The Greek Cup triumph of 2001
PAOK were crowned Greek Cup champions for the third time in the club’s history on May 12 2001 with a 4-2 triumph over Olympiacos at Nea Philadelphia.
Before the start of the match, Pantelis Kafes, the longest-serving player at that time in the dressing room (having played for PAOK since the 1996-97 season) galvanized the squad with his pre-match comments which highlighted the importance of the occasion for the club. «We are ready to make history. The team has not played in a final in the last ten years, and our last title was 16 years ago with the conquest of the league championship, while the last Greek Cup success was in 1974. All of this means demonstrates how important winning this trophy is for us.»
His words sounded like the ultimate victory slogan for a team that had been struggling with its own inner ‘Golgotha’, but was seeking redemption through the conquest of the Greek Cup. At the end of the match following the 4-2 win, the then coach of the team, Giorgos Georgiadis, spoke about the atonement of a team that went through the mill during the season. «It feels like a huge weight has been lifted from our shoulders. This is because four or five months ago we didn’t expect it. But we stayed united, we believed in ourselves, and we are completely satisfied because we have given so much joy to the fans.»
The route to the final was smooth, and after the group stage, PAOK eliminated Aris, Skoda Xanthi and Apollon Smyrnis in two-legged ties to get to the final.
The day of the final was special for PAOK, as the club was returning to the Nea Philadelphia stadium in Athens aiming to repeat what it had achieved there in its previous cup success against Olympiacos.
Egomitis opened the scoring in the fourth minute for PAOK, who then went 2-0 up before half-time courtesy of Vassilis Borbokis (31). George Georgiadis made it 3-0 in the second half, before Predrag Djordjevic reduced the deficit with a penalty (77 ) to make it 3-1. However, Nalitzis made sure of victory with a strike to make it 4-1 in the 85th minute, with Choutos grabbing another consolation goal for Olympiacos in the 89th minute to make the final score 4-2.
PAOK’s lineup:
Kovic, Borbokis, Venetidis, Katsabis, Abonsa (46′ Koulakiotis), Udeze, Konstantinidis, Kafes, Egomitis, Georgiadis (78′ Nalitzis), Okkas (88′ Spasic).
Read the dedicated feature about the Greek Cup final success of the 2000/01 season via paokfc.gr here.
