Champions from the… cradle[with pictures]
Amidst this childish enthusiasm and excitement that draws you into football, things can become equally filled with anxiety excruciatingly quickly. And so we have no choice but to indulge ourselves in the joy of the new champions of the Super League’s Under-15 category. PAOK beat Olympiacos 1-0 on Sunday (14.05) and deservedly won the fourth championship in their history.
PAOK were the better team throughout the season, the best in the Final Four as well, and although traditionally the finals at this age group are usually characterized by nervousness and mistakes, the young players of Savvas Konstantinidis and Kosmas Vakoufaris produced a professional, consistent performance, while also being threatening in the attacking chances they created. They found the goal early on via Sidiropoulos, and they held on until the end. The PAOK youngtsers were not really threatened, except perhaps at one stage in the dying moments of the match, and they had every reason to bask in the joy and celebrate wildly before and after the trophy ceremony.
The Double-headed Eagle started at a frenetic pace, making their presence felt from the kikc-off. They were fortunate enough to take the lead in the 11th minute through Sidiropoulos, in a phase of play that started with some fine work by Krommidas down the right. Olympiacos then pushed back for an equalizer, without managing to trouble Mitrousis in the PAOK goal, however.
The second 40 minutes was a nervous and stressful affair, and evenly balanced. The opposition pressed even more frenzily, but it was PAOK who had the best moments and self-control on the counter-attacks. The PAOK players maintained their stubborn resistance until the end, managing to claim the championship in style, the fourth in their history – equalling Olympiacos’ record in the process.
Team lineups:
PAOK: Mitrousis, Megidis, Kyriazidis, Mokris, Giokas, Minasidis, Krommidas (76′ Louzianiotis), Kanios, Sidiropoulos (84′ Karasavvidis), Toursounidis (64′ Karagiozis), Berdos.
Olympiacos: Christodoulopoulos, Siozos, Kappatos, Fabiano, Banos, Lana, Trikaliotis, Kapellas, Michaelidis, Kotsalos (49′ Mougos), Kamas (55′ Xanthopoulos).
