Greece fans snap up tickets
It took no more than four hours for all 18,000 tickets for the Greece vs Turkey Euro 2008 soccer qualifier to sell out yesterday from the booths in Athens and (mainly) in Piraeus, as thousands of Greeks formed long queues from very early in the morning in order not to miss the crucial clash on March 24 at the Karaiskaki Stadium. The Hellenic Football Federation (EPO), Greece’s soccer authority, had to issue a press release early in the afternoon to prevent more people from going to request tickets. The major importance this match has for Greece’s effort to qualify for the finals in Austria and Switzerland next year, and the special weight each Greek-Turkish fixture has in any sport, drove demand for tickets, ensuring a sellout crowd of 33,000 fans at the stadium in Neo Faliron next Saturday, including season ticket holders. Both Greece and Turkey have scored three wins in as many games and top Group C of the qualifying stage, ahead of Norway, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Malta, Hungary and Moldova. After the home game with Turkey, Greece travels to Malta for its fifth game in the group on March 28. National team manager Otto Rehhagel has called up the first 12 players for these two dates, starting with those based abroad. They include defender Michalis Kapsis, who is returning to the national squad after a long break. The APOEL Nicosia player had been at the eye of a storm last fall when Rehhagel invited him even though he had hardly played any games with Olympiakos and was coming off an injury. Eventually he withdrew from the squad. The other players called up yesterday were Sotiris Kyrgiakos and Yiannis Amanatidis of Eintracht Frankfurt, Costas Katsouranis and Giorgos Karagounis of Benfica, Fanis Gekas of Bochum, Angelos Charisteas of Feyenoord, Takis Fyssas of Hearts, Yourkas Seitaridis of Atletico Madrid, Angelos Basinas of Real Mallorca, Giorgos Samaras of Manchester City and Stelios Giannakopoulos of Bolton Wanderers. By the end of this week, Rehhagel will also send out invitations to the Greece-based players. Charisteas, however, remains doubtful for the match against Turkey, as the tests he underwent in the Netherlands have shown he has pulled a hamstring and will only be able to return to training a day or two before March 24. Also yesterday, Rehhagel met with the head of the Euro 2008 finals organizing committee, Heinz Palme, in Austria and promised to be there in the finals with Greece: «My main ambition is for us to qualify for the European Championship finals. In Portugal in 2004 we were happy just to make it to the finals. No one had any great expectations from us.» He went on to predict that the 2008 finals will be an unqualified success. «It is a life experience. You have to offer fans much more than just soccer. I am sure that Austria and Switzerland will stage a perfect European Championship,» the German manager stated. Cup semifinal The northeastern city of Ioannina is hosting tonight the first leg of the second semifinal of the Greek Cup, pitting local side PAS Yiannina against Larissa. Second-division club PAS Yiannina has already eliminated three top-flight teams, including holders Olympiakos. Larissa, on the other hand, is struggling to maintain its Super League status, but manager Giorgos Donis says the team will chase Europe through the Cup. The second leg, as well as that of Xanthi versus Panathinaikos (0-0 in the first match) will be played on April 18.
