Winning is not an end in itself during the formative years of a football player. Defeat can be painful and leave scars, but proves useful, as children learn this side of sports as well.

The tear-stained faces and the bitterness of defeat in the Super League U17 final of Agrinio will not last for long. These youngsters will return on the pitch to prepare for a new season, with the knowledge that the future is theirs.

The U17 final was a nervous affair. None of the two sides were willing to take risks. PAOK started strongly, but without making much creative capital of their possession in the first 20 minutes. Olympiakos took charge afterwards and forced two excellent saves out of Balomenos until the end of the first half.

The second half couldn’t kick off at a worse mode for the pupils of Alexiadis and Hagan. Dodis fired a long-range shot and the ball got deflected on its way to the back of PAOK’s net. That was the season finale for the U17 side of the “Double-Headed Eagle”. A lucky goal deprived them of the trophy.

PAOK U17: Balomenos, Αventisian, Panagiotou, Κoulierakis, Kitsakis (51’ Pipiliaris), Karamperis (66’ Dajko), Grosdis, Tzolis, Τsopouroglou, Karakoutis (66’ Konstantelias), Gortegiani (87’ Theodoridis).