THE Nikos Zisis hosted on her official channel AEKspeaking in full about his long career with the “Union” shirt.
The General Manager of the Greek National Team, referred to the offer he received from the “yellow and black” at the age of 16, but also for the bigger moments who lived in the group.
Let’s remember that KAE AEK will honor Nikos Zisi in Saturday’s league game with Peristeri bwin (28/01, 16:00).
Nikos Zisi’s statements in detail:
On what he remembers from AEK’s proposal when he was 16 years old: “I remember the first day that AEK made me an offer, the great joy I had and the pride I felt, that such a big organization with so many people, with a very great coach, Dusan Ivkovic, wanted me. At that time, AEK really made a lot of effort to complete the transfer. This whole story unfolded after many months and when I finally got the transfer, if I’m not mistaken it was the summer of 1999, when I was with the National Youth Team in Athens, it was basically a dream come true. I then realized that I became a professional athlete and obviously the only thing on your mind is to establish yourself. That was your first thought.”
On what he remembers from the moment AEK made him the offer to return in 2020: “The second time, during Angelopoulos’ tenure, I remember we were playing a Eurocup match with my team at the time, Badalona, in Malaga. We have just landed the plane and Giorgos Khinas calls me. He was with coach Papatheodorou and I, like many times during these years when I was abroad, thought they wanted me to ask me for information about players. They tell me they want to ask me about a player. I say: Who do you want for? They call me: You. And I stay… ice cream, as they say. Very quickly I felt that this was the right time to return. AEK was also very interested last summer, that is 2019. I felt that this was the right thing. To close my career, in the team I started. There was an issue then in the team, because Saint-Roch, who was a key player, had left for CSKA. So, it was a big decision, which was made in a matter of minutes, and something that, as far as many AEK people and Greek basketball fans in general have told me, they did not expect that Zisis would eventually return to Greece to play. This whole myth that I had shut down, had thrown a black stone behind me and that I didn’t want to come back, was practically demolished. I was really very happy. I had lost sleep for several days and after I came to Greece, everything happened very quickly. I had many feelings, as I called them then, like nostalgia. I couldn’t believe what had happened and I really tried to give it my all and in fact, things turned out really well. We got the Cup. I think we played good basketball and unfortunately, the pandemic stopped us then”.
On what were his top moments in his two terms at AEK: “My highlights, for my first term, which was also the longest, as I was 5 years, are definitely the championship at AEK, coached by Dragan Sakota. We had a great team, which had taken 1st place in the regular season, but when you manage to beat Olympiakos and Panathinaikos, after 32 years to get a championship, you make the world proud. To understand how big it was for the AEK organization, to win a championship. It’s definitely the biggest moment, even though I was younger and didn’t have that big of a role in the team. But it really is something I will never forget. Also, I would like to mention my moment, with Ephesus. Even now that 17 years have passed, there are people who stop me and talk to me about this shot and it’s not just AEKtzis. There are a lot of people from abroad too. That is, this moment will remain engraved in me personally, but I think also in many people. In my second term, it’s the Cup. The truth is that during the time of Angelopoulos, the team had already entered the path of conquering big goals, such as the BCL, the Intercontinental Cup, the Cup, beating Olympiakos in 2018, but I felt directly, how important it was for us, as I came around the middle January, to win the Cup that obligation came in mid-February. It was a match that did not claim laurels of quality. Nevertheless, when you win a Cup, a goal that AEK always has very high, it is a big deal”.
On whether he was bitter about not ending his career in a packed stadium: “Yes there are moments when I think about it. I’m sure when you play big matches, Play Offs, people always come. He tries to give the team a boost. Unfortunately, we were living in the time of the pandemic. This was supposed to be written. I wasn’t thinking of continuing. I always had it in my mind that I wanted to end it on my own terms. When I felt inside, that I gave everything and in this case to AEK, which I really say and given the opportunity I will say it one more time, that this completed cycle, I never planned it. It really happened by chance, I can say, and this filled me with great joy, terrible emotions, having made all this journey, to return to the team where I grew up playing basketball and I owe a lot to it. For the fact that the people were not at the stadium, in my last match, I receive the love of the AEK crowd even now. I really thank them from the bottom of my heart for that.”
For AEK’s stadium in Ano Liosia, which is now also the “home” of the national team: “Although I didn’t have time to play in the new home of AEK, I am very happy and having this role in the Federation, that we have already competed and won a very important victory on the way to our qualification, in the 2023 World Cup, against the Turks last year (s.s. means Greece-Turkey 72-71) and in a very short time, we will play against a great team, a world power, Serbia and it seems that the National team is using a great stadium to play great matches.”
On how he explains the AEK fans’ love for him: “I will say about the world, about the organized and unorganized. For all those people who either through social media, because they are also in the era, but of course they still meet me. AEK world, basketball fans, I feel their love. What I also feel is how important it was that I ended my career at AEK, because they didn’t expect it either, that many years had passed. So at some point, the athletes career ends. The appearances, the great matches you play, the championships, the Cups. I think what makes an athlete proud and I really mean it, is to feel the love of the world and to feel that finally, the effort he made on the field. Of course I’ve played a lot of bad games at AEK, I’ve played good games at AEK, but I think people always saw that I was trying for the best, for my team. I was putting the team forward and I think the majority of people recognize that. This is the greatest inheritance and fortune that I am getting.”
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
