Hellas, yeah - Chronicle Journal

Hellas, yeah
By Emmanuel Moutsatsos
Sep 3, 2006, 00:30

Greeks need the whole alphabet.
They need it for their names. It’s out of necessity, really. Just peer over the roster for Winnipeg Hellas and you’ll discern what we’re talking about.
There’s Theo Pagagiannopoulos, Teddy Simeonidis, Justin Castalanos, Bill Economos and others.
“We use a lot of letters,” agrees Economos with a chuckle.
“We need most of the vowels,” notes Tom Pagagiannopoulos.
“My uncle’s last name is like 16 letters long, it’s Hasiathiansiathis,” adds Simeonidis.
There’s more to the Greeks than just their last names — much more.
For starters, there’s soccer.
The Most Beautiful Game On Earth was played best by the Little Country That Could back in 2004 when Greece won the Euro Cup, which raised the eyebrows of all in the sporting world and dipped the country and its many members across the globe in magic waters.
“We weren’t the best team on paper, but we had the biggest heart,” describes Dimitri Ifandis. “No one believed it would happen, but if you were Greek you believed it could happen.”
“It’s about what’s inside your gut,” says Pagagiannopoulos. “If you have the heart then everything else will follow. The talent, the commitment, the passion, but you’ve got to have the heart first.”
Adds Simeonidis: “I don’t even care if it ever happens again. That’s all we needed and I’m so happy we did it.
“I’m good for the next 100 years.”

THE GAME AGAINST Maples Juventus is going well for Hellas. They are dominating territory like a Spartan army would. Scoring opportunities are flowing like the Aegean Sea. They are running harder than Phidippides after the Battle of Marathon.
Yet trouble comes late in the first half when Andi Bodganovic’s cross deflects off a Hellas defender’s hand, which isn’t called by the referee by the way, and onto the boot of Juventus’ Antonio Valdovinos who proceeds to place the ball into the back of the net from 12 yards for a 1-0 lead.
Being down to Juventus is something Hellas is not used to.
Both play in the Winnipeg Premier division. Hellas, the second best team in the 10-team league, has beaten Juventus, the fourth ranked team, three times in the season and though Hellas starts to press even harder than before, it doesn’t look like they will be able to go 2-0 (they won earlier in the day) at the Thunder Bay Invitational Tournament that was in its second day of competition at Chapples Park on Saturday.

WITH AN ACCENT thicker than Chita Rivera’s makeup, George Ifandis, Hellas’ manager and Dimitri’s dad, gives his point of view of the game he’s watching. He gives it whether anyone is listening or not.
Having an opinion on everything — it’s the Greek way. For the most part they are right about anything they talk discuss (at least that’s what they believe) and Ifandis is correct when he infers the match is being played with pathos. That’s Greek for passion and both teams are exuding it in boat loads. That becomes clear in the late goings of the second half, with the score still 1-0, when a scuffle breaks out between the two teams.
“It’s horiotiko soccer,” laughs Reverend Nikolaos Tambakis, meaning the game looks like how its played in a Greek village with elbows and fists being used more than feet.
Tambakis is a young priest for the local Greek Orthodox church here in the city and knows a few of the players since he was brought up in Winnipeg and though he is there as a spectator, his duties as a priest quickly take over when Economos goes down shortly later with a leg injury.
“Time to get to work,” says Tambakis as he scurries to his car to get a prayer book and shawl then recite a prayer of healing for Economos, who is lying on the bench with his thigh wrapped in ice.
A priest caring for a player at a soccer match — it’s a scene you would see with no other culture than the Greeks.

HELLAS ENDS UP giving up a late goal. Bodganovic, who has been playing well all day for Juventus, seals the win with but a few minutes left in a spirited match. Hellas is dejected after the loss. The effort was there — with Greeks, the effort is always there — but the result wasn’t. They start walking towards their cars to head to a (what else?) Greek restaurant for lunch. Their heads are still down. They catch a glimpse of a women’s team warming up. The tide turns.
“Hey, ask them where they’re heading tonight?” says Ifandis.
It’s the Greek way.

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