In the Greek sports media, the Europa League play-off draw brought on a feeling of deja vu: "The Scourge of Greek Football"
Editors of the sports media in Greece had their creativity tested this past week-end when faced with the task of giving an appropriate nickname to local side PAOK Thessaloniki's rival in the play-off round of the Europa League. It's been many years since the name Maccabi Tel Aviv represented only Euroleague battles taking place on the basketball courts of the Nokia Hall in Tel Aviv, or at the OAKA Olympic Arena in Athens. Three times Maccabi Tel Aviv have faced representatives of the Greece Superleague for two legs on the pitch of European football competitions, and in all three cases Maccabi have come out on top. From the official Greek capital in Athens all the way to the northern capital Thessaloniki, last Friday's Europa League draw that saw local side PAOK play their first match away in Tel Aviv brought back unpleasant memories. With a wealthy owner, an experienced head coach and promising new players, PAOK's future is looking rather rosy. The past, it would seem, is rather harder to escape.
The Greek media devoted most of their attention to past encounters between Maccabi Tel Aviv and PAOK Thessaloniki, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos. In these Maccabi earned such nicknames as "the Greek Slayers", or "The Evil Spirit Haunting Greek Football Clubs", ignoring entirely two PAOK victories against Beitar Jerusalem and even last season's triumph over Bnei Yehuda. The Greek sports website "On-sports" outdid itself by taking such lyrical descriptions one step farther with the headline "The Executioner of Greek Football Clubs". Even the Dutch side AZ Alkmaar, who were also drawn against a Greek club (Atromitos F.C.) in the same competition, failed to garner such respect. Perhaps this is just a tactical manoeuvre on the part of the Greek media, the same kind of tactical manoeuvre that accompanied Greece's triumph in Euro 2004. Start out as underdogs but walk away with the whole bundle.
In the reactions of Maccabi head coach Paulo Sousa and midfielder Maharan Radi the Greek media detected a certain degree of arrogance. In the leading sports websites one could read that "Maccabi Tel Aviv were pleased with the draw" and that "they could not have asked for an easier opponent". Despite the fact that PAOK will enter the encounter as the seeded team, they are surrounded by an inexplicable aura of "inferiority". PAOK's Dutch head coach Huub Stevens has been quoted as saying that "This is the most difficult draw we could possibly have got" and taken altogether these reactions have set the general mood in Greece in anticipation of next week's encounter. On the other hand, before last season's Europa League third round encounter with Bnei Yehuda the Greeks maintained a low profile that only resulted in the Israeli side fishing six goals out of their own net. The Greeks have the reputation as a people who impart a great deal of importance to history, and with Maccabi's three wins in three encounters with Greek clubs in Europe, it's hard to argue with their feelings of apprehension. On the other hand, for the Greeks, who invented philosophy, this may just be the start of psychological warfare. Decide for yourself.
Photograph courtesy of the official website of PAOK Thessaloniki
