AEK 3-0 Agios Nikolaos

A nice three points, which sees us alone at the top of the standings. The goals were scored by D’Acol and Popovic (who scored twice). Even though we have not seen as many goals as possible at times this season, we really can’t complain about the goals that we have managed to score. Today was no different, all three goals were quite beautiful.

http://aek365.novasports.gr/

I have a good feeling about Popovic, something about him gives me the feeling that he may be the next Blanco, another solid scorer. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up top scorer for this season.

 

Giorgos Amerikanos (1942-2013)

Giorgos Amerikanos, a name that will forever be associated with that historic night in ’68 (When AEK became the first Greek team to win a European title by winning the Cup Winners Cup in Basketball), passed away at the age of 71.

Amerikanos is up there with the likes of Kostas Nestoridis, Mimis Pappaioannou, Thomas Mavros, and Loukas Barlos, all people who gave everything they could for AEK (football or basketball). Amerikanos was one of the leading figures on the team that won the Cup Winners Cup, in front of 70,000 supporters. With Amerikanos we also won six championships.

He once said the following about playing for AEK:

“We play for the jersey, do not think we play for economic reasons. But you know what? Even if we had only the jersey to play for, we would still play”.

The video below is a recording of the last 15 minutes (of a radio broadcast) from that amazing night in ’68. The last minute and a half is incredible really, I could not imagine how amazing it would have been to be an AEK fan listening to that live.

AO Peristeriou 0-0 AEK

Unfortunate we couldn’t get all three points here, especially considering the amount of chances we had (again!).

There was much complaining about the officiating throughout the match, and the game had to be delayed at least once as a result of the assistant referee not feeling safe (apparently there were no police present for quite a while and there were fears that AEK supporters would storm the pitch). I haven’t been able to see every call but apparently a number of the calls being made were very questionable. Two goals were called off for offside (apparently the second one was a good call) and a number of poor offside calls were made throughout the match.

The ratings of our players from what Ive seen were not the best, though Georgeas, for the second week in a row, apparently played a fairly solid match (according to the AEK365 ratings at least). Argiriou also apparently played a good game, which is good news considering in the last few friendlies of the season, our defense was what was letting the team down.

Yet again the support by our fans was outstanding, and we far outnumbered the home supporters (not saying much I guess, considering who we were playing). Hopefully we get another good crowd at OAKA this weekend.

Nea Filadelfia… Here We Come!

After more than a decade, it finally looks like the return of AEK to Nea Filadelfia might be more than just a dream. That magical place that hosted AEK for so many years, that stadium that saw some of the greatest games ever played by a Greek team, where so many generations of AEK supporters until now went every Sunday to watch the team they loved play… Nea Filadelfia may once again be our home.

Technically after today’s press conference (held 19:00 local time), everything is official, and we’ve certainly seen more promising signs than ever before… Now its just a matter of seeing some construction start (apparently it will all start some time in January).

Pictures of what the “Agia Sofia” will look like can be seen at the bottom of the link here.

Here’s my opinion of what we’ve seen so far (not that it matters)

Pros: -Definitely looks a lot like Agia Sofia. I remember when I visited Konstantinoupoli a few years ago and I looked across to the Golden Horn, the first thing my eye was drawn to was Agia Sofia across the water, lit up at night. It was beautiful, something I’ll never forget, and the design of the stadium certainly captures some of those features

-I really love the area surrounding the stadium. When I lived in Athens one of my favourite places to hang out with my friends was that huge expanse outside of the olympic stadium, and there were always other people hanging out there. Riding bikes, sitting by the fountains (when they were working), taking dogs for a walk, it was a neat place to be, especially with the impressive stadium in the background. I can really see the space surrounding the “Agia Sofia” becoming something like that, a social place for the people of Nea Filadelfia as well as a stadium.

-I love the fact that they managed to get two levels in the stadium. I think it will make it look that much more impressive. Hopefully it will also bring back some images of the “Skepasti” from our original stadium

 

Cons: -I’m hoping this is just because all we have to go by so far are some drawings, but I really hope there are some plans to add some colour to the exterior, both the roof above the stands but specifically the exterior of the stadium itself. I’m sure come match day, with all the vendors, banners hanging down, and yellow and black jerseys everywhere, there will just naturally be more colour present, but I’d also personally like to see a little more. Not necessarily over the top with the paint, but just a little something here and there. 

 

Overall though, everything is very promising, and we’re definitely progressing in ways that we haven’t until now. And it’s about time. Next year will be the team’s 90th year in existence. In those 90 years this team has contributed so much to Greek football, has given so many memories to its supporters. A team like AEK deserves a stadium of its own, and so do the supporters.