Volleyball
Men’s Olympic volleyball: The third European championship title for the red and white team
Olympiacos has achieved the third European trophy in its history in men’s volleyball and remains the only Greek club to have done so.
The players of the red and white team wrote their name in the history of Olympiacos and Greek volleyball by winning the Challenge Cup on Wednesday night.
This is the Piraeus club’s third European title in men’s volleyball and fourth in volleyball overall, after tallying another in women’s volleyball.
In particular, the red and white team competed in the final for the eighth time (two in the Champions Cup, 1992 and 2002, four in the Cup Winners’ Cup, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2005 and two in the Challenge Cup, 2018 and 2023) and reached the finish of the course for the third time.
The seven Final 4 and the first doubles final
Olympiacos have managed to reach at least the semi-finals a further 12 times in their history in European competition.
In fact, he was seven years in a row in the final-4 of the European Cup, four times in the Champions League (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995) and three times a cup winner (1996, 1997, 1998).
Now he competed in the doubles final for the first time and won the title.
The double of Dragovics, Christofidelis and Tsakiropoulos
Two athletes that deserve special mention on this Olympiakos route are Dragovics, Christofidelis and Tsakiropoulos.
These were the connecting links of the Red and Whites’ first two European trophies as they took part in both trophy conquests as well as of course winning all the titles in the SEF.
Of course, Olympiacos had great foreigners in its roster, as well as coaches.
The first title with Cuban flair
Olympiacos won their first European title in the 1995/96 season when they celebrated lifting the Cup Winners’ Cup.
In the semi-final he won 3-1 against Alkom Kapele and in the final he played against Bayer Wuppertal on his birthday (03.10.96).
With Yannis Laios on the bench, Cubans Hernandez and Sanchez put on a terrible performance and Greek players like it Dragovic, Giourdas, Tsakiropoulos and Moustakidis, Olympiacos won the title by 3-2 sets. This was also Olympiakos’ first title in a division.
Olympiakos – Bayer Wuppertal 3:2
The sentences: 15-9, 13-15, 15-7, 12-15, 15-12
OLYMPIACOS (Yiannis Laios): Amarianakis, Dragovics, Tsakiropoulos, Moustakidis, Lykoudis, Michalopoulos, Christofidelis, Giourdas, Sanchez, Hernandez, Doukas, Theodoridis
Back up in tango rhythms
Olympiakos returned to the European title in the 2004/05 season after the Cup Winners’ Cup was renamed the Top Teams Cup.
As mentioned above, Tsakiropoulos, Dragovics and Christofidelis were in completely different roles in the team.
In the 2004–05 season, Olympiacos left with Argentine coach Claudio Cuejo while they took on veteran Cross and Argentina national team captain Marcos Milinkovic.
In the semi-finals, Olympiacos defeated Dukla Liberec 3-0 and defeated the Dutch in the final. Ortek Neselande, by Peter Blanche, with 3-0 sets (25-23, 25-18, 25-23) and took the title.
Olympiacos – Ortek Neseland 3-0
The sentences: 25-23, 25-18, 25-23
OLYMPIACOS (Claudio Cuegio): Kournetas, Christofidelis, Tsakiropoulos, Alexandropoulos, Dimitrakopoulos, Milinkovics, Salmon, Terzis, Kotsilianos, Hadjiantoniou, Dragovics, Dirceu (instead of Vizari)
Source: sport 24
Alberta Robinson is a sports journalist and author, who is currently associated with the publication Sportish, where she writes about sports related news and events. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, Robinson brings in-depth analysis and insightful commentary to her writing.