Takis Lemonis on the Olympiakos Conference: “Wembley is over, now there is Philadelphia”

Europe, however, has always been an outcast. An elusive dream! Panathinaikos have always had Wembley as a point of reference. The friends of AEK their own 1977. Us? Courage and someone had cursed us to never get past the second round hurdle. Even in years when we experienced unrepeatable triumphs. Like then with Ajax. That night we felt like we could conquer the world. As we felt against Leverkusen, against Werder, Real, Lazio. The presence in the final of a European competition, however, stubbornly refused to come. We talked about it a lot with each other for years in the locker room. We were very hurt by Europe in the 80s. We saw Panathinaikos reach the semi-finals of the Champions Cup again and we… ate the meat: Why only them and not us. One time it was bad luck, another time it was our mistakes, the next time it was the superiority of our opponents. The causes were varied and different, the disappointment at the end of the journey always the same. I remember my first speech to the children when I was on the Olympiakos bench for the first time in a European game in Liverpool. I was trying to make them feel that we could win over everyone as long as we got our own identity. To believe in ourselves.

I was sitting in the stands in New Philadelphia on Wednesday night trying to think what was going through the minds of kids I met as kids at Rentis. I remember the first steps of Panagiotis. I remember the establishment of Kostas at the top level. Retsos, Fortounis, dozens of memories, dozens of moments passed through my eyes in a few seconds. Christian, Darko, Agriogiannis, Mourikis, the members of the medical team. I’m trying to sort through the thoughts in my head. I shared their joy. I know how much they have tried to give these moments to the world of Olympiakos. I understand that a fan from the stands gets carried away by the emotions that a result gives rise to. He forgets the weight these people carry on the grass.

Now with social media the criticism leveled at football players and coaches is inhumane. In the past, we used to worry about the newspapers that came out the next morning. Now; They are “shooting” at you 24 hours a day. You must endure with all the strength of your soul. What were these guys listening to in early January when the team was facing a tsunami of obsolescence? They stood up, endured and gave us these unrepeatable moments. I looked at tearful faces all around me and thought of the irony with which Vangelis Marinakis and Kristian Karebbe faced each time they publicly shared their dreams of Olympiakos appearing in a European final.