Three trophies searching for their future owner
PAOK Academy is gearing up for an action-packed March with our three teams all in with a shout of honours in the Super League championships which are heading into the final straight. The Under-17s and Under-15s are preparing for the Final Four, while the Under-19s are preparing for their six remaining matches, most of which had been preipovusly postponed due to coronavirus cases.
The Under-19s «final stretch»
The team assembled by Malezas, Papavassiliou and Mittas head to Lamia on Sunday 06.03 for Matchday 26, and from there follows the game in Ioannina with PAS (10.03), and then a home match with Panetolikos (13.03), before an away game at Aris (17.03). Then, after that, there remains a home match with OFI and an away clash with Apollon Smyrnis. In this year’s particularly ambiguous and interesting title race, there is some… overcrowding in the top places and frequent changes in leadership. The only sure thing is that PAOK are in with a shout of claiming a fifth consecutive championship.
In any case, the Super League championship should be completed by April 3, as the organizing authority plans to start the Under-18 Cup on April 10. The form of this new event has not yet been finalized, however the information we have so far is that it will be for players born from 2004 onwards, and also that the new offside regulation will apply to it. The Under-16 Cup will have a similar structure, in which players born from 2006 onwards will participate. We will deal extensively with these new events in a related tribute.
Under-17s in Volos for the cup
The first opponent for PAOK in their hunt for the Under-17 title is Atromitos, whom they face on March 13 in the semi-final of the Final Four, which will be held in Volos. The other semi-final is between AEK and Aris, while the final will be held on March 16.
PAOK finished first in the second group with 55 points, ahead of Aris who had 42, having recorded 18 wins, one draw and two defeats. PAOK scored 68 goals and conceded just 16. The first five players in terms of minutes of participation were the following: Pasachidis (1483), Papageorgiou (1448), Filon (1447), Scznauzner (1365) and Kiatos (1172).
Top scorer is Tzimas with 15 goals, second is Adam with 10, followed by Gitersos with seven, Politakis with six, Vassiliadis and Pasachidis with four, Papageorgiou and Georgiadis with three. Filon, Goumas, Ibrahim and Soupiadis have two goals each and Ignatiou, Deliopoulos, Leka, Kastidis, Vagionas, Ganopoulos, Deligiannis, and Varela all have one goal each.
In terms of assists, Scznaucner and Vassiliadis have six, Goumas, Tzimas and Ignatiou have five, Papageorgiou has four, Gitersos and Filon have three, and Georgiadis, Theodosiadis and Skourtis have two. Finally, Adam, Kalioglou, Ganopoulos, Deliopoulos, Aliferopoulos, Vagionas, Leka, Ibrahim all recorded an sssist apiece.
It’s also worth noting that Angelidis, Deligiannis, Goumas, Kastidis, Kottas, Georgiadis, Gitersos, and Tzimas have also turned out fotr the Under-19s, as it is also worth emphasizing that Papageorgiou, Scznauzner, Tzimas, Pantikis, Kogenos, and Koumenos are players born in 2006.
Under-15s also in with a shout
The Under-15 side, who are in the Pan-Hellenic championship – which was held for the first time in this format for this age group (between eight teams) – are also in the running for glory. PAOK claimed first place in the regular season with 37 points. Olympiacos were second with 31, Panathinaikos third with 28, and AEK fourth with 19. These are the teams that will make up the Final Four.
On March 19 (the 20th of March is also on the table) PAOK will face AEK in the semi-finals of the Final Four. In the other semi-final, Olympiacos will face Panathinaikos. The final will take place on March 22 or, on the 23rd.
Orfanos’ and Bikas’ side claimed 12 victories, had one draw and one defeat, while scoring 28 times and conceding just seven goals. It is noteworthy that they only conceded those seven goals in the first half of the season. In the second half of the campaign, there were only clean sheets – quite a remarkable feat. The first five players in terms of minutes of participation were: Kosidis (1120), Vyrsokinos (1098), Eleftheriadis (1078), Tsitsilas (980) and Dunga (964). The top scorer is Dunga with six goals, in second are Theofilou and Tsitsilas with five, followed by Eleftheriadis and Karakostas with three. Tsifoutis has scored two goals, while Tsiotas, Dimopoulos, Romanidis, Mythou and Kosidis all have one each.
Vyrsokinos leads the creatibity table with four assists, followed by Eleftheriadis, Dunga and Tsifoutis with two. The following playerd have all recorded one assist: Tsiotas, Bagios, Sellas, Vassili, Karakostas, Tsitsilas.
It should be noted that Berdos, Karagiozis, and Kyriazidis were all born in 2008.
- A venue has yet to be decided for the Final Four tournament.
