Spanoulis for his first final as a coach: “I’ve experienced it before, it doesn’t seem strange to me”

Vassilis Spanoulis claims his first title as a coach – and 16th overall in his career.

The coach of Peristeri bwin spoke about the characteristics of the victory over AEK in the semi-final and referred to the unprecedented position of being on the edge of the bench in a final.

In detail, what Vassilis Spanoulis said:

“I was waiting to see what Dimitris (s.s. Moraitis) would say about the match, to tell him later, but he has good judgment (laughs). We played excellent defense for 20 minutes. We were amazing in that part in the second half. We were very faithful to the plan except for some free threes that we gave to Miles. The kids showed tremendous character. To be back in a final, without the friction of such games and to react, can only make me happy. We are a new team, with ten new players who do not have such friction, but I am lucky to have good players and characters. It is a historic moment for the Municipality of Peristeri to be in the final. It is fantastic, very honorable and I want to congratulate everyone. I also want to congratulate AEK, which is a very good team, a very good program and Ilias Kanzouris has done a very good job. We had lost twice to AEK and it was a matter of character to win. It takes patience to build a team, so in the end you get what you deserve.”

About how he receives what he experiences as a coach: “I may be experiencing it for the first time as a coach, but as a player I have experienced it a million times. It doesn’t seem strange to me, I see the phases much before they happen, with all the humility that distinguishes me. In both matches against AEK we had a lead, but we lost. We are two teams with quite close styles. It’s hard to change the pace and flow of a match. I am happy because for the children this was very difficult. You have to eat a lot of cuffs to bring your virtues to the surface. In life you always get what you deserve and we work very hard every day. It is very important the way you play, the philosophy and the mentality, when all this is done correctly the victories will come.”

On how he will prepare his team for the final: “I have many experiences with top coaches. Some took us for a walk, others took us to the stadium. I’ll do something in between. The team must be focused, we are in a final and we must claim as many chances as we have.”