He is only 31 years old but Matthaios Maroukakis is set to hang up his boots soon after a full career in Greek stadiums wearing the jerseys of historic teams like his favorite Kallithea, AEL, Panionios and Panachaiki. The seasoned striker plans his future away from active action and leaves only a small window of time to fight for another year.

In his interview with SPORT 24, the Limnios striker spoke about the planned return to the island he grew up on, about his friend Sakis Katsoulis and Survivor, but also about his viral cheers in the game between Kallithea and Rhodes.

The interview by Matthew Maroukakis in detail:

For his future in football and his return to Limnos: “I’ve talked to my family about if this isn’t my last year, it will be next year. If the championships are restructured, I can play another year. As soon as I hang my shoes, I’ll go back to the island , where I grew up, Lemnos “Now that football has become, I no longer enjoy it as much as it did in previous years. I want to end my career in Kallithea because I grew up there. “

For life on the island and its plans: “I think I can play another 4-5 years, especially in the Football League. But I want to go back to my island to open a shop. I went through the first quarantine in Limnos and it helped me understand. that I really like “life there.” “I had forgotten that because I had been away from there for 14-15 years. You have peace and quiet in the province. I want to work with the team in my village (Agios Dimitrios), but also with the children who play in the academies.”

For Kallithand his goals for this year: “We look from game to game to achieve our result in the end. Our team is certainly a big name in this category (football league) and has an obligation to play.”

For his coach Giannis Tatsis and his move from AEL: “He’s had a difficult time for AEL, which is a very big team and people are pressuring them. He hasn’t had time to show what he wanted but in Greece a few wrong results are enough to get the coach out of it to change. I definitely will. ” he would have done a lot better if he had taken over AEL since last summer. A coach who joins a team in the middle of the year has no time to pass on his philosophy. He’s a very good coach and he definitely deserves to be at the top of the third category “.

For the mentality of the footballers: “As a child you have more ambitions, goals and of course more stress for the following career. But even if you go to 5×5, you don’t want to lose. All soccer players are selfish and want to win soccer field is made. Maybe I’m not as scared as I am less, but I want my team to win every Sunday.

For talent and infrastructure in our country:“If you exclude a player or two from Kallithea, everyone else is younger than me and I try to pass my experience on to them. In Super League 2 and the Football League there are several young people who can take the above step, but in the country “We don’t have a good infrastructure and we don’t care about talent development. We all know the experienced players in both categories , but there are also children who could play abroad too. “

The differences between the categories: “The gap between Super League 2 and Football League is small, with the exception of a team or two who have a higher budget. I think Super League 1 is a simpler category, it just requires 100% professionalism and the details do the difference “The second division is more difficult as there is strength and tactics and it turns out that it is difficult to match some great players who used to play at a higher level.”

For his mistakes and Panionios: “I think I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my career that I could have avoided. However, I think that I was wronged at Panionios and I deserve to have more chances on a completely different course: “If I could go back to the past, I wouldn’t leave Panionios anything. I was asked to stay and now I understand that I would develop myself as a footballer. ”

For the celebrationjust went viral: “I trolled myself with the celebration. Because I keep hearing ‘thick-thick’, I said I would show my stomach today, nothing happened. Of course, I didn’t think I would go viral.”

For MrsnoAntina and her consequences: “During the quarantine, the players were able to run in order to maintain the desired level of fitness. I didn’t do that. For five months I haven’t trained a single day and it makes sense that I gave up a little and a few pounds. “There are no games that long. You have no rhythm, no running and no breathing.”

For Sakis Katsoulis and survivors: “Sakis and I have been good friends since we played together in Kallithea. He’s very good as a goalkeeper and I think he had all the background to play in Super League 1 but the cruciate ligament rupture he sustained in 2014 held him back. “I went to Survivor too, but I don’t like ads. My friends keep telling me to go. I think I am the best at the sport.”

Because what would you advise a footballer who is starting his career: “Football has a lot of bitterness, but you can’t give up. You have to overcome any difficulty that comes before you, lower your head and move on. Only work can get you where you want. If you deserve it, at some point you will be entitled: “Those who play at the highest level have worked hard and have been rewarded.”

For AEL: “I am connected to AEL and have received a lot of love, especially the year we ascended. If I sit down to watch a Super League game, I only do it to see Larissa and no other team return. I’ll have Ronaldo abs “.

Credit: Andreas Papakonstantinou / Tourette Photography