Katsaros: “I’m lucky to have lived Papaioannou – Puskas gave him advice about Real”

The background around the interest and proposal of Real Madrid for Mimi Papaioannou revealed the Nikos Katsaros to News Bulletin 247. At the same time, he spoke about the legendary coexistence of Mimi Papaioannou with Kostas Nestoridis in AEK and stood on a funny incident during the crucial match against KPR.

“I have experienced him first hand and I am lucky for that. I experienced the incredible duo Nestoridis-Papaioannou, one of the most glorious stories of AEK, and then came the other duo Mavros-Bajevic, after some ten years. Mimis, like Nestoridis, changed the history of AEK. Their coexistence was a great moment for AEK, where Nestoridis was alone until Papaioannou arrived. They were the first to play “1-2”. When I wrote Nestorides’ book, Mimis told me many unknown stories about their collaboration“, said Nikos Katsaros initially.

“AEK and Real have shared results. The first 3-3 was in 1965, when Real came to Philadelphia, in a stadium in unprecedented condition. Papaioannou had scored two goals and Real immediately asked for him, Puskas gave him advice on how to watch his life“, he added.

And he underlined: “Real gave 4 million drachmas to AEK, which refused it due to the reactions of the world. Papaioannou asked for a fee, but AEK refused and then he accepted the proposal of Stelios Kazantzidis and they started a tour in Germany. However, the league started, Papaioannou was absent and people began to complain about the team’s results. Mimis then returned, ahead of a derby with Panathinaikos, and he was unprepared and scored two goals in the derby».