Superleague
Refik Sampanadzovic on Sportish: “The opening took me back many years”
Refik Sampanadzovic speaks to Sportish about the opening of the OPAP Arena and the honor he felt witnessing the opening of the new stadium firsthand, which brings back memories while he was quick to congratulate Dimitris Melissanidis on his work.
THE Refik Sampanadzovic he was one of the honorees of AEK’s big and historic night at the opening of the OPAP arena as he was one of the 23 great footballers honored for their contribution to the yellow and blacks.
The Bosnian former Union defensive midfielder spoke to him Sportish, where he expressed his honor for the invitation he had accepted to be at the inauguration from Montenegro.
Mr. Melissanidis has done something great for all of us, I hope to come to see games often
He was equally proud to be honored along with other great Union figures, stressing that his time was at AEK
On his presence at the opening of the OPAP Arena: “It is a great honor to be invited. It’s amazing and it took me back many years of big hits.
Mr. Melissanidis has done something great for the world of AEK, for all of us. I came here from Montenegro and tonight for me is a great honor and joy for the new stadium. I played at the old stadium for five years.
“The AEK honored players had an excellent place and honored their jersey. I think my team did the same when we won three championships (ss talks about the three years AEK 1991/1993), so many players of this team deserve to be honored. I always have fond memories of my time at AEK, it was an important part of my career“.
Finally, we asked him for his opinion on the OPAP Arena: “It looks like a nice stadium. AEK can now more easily return to success. I hope to come to see games often in the future“.
Sampanadjovis played a total of 164 times, scoring seven goals. He celebrated two league titles with Union while playing for Olympiakos for two years. Another important achievement in his career is winning the Champions Cup with Red Star.
Broadcast from the OPAP Arena for the historic opening of AEK:
Source: sport 24
I am a writer at Sportish, where I mainly cover sports news. I’ve also written for The Guardian and ESPN Brasil, and my work has been featured on NBC Sports, SI.com and more. Before working in journalism, I was an athlete: I played football for Colgate University and competed in the US Open Cross Country Championships.