Exclusive | 9 with Kapetanos: “You know why I liked the Steaua derbies



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“If I don’t change !? I’m fine, I’m going to train every day. I think I still have the same weight as when I played (not – 83 kg)”, Kozani’s current coach starts his discussion with the reporter digisport.ro.

Kapetanos: “Ogăraru surprised me, he sent me photos of the Steaua Stadium”

He has not cut the bridges with Romania and he knows what is happening in the country. Former Ghencea or CFR colleagues keep you posted. “George Ogăraru really surprised me, he sent me photos of the new Steaua Stadium. It’s very beautiful, I like how it looks, I think there will be a lot of spectators … When possible …”

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Fragments of images of the stadiums in Romania chains in your mind. The howl from the stands seemed to shake his entire body even now. He does not like football without spectators. It seems like a fad. In fact, sad. Very sad. He does not even believe that television or the laptop are therapies for hungry fans of the spectacle in the stands. Wait for the doors to open again for the fans. Return to a sphere of normality. “These hard times will pass”murmured the Greek in a grave tone.

3. FOOTBALL: FC UNIREA URZICENI-STEAUA BUCHAREST 2-2, LIGA 1 (7.03.2010)
Pantelis Kapetanos / Photo: Sport Pictures

Kapetanos met Maradona in the match with Argentina at the 2010 World Cup

Pantelis Kapetanos has in mind ancient images with Greek fans storming polo pools, playing in basketball arenas or lighting up the sky inside soccer stadiums. And keep up your slow motion and dribble Maradona. “I had the opportunity to be close to him, in that World Cup game I admired him all the time. Both as a footballer and as a man. Through his way of being, he transmitted positive energy. No matter what mistakes he made. Made in his life private “.

10 years ago, the Greek would play only one game at the World Cup in South Africa, in the group failure, 0-2 with South Korea. The German Otto Rehhagel left him on the bench in the match with the “pumas” led by Diego Maradona, but the moment is among the first pages of his memoirs. It ended 0-2, but Pantelis He was there. In the spell of the World Cup. A gesture of the volcanic selector, watched from a few meters, sees again. “Each event has its charm”, continues Kozani’s current coach.

South Korea v Greece: Group B - 2010 FIFA World Cup
Kapetanos, in a duel with Park Ji Sung, in the match Greece – South Korea, in the 2010 World Cup / Photo: Getty Images

From League 1, selected in the Greek national team and reached the 2010 World Cup. “I have special respect for the Romanians. I command them to be patient, to take care of them, this pandemic will pass”

In 2010, Kapetans he became the first foreigner to reach a World Cup qualified team by following their evolutions in the elite echelon of Romania. And who had chosen it! The great Rehhagel, the German who had climbed Greece, in 2004, on the Olympus of football.

“I have special respect for many people in Romania who spoke superlatively about me in front of Otto Rehhagel and his staff. Romania is my second home, I know it was Romania’s national day and I transmit it to them, Romanians, through you! Happy birthday! Be patient, take care of them, this pandemic will pass with the help of God “, the ancient peak of Ghencea and Gruia has confidence.

South Korea v Greece: Group B - 2010 FIFA World Cup
Pantelis Kapetanos, at the end of the match Greece – South Korea / Photo: Getty Images

“I don’t like the sea, so I would take some Romanian mountain resorts to Greece”

Kapetanos is accompanied in his native Greece by many memories collected in Romania. He looked with interest at many coaches he had in League 1, but he will always be captivated by the mountainous areas of Romania. “There are many coaches in Romania, but also in Greece, who have shaped my career. I don’t want to underline a name, each of them had a contribution. But I can mention what it would take from Romania to Greece. I don’t like the sea, so I would take some hill stations: Sinaia, Predeal, Poiana Brașov … I visited them all “, Kapetanos draws, in a tone of admiration, the map of his favorite spots in Romania.

  • Pantelis scored 18 goals in 52 games for CFR Cluj
  • Pantelis scored 35 goals in 90 games for the team sponsored by Gigi Becali
  • The current coach gathered 4 teams in the Greek team

Kapetanos’ dream: “MI will return to Romania after I graduate as a coach, I intend to coach a Romanian team ”

Greek is diplomatic. It says that the matches of Steaua, the current FCSB, the team sponsored by Becali, but also CFR. “I spent some nice years in Romania, I still talk to old teammates, I managed to win trophies in their country and make solid friends. I think the defenders who scored me also like me. He wants me to name the hardest one because maybe someone else would be upset. But I will return to Romania, after obtaining my coaching diploma, I intend to coach a Romanian team. ”

Kapetanos: “Răzvan Lucescu is highly respected and loved in Greece”

At 37, Kapetanos will be the coach. He says that he would not have been called to an official position or businessman and that he would not have been able to stay out of football after retiring from Makedonikos Foufas last year. The man who opened the scoring in CFR – Manchester United 1-2 and became one of the main actors in the thriller Napoli – Steaua 3-3 appreciates the career of a Romanian coach. “I really like what Răzvan Lucescu achieved at PAOK and what he does now. He is well loved in Greece and respected”, says the former top scorer for Romania.

FOOTBALL: STEAUA BUCURESTI-CFR CLUJ 2-2, LIGA 1 (9.08.2009)
Pantelis Kapetanos spoke for digisport.ro / Photo: Sport Pictures

The Kapetanos comparison from an interesting angle. The difference between PAOK – Olympiacos and your former team’s games with Dinamo

“I keep talking to many former Steaua teammates. Do you know why I liked the Steaua – Dinamo derbies?”, The Captains intervened. The reporter’s response is long overdue, and the Greek takes over and unfolds the thread of the story.

“Unlike a PAOK – Olympiacos, where only the fans of one team predominate and monopolize the atmosphere (no: – the host team), in Steaua – Dinamo I have always seen balanced forces at the level of the fans of the two teams and that atmosphere “Of course, in Greece, the fans create a sensational atmosphere in the stadiums, but the Steaua – Dinamo derbies hold a special place in my heart”, the former footballer continues.

Gigi Becali, through the eyes of Kapetanos: “He saw his dream”

Just remember Romania with pleasure. Kapetans paints the portrait with warm touches even for himself Gigi Becali, the one who had, at one point, when the Greek played CFR, a suburban reaction to the Ptolemaid-born forward. “Gigi is a man who loves the team very much, he invested a lot of money in Steaua, he wanted his team to play at the highest level in Europe, he won championships and he saw his dream with his own eyes. Gigi must be appreciated for everything! What he did the!”, says the top who played 90 games for the red-blue band.

While waiting for the fans to return to the stadiums, the Greek attends the Champions League and Europa League matches. “Good games, but I don’t like football without fans”, emphasizes.

Top to bottom: “Haaland will become a great striker”

Who impressed you from the new wave of young forwards at the old top with four teams in the Greek team? “I like Haaland better, he is very strong, he will become a great striker”, Also points out Kapetanos.

The discussion with Pantelis ends and the former striker goes to see the second day of the Champions League. He calmly continues his coaching career, he follows the great coaches of the world, but above all he hopes to see the fans again in the arenas.

FOOTBALL: STEAUA BUCHAREST-FC TIMISOARA 3-3, LEAGUE 1 (04.25.2010)
Kamikaze. Clash with Pedro Taborda, in a match with Poli Timișoara / Photo: Sport Pictures
1. FOOTBALL: STEAUA BUCHAREST-CFR CLUJ 2-2, LEAGUE 1 (11/28/2010)
Together with my friend Ionuț Rada / Photo: Sport Pictures

Tags: Steaua-Dinamo , Gigi Becali , Kapetans , pantelis kapetanos , Diego Maradona , steaua stadium , Razavan Lucescu , haaland

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