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Benfica were the rival PAOK hoped to avoid in the Champions League third qualifying round draw. From the phase that has since followed the mating with the Lisbon ‘eagles’ until 1-4 two years ago, ‘Dikefalos’ counted three exclusions. All with defeat in Toumba. The draw did not fulfill his wish. Instead of the total 66% of Dynamo Kiev or KRC Genk, 33% were verified. The team of 80 million in the current transfer market and 5 million for a coaching staff, in order to ensure the return of Jorge Zezou, was on its way again. Home. Curse.
This time, however, everything seemed to be different. In progress, but mainly in result. That mattered in the final: qualifying for just one game. The demanding people were missing (who always put more pressure), the 2-1 became the spell, the magic was resolved in 90 minutes. The recipe was discovered by Abel Ferreira. The one who most feared Jorge Zezous. “He knows me very well since he had me as a coach“, said the Benfica coach on the eve of Tuesday’s game, recalling the 2003-04 season that he lived in Guimaraes. Right-back Abel, with 18 participations, was learning then. As head coach he met him 4 times since then and lost only one. He knew it, read it, neutralized it.
The way PAOK chose to play was once again exemplary for the purpose it wanted to fulfill. 3-4-3 worked for the second time in Europe. Yes, Benfica had forceful possession, more than 70%, they had the crossbar (in the absence of Pizzi), they had the advantage. Of course, he had the opportunity of Everton in 57 ‘. But there is. The fulfillment of the ‘impossible mission’ that was missing definitely wanted the favor of luck. Luckily the PAOK was missing the times he met him. Luck and skill together. They coincide with success.
Because he had a stable goalkeeper. A Zivkovic. Because the pass from Giannoulis to Akpom and at the same time his vertical movement for the precise projection of 1-0 in 64 ‘required thinking correctly. Because the lousy career of the international left-back who in 76 ‘put Zivkovic the other in a’ hand-to-hand ‘position with his rival before Vlachodimos’ arrival on the left required strength, a key transfer in space and for course finesse, class, quality. From a footballer who a few days ago left, almost by obligation, from Lisbon to Thessaloniki.
Karma. For the Serbian extremist, who surpassed the ‘eagles’ but did not celebrate, and with all those who did not want to see the ’14’ in the Toumba grass for so many years. PAOK had everything he needed to ‘dissolve’ the curse. He had exactly what Zezus was trembling with: plan, courage, patience, energy. Courage to the end. The 66-year-old coach realized this while Benfica was behind the scoreboard. His reaction was nervous. The game was half an hour ahead of him. He knew. When Rafa Silva reduced the Lusitanian time he was saved. In 94 ‘he had already accepted his fate. Student Abel Ferreira was sitting at the first desk, sucking in knowledge. In the competition he was asked to write, he got an excellent 10.
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