Villa Park, Illinois - Team Hellas (sponsored and coached by Hellenic United Athletic Club) lost to Poland in National Soccer League Cup of Nations semi final indoor action Friday night at the Odeum. Hellas goalie, Demetri Meletis, won tournament honors as “Top Keeper” allowing a tournament low of 2 goals while posting a 0.67 goals against average and stopping a penalty (pics & video at the end of article).
This is the first Hellas team to participate in the tournament open division in over 10 years. Hellas went into their first game against an experienced Croatia side only 20 minutes after first meeting each other. The Hellas roster was comprised of various Greek players sprinkled among the National and Metro leagues. Despite a high work rate and good individual efforts from the midfield, especially Jaime Kriticos, Hellas was unable to find the back of the Croatia net and went into half time even. In the second half, Hellas forwards from themselves one on one with the Croatia keeper no less than 3 times, only to be stymied by a highly skilled keeper.
Towards the end of the 2nd half, Hellas midfielder, Drew Liogas, found himself on the receiving end of an uncalled foul, then only second later went in with a hard challenge only to be handed a 2 minute blue card. Croatia slotted a shot past Meletis with 30 seconds left on the penalty clock. Hellas, down 0-1, played hard the final minutes only to be turned away by the Croatia keeper time and again.
Hellas went into their second game against Mexico on a need to win basis by an unknown margin. In another game 15 minutes ahead of their own, Serbia was ahead of the Assyrians 3-0. So, Hellas needed at least a similar margin against Mexico to advance. Less than two minutes into the match, Kriticos found the back of the net to take the lead. Five minutes later, Hellas score a second on an individual Gus Vellios effort and ended the half ahead 2-0. During half time, Hellas Coach Spiro Arsenis and player Yannie Moraitis found out that they need a 5 goal margin of victory to advance. They decided to withhold this information at the start of the second half as Hellas was playing nice ball, scoring goals, and didn’t want to force changes yet.
Less than 3 minutes into the second half, Hellas was again penalized with a 2 minute penalty as a shot rebound from the back wall played off of defender Yannie Moraitis’ arm despite his best effort to move out of way as there were no opposing players in the area. On top of the 2 minute penalty, Mexico was awarded a penalty shot. To the disbelief of the Mexican fans, Meletis was there once again to make an incredible save. And to add insult to injury, Hellas ably shut out Mexico’s power play.
With time winding down and Hellas still needing at least 3 more goals to advance, Arsenis kept the midfield fresh with the young legs of Mike Marks, Jamie Kriticos, Alex Fronimos and Drew Liogas. Moraitis and Vellios took turns anchoring the defense allowing the other defender to join the attack. It paid off with a consistent onslaught on the Mexican keeper and defenses. Then it happened. . . a 3rd, a 4th, and a 5th. Hellas now found themselves in the semi finals with their of 5-0 victory.
Hellas, now with only 9 field players, two of whom came from the O-30 ranks, was set to challenge Poland after their hour break and, like Mexico and Croatia before them, had a bench 17 deep. Hellas had less than 30 minutes to rest before facing Poland who earlier that night knocked out tournament favorites Bosnia with a tie and dismantled the Albanian nationals 7-0.
The first half was mostly uneventful with only the occasional isolated defender as both sides played cautiously anticipating the counter attack. In the second half, the game began to open up as Hellas’ energy drawn on by having so few players and playing out a 2 minute penalty in the first half started to take its toll. Despite this and with a lot of help from Meletis, Hellas was able to hold a shut out through an additional 7 minutes (half of the half, or a quarter of the entire match) of penalty time in the second half, forcing a five minute golden goal overtime.
Poland finally beat Meletis and the Hellas defense with 1:30 remaining in the sudden death overtime and advancing to the finals.
"Football sometimes is cruel because, although the boys played their hearts out, we deserved more than we got in the semi final," said Coach Spiro Arsenis.
"We must be proud of the way we played throughout the tournament and we showed that we had the quality to operate against different opponents," he added.
"Considering we ended the night with 9 field players, the smallest roster in the entire tournament, we had a performance we can be proud of but made it difficult to get the result we wanted," said Hellenic United defender Yannie Moraitis. “When I was first handed a scouting report of these players from the former Hellenic United Major Team Coach, my intent was to introduce the players to one another and have some Greeks kick around. Every other ethnic community has representation, and considering the Greek domination of soccer during the 70’s and 80’s in Chicago, there is no reason why we cannot rise to the occasion, let alone have ethnic representation. Tonight did indeed exceed my expectations. Hellenic United had a tremendous first year in existence with the Major team winning the Illinois State Cup and the O-30 team winning the overall championship. Coupled with the accomplishments of team Hellas, my hope is that the Hellenes of the Chicagoland area once again participate and show support for their young community members in competition. As for the players who met each other for the first time tonight, I hope they stay in contact with one another and continue to play together when they can.”
Team Results
Hellas 0-1 Croatia (Group Stage) - Video
Mexico 0-5 Hellas (Group Stage)
Hellas 0-1 Poland (Semi Final) - Video
Team Hellas 2010
Top (L-to-R): Spiro Arsenis (Coach - Hellenic United), Alex Fronimos (Kickers), Elias Litos (Hellenic United), Demetri Meletis (GK - No club affiliation), Nick Penesis (Hellenic United), Yannie Moraitis (Hellenic United), Demetri Pagonis (Trainer - Hellenic United)
Bottom (L-to-R): Kostas Vellios (Hellenic United), George Halkias (Hrvaat), Mike Marks (Hellenic United), James Kriticos (Hrvaat), Minos Bouzoukis (Stare Byki FC), Drew Liogas (Hellenic United)
Cup Of Nations Top Keeper Award - Demetri Meletis
