Regarding Omonia’s victorious season opener on May 29, the team’s goals for this season, the Francis Uzoh case, and the significant contribution of the fans and volunteers, the club’s press officer, Michalis Xenophontos, spoke to “SUPERSPORT 104.”
Here’s what he said in detail
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
On Omonia’s 3-0 victory over Krasava on May 29 in the season opener: “The credit goes first and foremost to the players and to the entire soccer team, who worked extremely hard all summer, and, of course, to our fans, who packed the “Ammochostos” stadium—and that was certainly a very important factor in helping the team secure the victory. We’re familiar with “Ammochostos”—we’re in the second division along with Nea Salamina, and we’ve been there before, but this was our first first-division match there in eight years since our return to the First Division, and it was a huge boost for the team. It was extremely important after the team scored, and there were five incredible minutes. It’s important to have the fans cheering right next to you and supporting you.”
On the ease with which the victory came: “Okay, we can’t know how every opponent will play. What’s important for us is that our own team plays well, to follow the coach’s game plan and the instructions we’ve given, to execute what we’ve worked on in practice, and to make it happen on the court. And that’s exactly what happened on Friday, and that makes us particularly happy. Now, the score doesn’t mean anything. It’s the first matchday. You understand this, and you know very well that many teams need time to get ready, for the players to gel with one another.”
On Omonia 29 May’s goals: “This year’s goals are clear. The first goal is to do better than we did in our first year in the top division, and I believe we’re on the right track. And the second and most important goal is to stay in the division, which is a difficult goal. It’s not easy at all. We started with a win, and the 3-0 score doesn’t mean much to us. We know it’s going to be a tough season, but we’ll make the impossible possible—together with our fans, who I believe, if given the chance, won’t miss a single game. They haven’t missed a single game, at least in recent years, without exception during our time in the top division, which was a real treat to watch.”
Regarding Ozoho’s transfer from Omonia to Omonia 29 May and Adamos Efstathiou’s post: “Our president, Adamos Efstathiou, personally spoke on the phone with Mr. Stavros Papastavrou to request the transfer of Francis Uzoh, since his team didn’t want him. As you can imagine, this was the first time something like this had happened at the club level, eight years after we founded our own club, due to the differences and disagreements we had regarding the privatization of ASOL. Nevertheless, there was good cooperation, and I believe that, at the end of the day, both sides will benefit from this move.”
Regarding the history of Omonia May 29 and the international interest, including documentaries and other materials related to the club’s founding: “The truth is that our initial goal after the events of 2018… we never expected that we would build a team and make it to the top division. Sure, quite a few of us had it in the back of our minds—we won’t lie— but the main goal was to build a soccer team so that our organized fans would initially have a home to call their own, who were the first to oppose the privatization of Omonia. Beyond that, sure, what we did wasn’t easy. Not easy at all. And that’s why I’m mentioning it, but I believe that’s also why it caught the interest of various foreign media outlets, prompting them to cover Omonia May 29.”
On volunteer work at the club: “And here, what I want to say is extremely important—something many people may not know or may not want to acknowledge: It’s the volunteer work being done at the club. There are fans of our club who have been volunteering in specific roles for the past eight years. Of course, now that we’ve moved up to the first division, we’re making an effort too—when someone dedicates 20, 25, or 30 hours a week for this club, we’ll see how we can help them and so on. But none of this would be possible if we didn’t have hundreds of volunteers working for the club. Especially in the club’s early days, during its first years in the amateur league, everyone volunteered. Even soccer players, from the amateur league and the second division, came to play with us and didn’t even ask for money for gas. It was incredibly important, and without all those people working as volunteers, we wouldn’t be in the first division today.”
