Lawrence Prince-Wright’s “The Classy Cockney Connection: The Day of the Sensational Substitutes…”

By Lawrence Prince-Wright

My apologies for such a late commentary on what may seem like a game played quite a bit ago. But superb victories, in the hearts of fans, last for an eternity. The celebration and boasting will go on until, well, the fans have been proven otherwise! Last Thursday’s game (18-02-10), for Panathiniakos at least, proved to be such a day. The outstanding 3-2 home victory against AS Roma, proved vital in Panathinaikos’s shaky Europa League campaign. The home victory encouraged fans to flock into the streets of central Athens chanting songs such as ‘Pantha mou glykia’ and ‘thryle ole ole’.

With all the commotion present one may have thought something bigger was at stake; and how very right they would have been! After all it is the beginning of the most nail biting part of the Europa League, the group stages are done and now we find ourselves anticipating the results of the last-32 standoff. Last Thursday’s result proved the importance of this phase in the competition, the relief of the home victory gave Pantha, in essence, a sort of firm ground to regain their bearings after having a somewhat wobbly start to the competition. Failure to qualify for the Champions League this season was understandably upsetting for the team and fans alike, however the progress in the Europa League has compensated for earlier disappointments. Maybe this year Pantha will end their 32-year drought of international cups?

The game kicked off at 21:05 CET, with the ‘Thyrlos’ showing impressive master possession and ball control, however their lack of communication nearly proved fatal in the 13^th minute with John Arne Riise’s 30 yard wonder-strike whizzing past Tzorvas , hitting the framework. An early wake up call for the thyrlos gave them their first opportunity on goal in the 27^th minute when 19-year-old Sotiris Ninis gave Julio Sergio a run for his money, forcing him to dive and clear the ball. Things took a turn for the worse for the Parsini when Baptista’s accurate forward pass found Vucinic inside the 18-yard box, giving him room to float one into the top right corner of Tzorvas’s net. The Parsini went into the dressing rooms with low moral whilst Roma held their chins up high.

Roma went into the second half with replacement keeper Alexander Doni playing in the place of Julio Sergio; this is when it got interesting. Panathinaikos’s second goal scoring opportunity came from Sunderland’s Cisse whose close range header went just wide off the bar. Dimitris Salpigidis having just been subbed on for Kostas Katsouranis in the 64^th minute, scored two minutes later with a spectacular one touch slip past Doni’s guard, proving that Roma’s fine line defence wasn’t impossible to break through. However a late penalty kick awarded to the away team managed to put them one goal ahead of Panatha; it seemed that the end of the game was near but victory for them was still very, very far. However another sensational substitute, Christodoulopoulos came on the field on the 83^rd minute for Ninis, demonstrating to fans that Roma had let her watch down. Christodoulopoulos’s equalizer came after a right corner ball caused havoc inside Roma’s territory ending up behind the goal line. A draw seemed to suit both home and away fans, but the Prasini wouldn’t rest until they got just one more goal. Once again the subbing on of Stergos Marinos for Sebastian Leto created the opportunity of a wonderful cross bolting on to Cisse’s head, flying past the keeper, a minute before full time. The whistle was finally blown on the 90^th minute.

In hindsight, it sure seems like Nikos Nioplias’s decisions regarding substitutions proved to have played a key role in last Thursday’s victory. Unfortunately for Ranieri’s team, the injury of Julio Sergio proved to have cost them the game.

I am, with another handful of fans, eagerly anticipating the commencement of this Thursday’s game, played at Stadio Olimpico. I can’t help but to think of whether the wonders of substitution will still be relevant?