player?

I don't really believe any are very good this season. I think Cardozo can be dangerous to us.

[tjbc]

Nikolaos Gaitanas

Who do you think it's our best player?

I don't really believe any are very good this season. I think Cardozo can be dangerous to us.

Markovic. He wil surprise you tomorrow.

[Faliro]

This again sounds very similar. Can you believe when i was a kid basketball was the biggest sport in Greece? It only changed at the end of the 90's.

After the Greek national team won Euro basket in 87 I think it was, the Greek government was extremely clever (the only time in history). They forced every school in Greece to build a basketball court. That helped cement the sport in the minds of Greeks.

Greece for some strange reason also loves volleyball and waterpolo like crazy.

I have to say, I admire your stadiums hugely you built for Euro 2004.

I think in general Euro 2004 made many portuguese realise how similar Greece is to their own country in many ways. We had a military Junta like you etc, similar size country and population, old culture... and we overachieve for our size.

I think you should have gone to the game tomorrow!! I think it would have been a great experience for you!!

I knew it was quite popular with the masses, especially young people, but not that popular.
I admire greek basketball a lot, for me it always represented the essence of what european basketball is, or should aspire to be. The pragmatism, intelligence and fundamentals Greek NT always shows makes me picture kids on the streets doing pick and rolls and playing proper 5 vs 5 tactical basketball instead of street basket. 

The traditionally most loved team sport besides football in Portugal is weirder than Water Polo, it's Roller Hockey. Benfica is actually european champion.  In the end of the 90s Portugal grew stronger in basketball and handball.
But what proves that nowadays it's all about football is that the second biggest sport in the country right now is... Futsal.

Euro 2004 stadiums are generally good and improved our League's image a lot, but's... that pretty much it. In typical southern european fashion, they were over our possibilites. And though they look good, our league is still shit, corrupt and hugely uncompetitive.
We built 30k people stadiums for clubs that average 2k. And some of them are now vacant. But I guess you know what I'm talking about considering you hosted Athens 2004...

Thanks. I hope one day I do

Roller hockey??  that made me laugh! Futsal is popular in spain too, but not soo much in Greece.

And yes I agree about the basketball. Greeks play an extremely tactical game. Spanoulis is everything good and everything bad about our basketball. Natural ability yet impatient and egotistic. We have many good players but at the moment a very stupid Italian coach.

What helps is Greeks are actually naturally quite big athletes so many are made to play basketball. When I went to Italy I was amazed how short most people are. It is not uncommon to see Greeks the size of Printezis sometimes in Athens.

Also yes, many of the Athens Olympic venues were neglected badly.. was ridiculous..

[Faliro]

Nikolaos Gaitanas

Who do you think it's our best player?

I don't really believe any are very good this season. I think Cardozo can be dangerous to us.

Markovic. He wil surprise you tomorrow.

LOL, I hope not!!! I hope he plays like last time in the swimming pool!