The Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) has announced that it will be entering the Greek team in this year’s All Nations Tournament. Last year in their first attempt, Greece spectacularly won the tournament and now they are ready to defend their title.
The tournament begins on Saturday, October 14, at Knox City FC. Greece has drawn a difficult group which includes France, Eritrea and Afghanistan.
Their first game will be against France on Sunday, October 15 at 2.30pm. In round 2, they are up against Eritrea on Sunday, October 22 at 4pm and their final Group A match will be against a difficult opponent in Afghanistan on Sunday, October 29 at 2.30pm.
George Katsakis and Kon Tangalakis, who coached the successful team last year, have once again joined forces to go back-to-back and win the title.
Katsakis had this to say, leading into the tournament.
“Last year was an amazing experience and something I’ll never forget. We started with a squad of 18 Greek boys, whom had come together from various clubs. To get them to all unite and play as a team and win the title on their first attempt was truly a remarkable performance by all involved and we are ready to repeat that feat in 2023,” he said.
Michael Karamitos, Vice President of the GCM, also couldn’t hide his excitement leading into the tournament.
“The Greek Community is delighted to once again enter a Greek team in the All Nations Cup. The euphoria that we experienced last year throughout the tournament was indeed an amazing experience and I encourage as many Greeks as possible to come and support our team. Sports unites people and this is our objective in this tournament, to bring our community together and support and cheer our team,” Mr Karamitos said.
President of the GCM, Bill Papastergiadis, also wishes the team the best of luck for the tournament.
“As reigning champions, Team Greece aims to compete vigorously with a team which is representative of the football talent in Victoria of Greek background,” Mr Papastergiadis said.
“The Greek Community of Melbourne, which has initiated and supports this team, endorses the premise of this tournament, which aims to complement the multicultural fabric of our wonderful state.
“We at the Greek Community would like to thank our coaches, both George Katsakis and Kon Tangalakis, for putting the team together as well as all our major sponsors, namely the Tsalikidis Family from Windsor Management Insurance Brokers, Manuel Tsirmiris from Accountancy Group, as well as the Koukouvitakis / Karamitos / Zois families from LV Furniture Group.”
