November 4, 2024
With little else to do on a late Monday afternoon, it was an opportunity to take in some league football from Greece !
These diaries had previously featured two matches from the Greek Super League, when on visits to Athens in March 2016 and February 2017, Fatbear had watched Panionios play Skoda Xanthi and Iraklis.
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2020/01/panionios-3-0-skoda-xanthi-att-664.html
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2020/01/panionios-1-0-iraklis-att-2017.html
These diaries also covered AEK’s home and away matches last season against Royal Antwerp in the Champions League Final Qualifying Round.
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2023/08/royal-antwerp-1-0-aek-athens-att-13376.html
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2023/08/aek-athens-1-2-royal-antwerp-att-29300.html
Today’s match was a meeting between 8th and 7th in this season’s table, with the winner rising to 5th place. It was what would be called in the Netherlands “a sub-topper” !
Background To Greek League
Fourteen sides compete in the Greek Super League, which for sponsorship reasons is also known as Stoiximan Super League.
A regular season of 26 matches is played after which the top 4 play each other twice to determine the champions, whilst 5th to 8th play-off for the final place in the Europa Conference League. The bottom six play each other twice to determine the two sides to be relegated. Confusingly points earned from the regular season are carried forward into the Championship and Relegation play-off rounds, but only half into the Europe play-off !
The current champions are PAOK from Thessaloniki whilst AEK from Athens won the league in 2022/23. This represented a break from the usual pattern of either Olympiakos or Panathinaikos winning the league. Piraeus based Olympiakos have 47 titles to their name whereas Panathinaikos have 20, with AEK next with 13 titles.
PAOK have been champions on four occasions whilst Aris, also from Thessaloniki, have won three times. The only other club to have ever won the Greek League title was AEL from Larissa, who upset the apple cart in 1987/88.
Asteras Tripolis
Asteras play in the city of Tripoli, which is in the Arcadia region of the Peloponnese. It is located approximately 130 kilometres south-east from the capital Athens, and the population is estimated at around 45,000. The beautiful former capital Nafplio is 70 kilometres east of Tripoli whilst the ancient city of Sparta is 60 kilometres south.
Asteras means star, and the side are also referred to as The Arcadians or the Yellow-Blues. Tripolis translates as Three Cities. Founded in 1931, they have been in the Super League since 2007/08. Their best finish was third in 2014/15 and they finished in 8th last season with an average attendance of 6,718, the fourth best in the league.
Home is the Theodoros Kolokotronis Stadium, which has a capacity of 7,442.
Asteras This Season
Asteras began the season with a surprise 1-0 victory at giants Panathinaikos but followed that up with a disappointing 0-1 home loss to Volos. They then went another four games without a win, drawing 1-1 at Aris, slumping to another home defeat 1-2 to Atromitos, and two more 1-1 draws, at Panetolikos and at home to Levadiakos.
However, Asteras extended their unbeaten run to five matches with a 3-1 win at Kallithea, a 0-0 draw at Lamia and an impressive 1-0 home win against Olympiakos.
The average attendance from their four home matches so far this season was 1,950.
The coach at the start of the season was Serbian Milan Rastavac but he was sacked in early September despite winning at Panathinaikos and drawing at Aris. France and Chelsea legend Claude Makelele was the replacement but he resigned after just three unbeaten matches, citing board interference. Savvas Pantelidis, who was a short-term caretaker following the departure of Rastavac and the arrival of Makelele was appointed for his second spell as permanent manager of Asteras, having previously been in charge in 2017/18.
Asteras Squad
The Asteras squad included one name that should be familiar to football followers in the UK in ex-Manchester United Italian striker Frederico Machada. who also played for Cardiff City and Panathinaikos, as well as having loan spells at Sampdoria, Queens Park Rangers, VFB Stuttgart, Doncaster Rovers, Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest. Add in spells at Novara in Italy, Ankaragucu in Turkey and APOEL in Cyprus, Macheda has wandered more than Odysseus in the last ten years !
Portly Hungarian striker Martin Adam ( 27 caps ) signed for Asteras after Euro 2024 and has featured in these diaries when playing for Kaposvari and South Korean side Ulsan Hyundai. He was the subject of some derision from the BBC and ITV pundits during the Euros for resembling a Rugby Union prop forward.
Three other internationals in their squad were Finnish defender Nikolai Alho ( 38 caps ), who has appeared in these diaries with HJK Helsinki, Belarus midfielder Yevgeny Yablonskiy ( 39 caps ), who regularly featured in these diaries in 2020 and 2021 with BATE Borisov, and ex-Slavia Prague and Club Brugge Ivorian defender Simon Deli ( 26 caps ).
Other foreign players included Nigerian midfielder Tobi Alagbe, who has played club football in Luxembourg for Jeunesse Esch and Progres Niederkorn, and Argentinian winger Julian Bartolo, as well as two Spaniards, midfielder Miguel Munoz Mora who goes by the abbreviated name of Miki, and attacker Xesc Regis. 19-year-old French forward Darnell Bile played a couple of matches for St Etienne.
Among the Greek players in their squad were ex-Panathinaikos and Anorthosis midfielder and captain Nikos Kaltsas, ex-AEK keeper Panagiotis Tsintotas, ex-Panathinaikos, Slovan Bratislava and Vojvodina defender Diamantis Chouchoumis, ex-PAOK, Panathinaikos, Koper and Spartak Trnava midfielder Theofanis Tzandaris, and ex-Panathinaikos, Pogon Szczecin and Gornik Zabrze defender Kostantinos Triantafyllopoulos, of whom the commentators and reporters hope will have quiet games !
Only nine goals had been scored in the league, with Xesc, Bartolo, Kaltsas and Yablonskiy all with two, and Machada with the other goal.
OFI Crete
OFI are based in the city of Heraklion on the island of Crete, which has a population of around 180,000, making it the fourth largest city in Greece. The initials stand for Ómilos Filáthlon HeraklÃou which translates as Heraklion Fan Club. Once upon a time the spelling was Irakleiou, hence OFI rather than OFH !
Founded in 1925 they are in their 49th season at the highest level in Greece, the 6th best of all time, although they have never won the championship. Their one runner-up finish was in 1985/86, and they won the Greek Cup in 1986/87.
Last season OFI finished in 10th place with an average crowd in the regular season of 2,897.
OFI This Season
OFI came into the game with a 4-2-3 record to be in 7th place. Despite losing their opening game of the season 0-3 at AEK Athens, they had the second best away record in the division, with wins at Volos ( 3-1 ), Panserraikos ( 3-2 ) and PAOK ( 2-1 ) and a 1-1 draw at Levadiakos.
At home they had beaten Aris ( 3-2 ) and drawn 1-1 with Atromitos but lost to Panetolikos ( 1-2 ) and Panathinaikos ( 0-1 ).
OFI’s coach at the start of the season was Traianos Dellas, one of the stars of the Greece side that won Euro 2004, but he resigned in early October, and was replaced by ex-Asteras coach Milan Rastavac.
OFI Squad
OFI’s squad contained a number of foreign internationals. Keeper Daniel Naumov had 10 caps for Bulgarian and previously played for CSKA Sofia 1948. Montenegrin midfielder Marko Bakic had 31 caps and had Fiorentina, Torino and Moeskroen on his CV and Georgian midfielder Levan Shengelia ( 13 caps ) had played for Dinamo Tbilisi, OH Leuven and Tubize. Ex-Cruz Azul Mexican defender Jordan Silva had 3 caps.
Other foreign players included Italian striker Eddie Salcedo on loan from Inter Milan, and Argentine midfielder Thiago Nuss was on loan from Argentinos Juniors. Spanish defender Borja Gonzalez was previously with Atletico Madrid B and Burgos and French midfielders, Leroy Abanda had played for Belgian side Seraing, and Andrew Jung was at Nancy, but is no longer a Nancy boy !
OFI’s ex-Greek Internationals were ex-Rapid Vienna and DC United attacking midfielder Taxiarchis Fountas ( 18 caps ) and ex-AEK, VFL Bochum and Asteras defender Vasilios Lampropoulos( 5 caps ). Defender Ilias Chatzitheodoridis had a spell at Cheltenham Town as well as Panathinaikos.
Fountas was their leading goal scorer with three goals, with Jung, Salcedo and Lampropoulos all with two each.
Matchday Information
The weather at the 17.30 local time kick-off ( 15.30 UK ) was dry and 18 degrees.
The match was streamed live on Bet365.com, who made Asteras 13/10 favourites, with OFI at 21/10 and the draw 9/4. At times the picture wasn’t the greatest though.
Asteras were in their usual blue and yellow stripes with blue shorts and socks, whilst OFI were in a change kit of all white. The name of the players and sponsor on both teams’ shirts were in Roman script rather than the Greek alphabet.
The open stand behind the goal to the right of the main camera was empty and looked deserted, with the scaffolding to which nets were attached to prevent objects being thrown onto the pitch was clearly visible without the nets. In the corner was a large scoreboard
Opposite the camera was a large open stand without approximately 200 people dotted around in it, and behind the other goal was a cover stand which was about a quarter full with the home ultras in it. The main stand looked to be about half full.
Match Report
OFI made an impressive start to the match. Chatzitheodoridis cut in from the left but his right footed shot from the edge of the area was straight at the keeper, then Bakic’s fierce dipping 30-yard effort landed on the top of the net. Salcedo then skipped past Alho but his shot from a tight angle was saved at his near post by Tsintotas for a corner.
Bartolo looked lively for the home side, winning his side’s first corner and was then brought near the corner flag by Lampropoulos in the 12th minute for the first yellow card of the game. Shortly after he was brought down by Nuss near the touchline close to the half-way line, but no card was shown for this foul.
With the game now fairly even, after receiving a quick throw in, Kaltsas flashed a bouncing cross-cum-shot across the face of the goal and just wide, but at the other end OFI defender Gonzalez went on a surging run at the Asteras defence, but his left footed shot was blocked by the outstretched leg of Deli.
With 25 minutes played, Chouchoumis conceded a corner to OFI, which was poorly delivered and cleared by the first defender. The ball only went as far as Fountas on the edge of the area, but his shot was sent well wide.
Fountas shot wide again a minute later, this time after Shengelia’s attempted pass out to the right wing was intercepted by defender Chouchoumis but without any control, and the ball fell kindly to the unmarked Fountas 12 yards out. Fountas seemed to be lacking the golden touch……
A minute later Asteras launched a swift counterattack and a deft flick from Bartolo teed up Kaltsas, but the shot from the edge of the area to a bouncing ball went a couple of feet over the bar.
In the 34th minute a cute overhead backheel flick by Nuss put Salcedo in space and after controlling on his chest, his volley from just inside the area bounced in front of Asteras keeper Tsintotas, who did well to hold on.
Three minutes later, Gonzalez need to produce a good defensive header to prevent a cross reaching Bartolo beyond the far post and conceded a corner. The set piece was met by Chouchoumis but his goal bound header was cleared off the line by Chatzitheodoridis with OFI keeper Naumov beaten.
As the home side continued to press, Naumov was closed down by Kaltsas and was forced to kick the ball off for a throw in. Kaltsas was then prevented from taking a quick throw by Chatzitheodoridis, whose elbow made contact with the body of Kaltsas in the process. Kaltsas went down like the proverbial sack of spuds holding his head, but the referee deemed the offence to be only worthy of a yellow card.
OFI collected their third yellow card of the game when Salcedo barged in to Triantafyllopoulos as he went for a header near the halfway line. The free kick was swung in to Chouchoumis, who seemed to be the target for all set-pieces, but the header from 8 yards was weak and went harmlessly wide. Bartolo then set off on a run at the OFI backline, but the shot was blocked, after which Triantafyllopoulos jumped into the back of Salcedo who went to ground holding his head, but only a free kick was given.
The last action of the first half saw Deli head away a dangerous looking cross from the right wing. The game remained goalless at the interval with only three attempts on target and OFI having enjoyed 58% of the possession. Despite the lack of goals, it had been an enjoyable half to watch.
Unlike the first half, it was Asteras who begin the second period strongly. Right away Kaltsas was teed up on the edge of the area, but his shot was tipped over the bar by keeper Naumov. The corner from Bartolo was again directed to Chouchoumis but this time the Asteras left-back made a decent contact at the far post and his header bounced across goal and into the net with Naumov motionless. 1-0 with 47 minutes played.
The Crete side nearly hit back shortly after falling behind, but a left-wing cross was just too high for Fountas, who couldn’t get a decent contact on the ball.
OFI made two substitutions in the 55th minute but it didn’t help them much as they fell further behind a minute later. An Asteras corner from Kaltsas was headed out by Gonzalez as far as Xesc at the angle of the penalty area. His first time volley was sliced but fell perfectly for Macheda and the ex-Manchester United man took one touch and then lifted the ball left footed over the advancing keeper for a class finish into the top corner, despite the element of fortune in the ball getting to him. 2-0 after 56 minutes.
The visitors’ response saw Shengelia do well to get to the by-line after a lovely cross-field pass and then cut back onto his left foot, but his shot sailed just wide of the far top corner. A cross from the left was then headed out to Bakic, whose 25-yard shot was saved low down at his right-hand post by Tsintotas.
The first yellow card for Asteras was shown in the 67th minute when Macheda pulled back Nuss as the Argentinian ran away from him.
The game’s comedy moment came in the 70th minute. Kaltsas went to the floor after a collision with Nuss and with the Asteras player appealing for a foul, the referee gave a throw in to OFI. Kaltsas then appeared to be suffering from cramp, and OFI’s Abanda offered his assistance. When Kaltsas was ready to continue, the referee showed him a yellow card, presumably for feigning an injury !
The number of yellow cards continued to stack up as Karachalios made his first noteworthy contribution to the game by bringing down Tzandaris.
Asteras put the game to bed with a third goal. A free kick from the right was swung in left footed to the far post where Tzandaris evaded some slack marking from Bakic and Abanda to get to the ball, but his header was mis-directed back across goal where Algabe reacted quicker than the goalkeeper and Gonzalez to prod the ball over the line from close range. The visitors had defended like cretins rather than Cretans and a Trojan Horse wasn’t needed to breach the OFI defence. It was now 3-0 with 75 minutes on the clock.
A potential moment of controversy came ten minutes from time. The Asteras keeper attempted to throw the ball out of play to allow treatment to the injured Alho. However, he threw the ball too long and Bakic kept the ball in play and started an attack, which perhaps fortunately, came to nothing.
There was a VAR check for a possible handball by Alagbe in his own area when trying to make a clearance, but the ball had bounced up and hit his hand which was down at the side of this body, so no penalty was awarded to OFI.
Despite the points already being in the bag, Asteras finished strongly. Bile sent a 20-yard effort towards the bottom corner, but Naumov was able to push away for a corner, and Yablonskiy’s blast from a tight angle was beaten away by the keeper. A case perhaps of Yablonskiy beat…
At the other end a long-range effort from Apostolakis produced a routine save from Tsintotas.
At the final whistle, Asteras had recorded a convincing victory which didn’t seem likely at half-time. As a result, they moved above Panathinaikos and OFI into fifth place. OFI slipped to eighth in the table.
Asteras Tripolis : Tsintotas – Alho, Triantafyllopoulos, Deli, Chouchoumis – Kaltsas ( Tzandaris ), Alagbe, Bartolo ( Bile ), Miki ( Yablonskiy ), Xesc ( Zouglis )- Macheda ( Adam )
OFI Crete : Naumov – Gonzalez, Silva, Lampropoulos, Chatzitheodoridis ( Abanda ) – Shengelia ( Apostolakis ), Bakic, Fountas ( Riera ), Karachalios, Nuss ( Niera ) – Salcedo ( Jung )
