NE Megaridos-Milon: For the first ticket to the Final 4 of the UNICEF Trophy

Neaniki Estia Megaridos and Milos meet on Friday (17:00) at the Olympic Center of Ano Liosion, in the first semi-final of the Final 4 of the UNICEF Trophy. The two teams will fight for the first ticket to Saturday’s final (18:00), where they will fight for the title and participation in the Final 8 of the Cup against the winner of Friday’s second semi-final between Panionio and Doxa Lefkada (20:00 ).

Mandalos: “NEM will measure its dynamics”

The Megara team reached the final four by successively eliminating GS Almyrou (63-93), APAS Naxos Ta Fanaria (66-72) and AO Mykonos (70-72).

“First of all, I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year, full of health, love, luck and happiness“, said the coach of NEM, Giorgos Mantalos and added: “It is a great honor for Megara to participate in the Final 4 of the UNICEF Trophy and claim the first pan-Hellenic title in their history, even among top and historic teams. Both Panionios, as well as Milonas and Doxa Lefkada, have shown in the first half of the league season their potential, but also their quality. And of course we are talking about teams with a long track record and history».

As for the semi-final with Milos, he said: “It is quite a difficult and demanding race. We must not forget that just a few days ago, Milonas literally destroyed us with 31 points, for the championship. This in itself demonstrates the difficulty of the struggle and makes our task seem impossible. However, we are Megara, we fight every game and we have worked quite hard in order to improve and be competitive against an excellent team, with an excellent coach and a full and quality roster. If we deserve it, may we qualify for the final!».

Mr. Mandalos appealed to the public of the Megarid Youth Center to support the efforts of his players. “I would also like to refer to the imperative presence of our fellow citizens in the closed area of ​​Ano Liosia. For us it is semiotic! The presence of our people in the Final 4 will characterize us either positively or negatively and will be a ‘statement’ on whether the team has reached its ‘ceiling’ or can give even more to the city. The Megara are in a Final 4, and the team embraces the city, year after year, envisioning and giving birth to new ambitions. We want to make our city proud. But, without our world, we cannot achieve anything. In Ano Liosia, we will measure our momentum. Let’s see if we deserve as a city through our presence in the Final 4 to claim something better in the future. Not only in the competition, but also in the non-competitive part. I hope that there will be three great games, that the best team will win and that the people will return to the stadiums happy“, he said.

Karagiannis: “Two wins and… Final 8 is the goal of Milos”

On the other hand, Milo returned strongly to the Errikos Dunan Elite League and came to claim the title of the UNICEF Trophy having successively overcome the obstacles of Panserraikos (43-66), Cholargos (73-79) and Eleftheroupolis (88-67) in the previous rounds of the event. The Nea Smyrna team finished the first round of the championship in third place with 10 wins and 5 losses, having closed 2023 with a wide victory, 82-51, over Neaniki Hestia Megarida at “Krisos Persis”, for the 15th game of the Elite League Henry Dunan.

The coach of Milos, Nikos Karagiannis, is not focusing on what has gone before but on the great challenge that his team has in front of it and is aiming for 2/2 on the two-day 5-6 January. “The Final UNICEF Trophy is for us and for the whole club of Milos a great challenge. For the first time in our history, we are at this point and we want to show on the floor the good face we have been showing lately. We have a very difficult match ahead of us against Neaniki Hestia Megaridas, but our goal is to win two to reach the Final 8 of the Greek Cup“, said the technician of Milos.