Local Football: Thiagoras 4 v OFA 3

In the first 15 minutes neither goal keeper was under pressure, and then a good move between Tankof and Loulakis led to the first goal scored by Loulakis for OFA. In the 19^th minute a corner from Thiagoras was kicked off the line. A brave run by Pavlos Moraitakis, who cut the ball across the face of the goal, but the forwards were unable to tap it in. Constant pressure from Thiagoras paid off in the 28^th minute when Dimitris Karagounis equalized. Kostas Thelistathis had a great shot from 30 yards which was tipped over the bar. Then, a cross from Niko Pramateftaki was superbly headed in by Dimitri Karagouni to make it 2–1. OFA hit back with a shot from Loulaki which was kicked off the line by Alexi Tsagourni and the resulting corner was headed in by Thimitroulaki making it 2-2. In the 42^nd minute Mihalis Koukouritakis brought down Kornaraki of OFA and Tankof scored from the spot making it 2-3. In the 43^rd minute a free kick taken by Dimitri Karagouni was dropped by the OFA goalkeeper and Kostas Thelistathis scored off the rebound to make it 3-3. Another shot from Karagouni was tipped over the bar. The second half was not as exciting as the first but had plenty of incidents. In the 74^th minute, a great pass from Alex Tsargouni to Dimitri Somaraki, who scored to make it 4-3. End to end football followed but Thiagoras hung on to claim the three points.

The Khronicles ‘Man of the Match’ was Dimitris Karagounis who was always a menace to the OFA defense.

Romanos 1 v Mires 2

A crowd of over 100 spectators (mainly Romanos supporters) saw very little football for the first 15 minutes, as both sides were looking to see where the oppositions strengths lay. A good turn by Romanos’ Yiorgos Protoyerakis, followed by a good shot, resulted in a corner. Mires used their height advantage very well in defense. The first goal came when Yiorgos Protoyerakis brought the ball down with class and hit it into the net in the 28^th minute. Mires hit back in the 35^th minute through a penalty which Manolis Tsirkinis shot in off the post. A good run by Andonis Xekarthakis resulted in an equally good clearance by Manolis Lasithiotakis which, in turn, resulted in a corner from which Manolis Tsirkinis hit the ball over the bar. In the 46^th minute Yiorgos Bithakis ran the full length of the pitch from his own penalty area, and scored to make it 1-2 at half time. Romanos started the second half on the attack and only good defending by the Mires back four kept them in the game. A very strong penalty appeal from the Romanos players was waved on by the referee and a corner given instead.

The Khronicles ‘Man of the Match’ was Manolis Tsirkinis from the Mires team who was dominant, using his height well, controlling the back four.

Football, World Cup Qualifiers:

After beating Luxembourg 3-0, Greece then traveled to Latvia and won 2-0 putting them at the top of the League table. The next match for Greece is at home to Moldavia on October 11.

Soo Bahk (Tang Soo) Do:

Enrollments have now opened for Soo Bahk Do tuition at schools held in Koutouloufari and Alikarnassos. Training is by Kostas Papathopoulos, 4 Dan Master, General Secretariat of Athletics. More information is available at: 6944-542624.

Anti-Doping Bill:

At last Greece is to toughen up its anti-doping laws and limit the rewards for athletes who win medals. After 15 of Greece’s athletes failed drugs tests this year, Culture Minister Mihalis Liapis said: “Greece is only interested in producing clean athletes.”  Only athletes who win medals at the Olympics or Paralympics can expect to receive a post in the civil service, armed forces or police as a reward under the new rules, he said.

Anti-doping Amendment

Spurred by Greece’s Olympic drugging fiasco, an amendment designed to discourage the use of doping in sports was tabled in Parliament, to be appended to a bill on combating sports violence.
The measures will require:

1)     All substances given to athletes to be recorded in their health book.

2)     The removal of sports federation board members where it was proved that federation athletes took banned substances based on a deliberate plan.

SEASON STARTS; SO DOES VIOLENCE 

Famagusta President Andreas Panteli has filed a complaint to UEFA regarding his team’s hostile reception in their Champions League tie against Olympiakos. He complained that their bus had been attacked twice on the way from Athens airport to the Karaiskakis Stadium, and also claimed he had been punched by security staff.

Olympiakos officials were not available for comment, but one eye witness confirmed that smoke bombs were thrown and the police dispersed the crowd with tear gas to let the team coach through to the entrance to the grounds.

In a separate incident, a gang of about 30 youths attempted to attack a Panionios Supporters Club in the Athens neighborhood of Nea Smyrni.

Although the Panionios fans were able to roll the metal shutters down before any damage could be done to the club, the youths vandalized ten parked cars as they left.

THE OLYMPICS – A RETROSPECTIVE
(The Khronicles asked local world-class athletes to review their respective sports in the Beijing Olympics. These are their reports)

WEIGHTLIFTING
By Stavros Korasanis
Fitness and Bodybuilding Champion

After the doping scandal with the Greek weightlifting team, journalists and political spokesmen hurriedly made accusations mentioning fraudulent medals and false progress records, but they themselves have not lifted half kilo in their life nor have they ever had one hour of training.

Hristos Iakovou, having created a dream team the previous years, placed some very high standards. This pressure perhaps led some athletes to use some prohibited substances.

We live in an age of industrial revolution and doping is one of the byproducts. The very nature of man to move on and develop in step with the continuous search for fame, glory and money leads some of today’s athletes to use anabolic substances.

The mission of the national weightlifting team in Beijing was absolutely successful despite the fact that it did not bring any medals home.

Rome was not built in a day. Thusly, after the withdrawal of the dream team (Dima - Kakiazvili - Sampani), much time with lots of work and personal labour will be needed to create a new team.

We should take into account that they are all young kids with a lot of talent – like the Cretan Taso Triantafilou, who, at such a young age, found himself in such an organization, making a lot of successful efforts.

Finally, no medal has ever been based on anabolic substances. No drug will ever make a champion. Some athletes may use, certain others may not. Each one makes his choices. You become a champion with a lot of work, with sacrifices, with sweat, and above all with a lot of soul!

Sport to watch