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CHAMPS once again: our 33rd title


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Rivaldo proves his doubters wrong

ATHENS, May 26 (Reuters) - If there were doubts about the motives behind Rivaldo's move to Olympiakos last summer, the Brazilian dispelled them with a series of superb performances that helped secure a league and cup double for the Piraeus club.

Rivaldo competes with Xabi Alonso in the group stages of the Champions League. (PhilCole/GettyImages)

The former Deportivo, Barcelona and AC Milan playmaker, who won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002, arrived in Athens hoping to revive a career faltering through injury.

Some sceptics said he had only come for the money but he has played so well that even Pele said this month that he saw no reason why Rivaldo should not be in Brazil's 2006 World Cup squad.

His tally of 12 league goals, including the decisive strike in the 1-0 win over Iraklis on Wednesday which sealed the title, and one glorious strike in the 3-0 Cup final win over Aris Salonika, were reward for his consistency.

His impact off the field has also been telling, with the sale of shirts bearing his name soaring.

Last year's champions Panathinaikos and AEK Athens pushed Olympiakos to the limit, with all three in contention for the title going into the final round of matches.

Off the field, Panathinaikos sacked two coaches during the season, Itshak Shum and Zdenek Scasny, before settling on former Parma boss Alberto Malesani.

But Fanis Gekkas, their mid-season signing from Kalllithea, proved a masterstroke and he ended the season as top goalscorer, as well as breaking into the national team.

AEK Athens were happy just to remain in existence after financial difficulties in the close season led to the exit of five top players, including Greece captain Theodoros Zagorakis, and the takeover of the club by a consortium led by former player Demis Nikolaidis.

AEK SURVIVE

They escaped liquidation through Article 44, which legally allowed them to write off a large part of their estimated 100 million euros debt, and under Portuguese coach Fernando Sanchez finished third, three points behind Olympiakos. They will compete in next season's UEFA Cup.

Nikolaidis's push to have a family section at AEK's home matches at the Olympic Stadium did much to curb potential trouble but elsewhere the season was marred by crowd violence.

At various stages of the season Olympiakos and Panathinaikos were ordered to play behind closed doors.

In one incident in January the match between Panionios and Olympiakos had to be postponed shortly before kick-off because of fighting between the fans.

The worst incident came in the penultimate round of the season when Aris Salonika fans invaded the pitch and attacked two Iraklis players, both of whom needed hospital treatment.

The match, which had to be abandoned, was awarded to Iraklis and Aris, docked three points, were duly relegated.

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It is time to finish this season of samba in the port

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and it finished with celebrations, and emotional farewell to Giovani

Here is the full description, Wish I were there (sigh)

Celebrations in Piraeus

27 May 2005 22:43:00

Today, Olympiacos celebrated the 33rd championship in their history, their 11th double and the 8th championship in ten years. And what place better to do it than the new Karaiskakis Stadium. More than 30,000 red fans inside the "palace" and a few hundreds outside were there all day to welcome their beloved team in an atmosphere that has never been created before! Fans started gathering in the Stadium as early as 6 in the afternoon, while matrixes were showing the teams' goals for the season and the sounds of "My Number One" were filling the area. In fact, fans even remembered older Olympiacos players, like Carembeu, Gogic, KMelachrinosalis, Alexandris, Giannakopoulos and Amanatidis. The host of the fiesta was well-known Greek actor Renos Charalabidis and the show started with Giovanni's award for his contribution to Olympiacos.

With Giovanni's appearance, fans went mad. The Stadium was literally rocking and the people were cheering and applauding for quite some time, while Giovanni thanked them from the heart, before receiving the honorary plate from Sokratis Kokkalis. The ceremony for the trophy award followed suit. However, when EPAE's (Hellenic Association of Football Clubs) president Alexandros Lykourezos made his appearance, fans booed. He avoided saying something despite receiving the microphone and simply took his position behind the trophy. On the contrary, Olympiacos general manager Savvas Theodoridis was more than welcomed, while when Dusan Bajevic made his appearance, it seemed that fans were divided. The overwhelming majority went mad for the coach that led their team to the double, but a small part of the fans were rather disapproving of him.

As was expected, in a climate of cheers and applause the host started presenting the footballers, who in their majority got on stage with their children. First was Rivaldo, followed by Nikopolidis, Georgatos, Anatolakis and then the rest. Predrag Djordjevic was the last to come up, and before lifting the trophy high in the air, he asked Sokratis Kokkalis to join him and they lifted it together. Karaiskakis Stadium was literally on fire! Fireworks turned night into day, music filled the air and players started acting like little boys who had just been given the best present. It was time for the tour of the triumph. Fans respected the footballers' request and stayed off the pitch and this was the first time in these eight championships that the players managed to make a full circle.

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