Bragging Rights (AEK 4-0 Olympiacos)
We still may not win the title, but it feels good to win this derby, doesn’t it? And not just win it, but completely dominate the supposedly best team in the league for 90 minutes, score four goals and keep a clean sheet.
How did we win? We were, quite simply, so much more than the sum or our parts. We played as a team, no sign of the rumored latin/greek split, we had a huge crowd behind us, our players played with more heart than I have seen all season, our defense was organized and our attack flowed seamlessly.
Our first goal came in the 10th minute, when Zikos briefly lost possession, quickly regained it, moved the ball up-field before passing it off to Edinho on the wing. Edinho took a touch and quickly crossed the ball to Blanco who headed it in.
The second goal came minutes later, in the 12th, when, Rivaldo led a quick counter-attack, spliced the ball behind Olympiacos’s defensive line and found Edinho who shot with his first touch. 2-0 AEK.
The third came in the 32nd minute, when Lyberopoulos, having come very close to scoring twice just minutes earlier, shot a scorcher from distance. 3-0.
The fourth came in the 60th when Rivaldo slotted a nice short pass to Kafes inside the box. Kafes nailed it low, the keeper couldn’t get down fast enough, and then, incredibly, unbelievably, AEK was leading Olympiacos 4-0.
Olympiacos’s best chances were off set pieces, but they could not convert. Perhaps their best chance was a penalty kick awarded just after the half. Macho, who had a solid though slightly error prone day (for instance, he ran outside the box in the 73rd minute leading to a close range free kick), dove the wrong way, but the shot hit the side bar and the rebound was volleyed wide.
The crowd looked and sounded incredible. One of our readers from Greece, Alex, will be posting in the comments section later today to give us him impressions from inside the stadium, so be sure to check back later to read his post.I will post clips of our goals as well as press clipping tonight or tomorrow morning.
A good day to be an AEK fan.
March 30, 2008 at 2:57 pm
A great day to be an AEK fan indeed. The crowd was amazing, as amazing as the skill displayed by our team today (that shows just how amazing), better without a doubt than when we played AC Milan. Ive never seen that many flares at a match in my two years that Ive been in Greece.
The chanting was constant, hardly ever letting up, and every goal we scored it would start up louder than before. The hugging, the cheering, the booing (whenever olympiakos entered the pitch at the begining of each half) all together, there is no way to describe it.
An hour later, I still here horns outside. On the sports right now, people are saying its the biggest victory in the history of AEK, and its a crisis for olympiakos. I cant wait to see the covers of the newspapers tomorrow.
It truly was an unbelievable night, Im still having trouble grasping the fact that we won 4-0 against that team with the ten million euro usesless player they call beluschi. I think the fact that I wore my lucky jersey my have helped just a tiny bit at least.
I would love to know what is going on in Kokalis’s head right now.
I have never seen Rivaldo as happy as he was today in all his years in Greece. He ran into the squirm of fans that made it onto the pitch at the end of the match with a smile on his face and threw his jersey into the crowd.
I have many pictures and videos if anybody would like me to email them.
After tonight I dont care if we win the championship (although it would be very nice), Im just too overwhelmed, so unelivably happy.
I cant wait to go into school tomorrow waving my scarf in front of all the olpympiakos fans I know, especially my gym teacher who told me it would be an easy win for olympiakos and that Rivaldo would be useless.
Boy, the newspaper headlines tomorrow, I cant wait.
March 31, 2008 at 9:11 am
One day after the game and people are still talking about it. All the newspapers are gone, none at all at the shop across my street.
I still cant describe the atmosphere yesterday, I dont think there is a word in the english vocabulary that can accurately describe what it was like.
April 2, 2008 at 11:21 am
Mpravo AEKara,wraio blog!