On this day, April 4, 1968, the great AEK of the American, Trondzos and the other children, became the first club (in a team sport) in the history of Greek sports to climb to the top of Europe, conquering inside the "Panathinaiko Stadium" and in front of 80,000 delirious spectators, the Cup Winners' Cup. NEWS 24/7 remembers the great progress of "Union" in the tournament and the unforgettable final against Slavia, which made all Greek sports fans proud. 89-82, one of the most special chapters of Greek basketball, became immortal through its shocking development, but also the legendary radio description of Vassilis Georgiou, which kept the listeners riveted until the last second of the match.
That final was an eternal landmark for the sport in our country, despite the fact that it took 23 whole years for a Greek team to win a European trophy again (PAOK in 1991 in Geneva, against Zaragoza, also in the Cup Winners' Cup). AEK she was the one who paved the way, showing that what until then seemed utopian, could become reality. And she left behind a huge legacy, precisely because what she achieved was a feat, at a time when in the Greek teams there were neither foreigners, nor "Hellenized", while in Europe, giants such as Inis Varese, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Simmental Milan, but also Slavia Prague itself. But let's start things from the beginning.
AEK IN THE FINAL-4 OF 1966
The 50s, when basketball experienced its first great period of prosperity in Greece, had given way to the 60s. The previous generation with leading clubs such as Panhellenios and Triton and players such as Phaedon Matthaiou, Mimis Stefanidis and Kostas Mourouzis - all of whom played in the Italian professional league - had already retired awaiting worthy successors. The sport was played on concrete open courts, there were no indoor courts or parquet floors at the time. The "Panathenaiko Stadium" it was considered the "temple" of basketball, while the "luxurious hall" of the time was located under the bleachers of the Alexandra Avenue stadium and was called "Tafos tou Indus". The teams were purely Greek, naturally amateur and the elements that dominated the pitches were the soul, heroism, talent and love for the sport.
The only "foreigner" competing in the Greek league was a player who had been transferred from the historic H.A.N. Nikias in AEK, Giorgos Amerikanos . The player around whom the team was built - a legend of the 60s, the AEK of records, titles and the first European cup. Before arriving on the magical night of April 4, 1968, "Enosis" had already made sure to give its credentials to Greece and Europe. Having won 4 consecutive titles in the domestic championship (1963, 1964, 1965, 1966), it became the first Greek team to reach the final stage (Final 4) of the Women's Champions Cup in Bologna in 1966. There, in fact, in the semi-final, it faced Slavia Prague , from which it was defeated by a heavy 103-73, to finally finish in fourth place, after losing in the short final 85-62 to CSKA Moscow.
FROM VITORIA TO VAREZE, VIA BRUSSELS
AEK had in its ranks the "cream of the crop" of Greek basketball, Giorgos Americanos, Giorgos Trontzos, Christos Zoupas, Ayandas Larentzakis, Stelios Vassiliadis, Lakis Tsavas, Nikos Nesiadis, Antonis Christea, Petros Petrakis and Andreas Dimitriadis, while he had "lost" a valuable member, George Moschos. The team's playmaker was present at the 1966 Final-4 in Bologna, but was unable to compete in the minor final because he collapsed and was rushed back to Athens. The Calf he had been diagnosed with cancer of the lymph nodes and a few months later, in December '66, he died, plunging all of basketball Greece into mourning. The last game of his career was that semi-final against Slavia, and his teammates would make sure two years later to dedicate the trophy to him.
But let's go back to the Cup Winners' Cup of the 1967/68 season. After a four-year dominance in the Greek league (1963-1966), AEK lost the 1967 title to Panathinaikos, so as runners-up they got a ticket to the Cup Winners' Cup (at that time there was no Cup institution in Greece, which started in 1975 /76). It passed the first round without a match, since it was among the strong teams of the competition and its course started from the second round against the Spanish KAS Vitoria. In the first match, in the Basque Country, the hosts, in which Pepe Lasso, father of Pablo, the current coach of Real Madrid, played as a playmaker, won 82-72, with Moncho Monsalve as the main protagonist who scored 35 points.
In the rematch on January 18, 1968, at the Panathinaikos Stadium, AEK, with the support of 30,000 spectators , took a halftime lead after leading by 17 points (46-29). With a "moonstruck" American, who reached 41 points , "Enosis" scattered Vitoria with the final 85-65 and got the big qualification for the quarterfinals. The points of the Greek team:Amerikanos 41, Trontzos 14, Vassiliadis 12, Zoupas 10, Larentzakis 7, Tsavas 1. The draw for the next phase brought the Belgian Royal IV as an opponent, with the first game being held in Athens and AEK makes an amazing appearance in the second half, taking the victory with an impressive 76-54 (Vassiliadis 19, Amerikanos 16, Trontzos 16 and Zoupas 15, the first scorers of the "doubleheader").
The Greek delegation traveled to Brussels for the replay, but there they were "sticked" by the Belgians, who did not allow the visitors to train in the indoor stadium where the match would take place. Instead, they set up two baskets next to a market (!) and left the AEK players in the cold and rain (it was February). In the game, things did not go the best way for 'Enos', who found themselves trailing at halftime by 14 points (35-21). The game was ultimately decided in the details, Royal prevailed 74-54 and the Greek team held qualifying for just one basket.Inis Varese had a row in the semi-final phase , the title holder from the previous, maiden edition of the Cup Winners' Cup.
The Italians, who would dominate European basketball in the 1970s with five Champions Cups, were already considered one of the continent's greatest powers. In the first match, in Lombardy, Varese, which also had two Americans on its roster, won 78-60, taking a huge qualification lead. In the return match, at the "Panathinaiko Stadium" and in front of 60,000 spectators, AEK showed its mood from the start. At halftime, he had covered almost all the difference (42-26) and with a huge American who scored 31 points, he reached 70-52 with only a few seconds left. Everything showed that the game would go to overtime, but the historic reversal of Giorgos Trondzos , 8" before the final horn, wrote the final 72-52, completing the feat for the players of Nikos Milos!
The points of the Greek team:Americanos 31, Trontzos 12, Zoupas 12, Vassiliadis 10, Christeas 4, Larentzakis 3. With the stands of "Kallimarmaros" in delirium, "Enosis" was now one of the two finalists of the competition . The other was Slavia Prague, who had eliminated with two wins the surprise of the competition, East German Vorwärts from Leipzig. The Czechoslovaks, who had the same number of appearances in the two previous Final-4 of the Champions Cup (2nd in 1966 and 3rd in 1967), were the team that two years earlier had left AEK out of the final with a heavy 103-73. But "Two-Headed" managed to set the perfect trap for them. Let's say here that the previous year, in the first edition of the Cup Winners' Cup, Varese and Maccabi had claimed the trophy in a double final.
BEFORE THE GRAND FINAL
AEK wanted to avoid this and contacted Slavia , asking her to become a singles finalist in Athens. He even offered to pay her the price of the 5,000 tickets that he would sell at her stadium and then, the Czechoslovaks who thought they had the title in their pocket, accepted that the match be held in Greece. The grand final was scheduled for the evening of April 4, 1968 , at 8:30 in the evening, of course at the "Panathinaiko Stadium". There were sports fans who had started coming to "Kallimarmaro" since the morning, while after 6 in the afternoon, not a pin was dropped in the stands. 55,000 tickets had been issued, but before kick-off, the stadium had been flooded by 80,000 people, who had created an incredible atmosphere.
In the streets around the stadium, there were several thousand more people who had not managed to secure access, but preferred to stay there, to experience the match even from the outside. All the rest of Greece was tuned to the radio frequency, hanging literally from the lips of announcer Vassilis Georgiou , since there were no live TV broadcasts at that time. Do not forget that the country was under the regime of the junta and there was a universal ban on gatherings. So the final was an opportunity for people to let loose and have a blast. It is even said that Stylianos Pattakos, when he entered the stadium, was booed by a portion of the stands. A few minutes before kick-off, the AEK players entered the pitch.
THE CONTEST AND THE TRIUMPH
The slogans, the voices, the enthusiasm, were such that they impressed everyone. Especially the envoys of the foreign press could not believe their eyes and... ears! The phrase of the journalist Pierre Tessier of the French L'Équipe is typical:"The AEK-AEK battle covered every other noise for two hours, while every time the Greek team scored a basket, the starry sky was lit up by thousands of colored flares"! The match started with the "Union" taking the lead from the start, building a gap and going to the locker room with a 47-38 lead. On the one hand, Jiri Zidek, legend of Czechoslovak basketball, "wrote" them from everywhere, on the other hand, American and Trondzos were unstoppable, always answering with consecutive baskets. Nevertheless, Slavia managed to equalize the game in the replay.
Halfway through the second half, the visitors were down 57-56 and a little later they were ahead 58-60. Our continuation is described by a newspaper report of the time:"At that moment, everything was marbled in the Panathenaic Stadium and while the disappointment had begun to occupy all the Greeks, Trontzos as if from a machine god and while until that moment he was the personification of moderation , scored the tying basket in admittedly improbable fashion. Immediately everything came back to life in the Stadium and the excitement multiplied when the American with two well-placed fouls made the score 62-60 and right away the gigantic Trontzos converted the difference to 64-60. From that moment it seemed that the victory would not be lost to the Greek team".
The Greek team, however, also had extra-competition help, since the photographers marked and "shot" with their flashes, mainly Zidek. It was something they had copied from their Italian colleagues, who had "blinded" the Greek players with their own flashers in the semi-final against Varese! With six and a half minutes to go, the referee called for Zupa's fifth foul, who left the field crying like a child. Trontzos, with three personal baskets, increased the score to 78-70, Christeas made it 80-72, Slavia reduced even more, but the American, with two of his own baskets, increased the difference again to 84-79. With a basket by "Pagosmios" it was 88-82 and it was Chavas who wrote the final 89-82 with a free throw.
As soon as the Secretariat's horn sounded for the end of the match, absolute delirium prevailed inside the Panathenaic Stadium. The fans' celebrations were unrestrained, the excitement reigned everywhere and the moment George American took the trophy in his hands, the Bengals turned night into day. FIBA had awarded a metal Cup for security reasons, since the original one, made of Bohemian crystal, was sent to AEK's offices after a few days. In the meantime, while all this was happening, tens (not to say hundreds) of thousands of people began to flock to the stadium from every part of the capital, to end up together with the players, in Omonia (who celebrated the triumph over Zambeta and Moscholiou ). The moments were unprecedented not only for the "Union", but for the entire Greek basketball. Let's remember the compositions and the points of the two teams.
- AEK (Milas): American 29, Trontzos 24, Vassiliadis 13, Zoupas 10, Tsavas 5, Christeas 4, Larentzakis 4.
- Slavia (Bomruk): Zidek 31, Ruzicka 21, Mifka 16, Barocs 12, Tomasek 2, Amer, Krivi, Konopazek.
Vassilis Georgiou, the "God" of radio
Those who were not at "Kallimarmaro" on the evening of April 4, 1968, have associated the winning of the trophy with the voice of Vassilis Georgiou. A few years ago, the now veteran announcer spoke about that unforgettable night of the final on the official website of AEK . Let's remember what he had said:
"It was something unrepeatable, it was Greece's first European trophy. It happened that I was the announcer of that match and we certainly had great moments. I was for the radio and Phaidonas Konstantoudakis for the written press. The final was scheduled for half past eight in the evening and I - as always - went to the stadium early. It was a quarter past six and I saw something unique. The Panathenaic Stadium was packed and people kept coming. I thought the fans were wrong about the start time. Slavia was a superpower, with players in mixed Europe. But with the help of the crowd and the faith of the players, AEK won. The Stadium was in darkness except for the pitch.
One minute before the end, all the sports fans lit candles and in this way celebrated the victory until George American made the victory lap. It was like I was part of that group. Mededida opposite the secretariat, right in the center of the stadium. When I broadcast I live the struggle intensely, even then. Whenever the American made a basket he raised his head and looked at me and it was like I was talking to him. In a basket of Bronze I stood up and moved towards him to kiss him, forgetting about the transmission wires and thought "where are you going?". In fact, 6-7 minutes before the end, Trontzos scored in an incredible way a very difficult basket with two opponents and I said after Trontzos scored this basket, AEK will not lose tonight".
But let's also remember some of his most characteristic remarks during the radio broadcast, remarks that went down in history and are still remembered today, more than half a century later!
"…I play them as I want, my Virgin Mary, my Virgin Mary, the God of Greece, the God of AEK, God is with us and we are Champions of the European Cup. Dear listeners, this basket was not a basket, it was dream. It's Trontzos, take the ball from them..."
"…I'm excited too, well done guys, Greece is the European Champion, won the Cup, 8 seconds. AEK 89, Slavia 82. Trontzos takes the ball, passes it to Vassiliadis, shoots, we lose, two, one and victory! We are European Champions. I can't describe to you what is happening. Everyone is crying. The thousands of Greek fans are crying. Thousands of candles have been lit, thousands of flares, barrels..."
An unbreakable record for the Guinness book
The 1968 final was also heavily occupied by the international press, since never before had such a large crowd watched a basketball game. The envoy of the French L'Équipe , Pierre Tessier, wrote about it in his response:"April 4, 1968 will be a milestone in the history of basketball. For the first time in Europe and certainly in the whole world 80,000 spectators watched a game. Two hours before the start of the final καμία θέση δεν είχε μείνει ακάλυπτη στο μαρμάρινο στάδιο. Παρά το γεγονός ότι πολλοί φίλαθλοι δεν μπόρεσαν να βρουν εισιτήριο, χιλιάδες ήλθαν και στάθηκαν έξω από τα προπύλαια του Σταδίου για να παρακολουθήσουν τον αγώνα από τον… θόρυβο των εκδηλώσεων. Θεέ μου, τι βοή ήταν αυτή χτες βράδυ στην Αθήνα! Ποτέ δεν έχει γίνει μια παρόμοια ατμόσφαιρα μπάσκετ, τόσο εξαιρετική, αλλά και τέτοιου πάθους".
Ο τελικός της Αθήνας πέρασε στο βιβλίο των ρεκόρ Guinness ως ο αγώνας μπάσκετ με τους περισσότερους (80.000) θεατές στην ιστορία του αθλήματος, ενώ η φωτογραφία από το "Παναθηναϊκό Στάδιο" κοσμεί μέχρι σήμερα τα γραφεία της FIBA. Το ρεκόρ παραμένει ακατάρριπτο σε ό,τι αφορά το ευρωπαϊκό μπάσκετ, ενώ συγκαταλέγεται και ανάμεσα στις κορυφαίες "επιδόσεις" παγκοσμίως.
- Το 2018, πενήντα χρόνια μετά τον θρίαμβο της ΑΕΚ στο Κύπελλο Κυπελλούχων, ο σκηνοθέτης Τάσος Μπουλμέτης, γύρισε την ταινία "1968" με θέμα αυτόν ακριβώς τον αγώνα και όλα τα παρασκήνιά του. Πρωταγωνιστές ήταν ο Αντώνης Καφετζόπουλος, ο Ιεροκλής Μιχαηλίδης, ο Γιώργος Μητσικώστας, η Βασιλική Τρουφάκου, ο Ορφέας Αυγουστίδης, ο Στέλιος Μάινας, ο Γιάννης Βούρος και άλλοι. Η μουσική ήταν της Ευανθίας Ρεμπούτσικα και η πρώτη προβολή έγινε στις 25 Ιανουαρίου του 2018.
- Από τους πρωταγωνιστές εκείνης της μεγάλης ΑΕΚ του 1968, δε βρίσκονται πια στη ζωή ο Αντώνης Χρηστέας (απεβίωσε το 2011), ο Γιώργος Αμερικάνος (απεβίωσε το 2013), ο Πέτρος Πετράκης (απεβίωσε το 2016) και ο προπονητής Νίκος Μήλας (απεβίωσε το 2019).
* Βίντεο:Φάσεις από τον τελικό του 1968 με την περιγραφή του Βασίλη Γεωργίου.
* Βίντεο:Το επίσημο τρέιλερ της ταινίας "1968".