AEK - THE YEARS OF MATURITY
UEFA
CHAMPIONS
LEAGUE
Seventy years with AEK... Seventy years of games in the football fields and
in the society... Seventy years of glory... And now AEK is finding itself on the
top of the Greek football, among the elite of European football I
In this historical turning-point, AEK is focusing toward 2.000 A.D., having at
the same time strong groundwork, pontentiality and modern spirit. The
"two-headed eagle" will flap always high...
Which is the portrait of AEK today? It is not just the Greek champion in the
last three years.. It is the team which is playing a skillful and fascinating
football; it is the team which is combining the result with the spectacle...
AEK in the years of maturity. A team which is skilled, well-disciplined and
has its own style. It is a mixture of the experience and qualities of its older
players and of the talent and the enthousiasm of its younger ones.
The game, played by AEK, is based on the well-organised defensive line,
on the well-controlled rate of playing and finally on the quick and sudder!
counter attacks, with passes through or behind the opponent defenders.
The defense is dominated by the leading figure of Stelios Manolas, with
main supporters: the man of the "special missions" Michalis Vlachos (27
years old), the dynamic Refik Sabanadjovic (29 years old) and the steady
goalkeeper Elias Atmatsidis (25 years old).
In the middle, the 22 year old Vassilis Tsartas, with a perfect combination of
mastery (the player with the best assists in Greece), the "brain" Toni
Savevski (31 years old, a player of several roles) and the "rapid" 23 year old
Michalis Kassapis (a player with reflex, mobility and nice crosses).
In the attack, the experience and the fast move of Dimitris Saravakos (in the
age of 33 he remains the specialist of the free kicks) is combined with the
dribbling and the rapidity of the "young" Christos Kostis (22 years old with a
great sense of the field and the occasions).
The goalkeepers Vassilis Karayianis, Sp. Economopoulos, the defenders
Giorgos Agoroyianis, Vaios Karayianis, Georgios Koutoulas, the midfielders
Maris Kopitsis, Nicos Kostenoglou, Stavros Stamatis and the forwards
Vassilis Dimitriadis, Timour Ketsbaia, Nicos Mirtsekis and Vassilis Borbokis,
complete the squad of AEK.
The champion is been leaded, inspired and encouraged in the best
possible way by Dusan Bajevic. He is the coach who won, as a player of
AEK F.C. team, 2 championships and one cup titles and he is the one who
leaded the team to the achievement of 4 championships in the last six
years. His valuable collaborator is Petros Ravoussis, an ex-international and
member of the "gold-team" of AEK in the decade of 1970-80.
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