Hurstville City Minotaurs Over 45’s go Greek
The 2019 St George Football Association Over 45’s Champions and Premiers Hurstville City Minotaurs completed its recent Greek tour having played veteran teams Chania, OFI Crete and Legendary Greek outfit Olympiacos.
Led by former Charles Valentine award winner and coach Peter “the General” Sarikakis, the Minotaurs beat Chania 4-2 and OFI Crete 4-1 but fell to a star-studded Olympiacos line-up 1-0 where they played at the Greek giants training facility at Rendi.
The Minotaurs themselves had a few stars of their own, with the likes of former National Soccer League players Angelo Petratos, Nick Plataniotis, Steve Karavatakis, George Souris, Spiro Hantzis, Jim Bakis and captain Peter Papoythis who formed the nucleus of the squad.
The current Over 45 Football NSW Champion of Champion winners easily disposed of their Cretan opponents but fell to a quality Olympiacos line-up that featured legendary stars Nikos Vamvakoulas, Sinisa Gogic and Panagiotis Tsalouchidis who were just some of the greats that lined up against the Minotaurs.
The game itself was arranged by a former Olympiacos but now Gladesville Ryde Magic star in goalkeeper Kyriakos Tohoroglou who also played in the match, pulling out the big saves as well as catching up with former teammates past and present.
Olympiacos acknowledged the Minotaurs and at the conclusion of the match gave each player gifts as well as medals as a mark of respect while Sarikakis stated at the post-match celebration his intent in bringing the legendary outfit to Sydney for a rematch.
