PAOK Academy return to international tournaments
“Normality” at last for the little ones of the PAOK Academy as the organisation readies itself for a return to the international tournaments, the experiences which have been sorely missed over the last two years. From Under-15 level down to Under-8s, and from Spain and Germany, to the Netherlands, Croatia and Serbia, PAOK’s development squads are preparing their suitcases for new “adventures” and experiences.
Under-15s to contest the Rimini Cup
The Under-15 squad will be in Germany to participate in the Rimini Cup, which will be held from May 26 to 29 in Hausen, Frankfurt. The tournament will feature Valencia, St. Pauli, Kickers, Teplice, Greuther Furth, Alkmaar and Bayern Munich.
The PAOK squad consists of the following players: Efstathios Beleris, Michail Pourliotopoulos, Dunga Bentri, Vassilios Eleftheriadis, Konstantinos Vyrsokinos, George Kosidis, Dimitris Bataoulas, Anestis Mythou, Pavlos Tsiotas, Athanasios Panopoulos, Themanos Nikolaos Nikolaos Nikolaos Nikos Petros Karakostas, Fotios Vassili, Antonios Tsitsilas.
Accompanied by coaches Dimitris Orfanos, Stelios Bikas, coach Vassilis Leftheroudis and goalkeeping coach Nikos Bogdanos.
The matches will feature two 20-minute halves and the final will be two 30-minute halves.
Under-13s head to the Netherlands
The Under-13 team will be in the Netherlands, more specifically Rotterdam, from 4 to 6 June for the high-level СVV Zwervers tournament. PAOK will compete with teams from great academies, such as Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Nordsjaelland, Borussia Mechengladbach, Feyenoord, Ajax, Utrecht, KRC Genk, and Leicester.
The squad includes: Theodoros Kalpakis, Iordanis Holidis, Fabio Refatlari, Mario Matera, Eleftherios Manasidis, Fotios-Georgios Metaxas, Stefanos Aivazoglou, Christos Danidis, Ioannis Gersos, Georgios Arizos, Georgios Arizos, Georgios Arizos Souvlatzis, Leon Sznaucner, Iordanis Hatsidis Konstantinos Mischos.
Accompanied by coaches Antonis Krinitsas, Anthi Savvidou and the head of the analysis department Giannis Vlachos.
Also, in August (13.08 and 14.08), the squad will be in Croatia for the tournament organized by FC Medimurec, under the auspices of UEFA. Among others, Milan, Dinamo Zagreb, Salzburg, Bochum, Sparta Prague, and Slovan Bratislava are participating.
Under-12s also on Dutch soil
The Under-12s, who will be in Utrecht from June 10 to 13 for the SO Soest Cup, will also take part in a tournament in the Netherlands. A total of 16 teams are participating, including Bayer Leverkusen, Alkmaar, Eindhoven, KRC Genk, Midtjylland, Legia Warsaw, and Nottingham Forest.
The squad: Athanasios Avramidis, Christoforos-Ioannis Vatsos, Alexandros-Rafael Gavridis, Serafeim Gallos, Alexandros Dimitriadis, Konstantinos Koronis, Nikolaos Lamprianos, Georgios Staringos, Korgidos , Panagiotis Douralis, Anthimos Sampson.
Accompanied by coaches Andreas Balabanis and Pantelis Alexandridis, and physiotherapist Elias Moutaftsis.
The duration of the games will be two 15-minute halves.
Three tournaments for Under-11 side
The Under-11s began with the Iber Cup in Madrid and a place in the top eight teams of the tournament, and continues with two important and traditionally demanding tournaments, the Pfingst Cup and the Raddatz Cup. From 3 to 6 June, they will be in Düsseldorf for the Pfingst Cup, which includes 120 teams, including Juventus, Valencia, Porto, Benfica, Rangers, Bruges, Eindhoven, Lyon, Bayer Leverkusen, and Hamburg. Then, from June 10 to 13, they will participate in the Raddatz Cup in Hannover. There, the likes of Benfica, Inter, Milan, Manchester City, Schalke, Bayer Leverkusen, and Galatasaray will feature.
The squad for the Pfingst Cup: Dimitrios Papageorgopoulos, Ioannis Chrysoulakis, Georgios Korosidis, Alexandros Ioannidis, Avraam Deliopoulos, Anastasios Andreanidis, Marios Chatzis, Christos Kakalis, Fotios Georgis, Fotos Solos.
The squad for the Raddatz Cup: Filippos Kyprianou, Asterios Nastos, Georgios Korosidis, Alexandros Ioannidis, Avraam Deliopoulos, Anastasios Andreanidis, Leonidas Tsianos, Christos Kakalis, Rafael Seferaridis, Papael Seferidis.
Accompanied by coaches Spyros Koulouris and Christos Tsakiris, and Under-14 coach Savvas Konstantinidis.
The duration of the games is 15 minutes.
Under-10s also in Germany
The Under-10s will play in the Raddatz Immibilien Cup, which will be held from 27 to 30 May in Hannover, with the participating teams including Benfica, Schalke, Hertha Berlin, and Galatasaray.
The squad: Elias Iatridis, Konstantinos Arambatzakis, Nikolaos Dekos, Georgios Telidis, Nikolaos Vakoufaris, Dimitrios Vlachos, Georgios Krystallis, Georgios Giannoukidis, Christos Grigoriadis, Asteris Karastiralos.
Accompanied by the coach Anthoula Arvanitaki, the Under-12 to Under-6 coordinator George Gourtsas, and the head of the analysis department Giannis Vlachos.
The Pfingst Cup Vorrunde will follow from June 3 to 6 in Düsseldorf, and another tournament in Bielefeld (June 17-20) with the participation of, among others, Benfica, Sporting Lisbon, Dortmund, Juventus, and Bayern Munich.
The squad: Elias Iatridis, Konstantinos Arambatzakis, Nikolaos Vakoufaris, Georgios Telidis, Georgios Krystallis, Christos Grigoriadis, Georgios Filos, Nikolaos Dekos, Georgios Giannoukidis, Filippos Astiroushos Polistrou Toursrou.
Accompanied by coach Magdalene Tsoukalas and Under-12 to Under-6 coordinator George Gourtsas.
The matches are 16 minutes long. The final will be two 10-minute halves.
Under-9s to contest Pfingst Cup
The Under-9 team will be in Cologne from 3 to 6 June for the Pfingst Cup tournament, in which 160 teams participate, including Juventus, Ajax, Benfica, Feyenoord, Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, and Deportivo La Coruna.
The squad: Konstantinos Galanopoulos, Symeon Galanopoulos, Vassilios Lakkos, Christos Papadopoulos, Dimitrios Athinaios, Nikolaos Tsitsirikos, Apostolos Stryfon, Eleftherios Matsikopoulos, Konstantinos Ioannidis, Konstantinos Tsakmaklis, Alexios Brianis.
They will be accompanied by the team coach Stelios Tsaxirlis, the Under-16 coach Elias Galanopoulos, and the Under-12 to Under-6 coordinator George Gourtsas.
The matches will be 15 minutes long.
The «babies» to head to Belgrade
There’s also a tournament for our youngest academy players, the Under-9s and Under-8s. They will be in Belgrade at the Dragan Manche Cup from 16 June to 20 June.
The squad: Alexandros Vakoufaris, Kyriakos Metallidis, Vassilis Salveridis, George Papadimitriou, Symeon Koronis, Chrysostomos Kina, Angelos Mavros, Dimitris Kapetangiannis, Adam Kaddouri.
The squad will be accompanied by coaches Maria Exadaktylou and Magdalini Tsoukalas.
