Disclaimer: this probably got a little too long. But after rereading it turns out that this is what I want to say. On the other hand, no one is forced to read
I can hardly describe how immensely happy I felt all throughout this last World Cup. Twenty years after my first appearance there I was again in Athens, where it all begun for me, to participate for the 16th time in this glorious event.
I knew (we all did) that this was going to be a superb one, because we had Alkis as the main organizer, and he knows perfectly both for professional and personal experience what to do for all of us to enjoy the WC weekend.
Anyway my best expectations were crushed from the beginning: the real thing was better than whatever I had imagined in my wildest dreams. If only because of this lovely detail: the WC begun on Alkis Day and ended on Steve Camber’s birthday. How could we possibly have picked a more perfect timing?
For those of us lucky enough to have been there since the early days, it is amazing how much the KOA main event has evolved. And this time reached a pinnacle that will be impossible to match for many years to come.
On a personal note, this was sure going to be very special for me: I had skipped the last one in 2019 because of other engagements. Then, as we all know, covid came and turned our lives upside down. There have sadly been other very negative developments in the world, and who knows what lies ahead for us in the future. But if we learned anything is that we cannot give the next WC or any future event for granted, and I am sure that we all shared that emotion along these few days together, making this gathering extra special.
Above all, there was that feeling of a very much desired re-encounter. As cheesy as it may sound, we all could feel the love in this WC. That also made bitterer some key absences of long-time friends, you know who you are, which I really hope we will get to meet again very soon.
I arrived for the first time on a Wednesday. My flight to Madrid instead of Jerez landed in Seville because of some deep mist, like coming out of the Stephen King novel, so we had to get there by bus and arrived to Madrid with a delay of almost five hours. I have to say that in spite of these unfortunate events I call myself lucky for having booked the Madrid and the Athens flights with such a wide time difference that in the end allowed my not to miss the second flight of the day. I had a booked taxi waiting for me at the airport, and arrived smoothly and swiftly to The Stanley Hotel.
The hotel did not disappoint, and my room was big enough, perfectly clean and with a great double bed. Also in the next morning I could enjoy a very good buffet breakfast.
Since this was my third time in Athens, and both times before I had visited the Acropolis, for this year I decided just to walk around the impressive site instead of going up. It was a very rewarding event, and after completely surrounding the big monumental rock, I entered for the first time the Acropolis museum. It was an overwhelming experience, which only had the downside of reminding me that my classical culture knowledge of the history and the myths is not what it should be to get the most out of the place. Still I loved very much the museum, and was deeply moved when I found myself in front of the true Acropolis caryatides.
After some casual lunch, went back to the hotel to have a nice siesta, knowing that in the evening we had already arranged the first meeting: Alkis, Klaus, Panayotis and me would go to have dinner together. And oh, what a dinner that was! The place was picked by KOA Greek foodie expert Panayotis. Since the menu was in Greek only (which shows how authentic the place was) I merely put one condition: ask for whatever you want as long as it does not have cheese (sorry again for being a drag about this every year in every meal), and then the four of us shared seven or eight dishes that turned out to be incredibly tasty, varied, and also even cheap.
It is funny that when I go in Jerez to a McDonalds (not very often) always reminds me of KOA WC meals, but oh, not this WC. With all due respect for other past host countries, in Greece they do have real food (only Italy qualifies high too on that aspect), and the Thursday dinner was only the beginning of an personal and intense love affair with the local food that would last for the whole weekend.
Also, of course, the company was delightful, as I always knew it would be. Group dinners are good, but getting this kind of intimate gathering with dearest long time KOA friends it also has been one of the features that made me love this WC like no other.
Everything was going great so far, and then on Friday morning Spyros had been so nice as to offer to take me to a day trip to Cape Sounio. When I arrived to our meeting point I found that his wife, Tatiana, was also coming with us, what made our little trip even better. I already expected the journey to be a nice one, but I have to admit that “nice” is not at all an appropriate word to describe the excursion. It just falls too short. Driving through the Athens Riviera, mostly by a sea adorned with crystal waters, little beaches, and a continuous array of smaller and bigger rocks and islands, on a winding road, on a clear day, just wow. Finally arriving to Cape Sounio, topped by the Temple of Poseidon, which we visited, can only be described as one of the most magical experiences of my life. And it was a privilege that I could share it with such lovely friends as Tatiana and Spyros.
Then, as it has been a constant of this extended WC, things got better, and they treated me for lunch at an astonishing restaurant by the sea in Vougliameni. We had excellent and abundant food, this time mostly of sea products, beautifully served, in the best company. I enjoyed it so much that I must say that I feel a little tormented of not being able to repay them in a lifetime for such an out of this world day trip. But I promise I will do my best!
And then, after some rest back in the hotel, most people arrived and the WC itself really begun. Oh, what a glorious feeling to commence seeing classic KOA faces, to share the first drinks together at the hotel bar… at first I was with Chris, Jaume, Michele and Thor, and then received a message by Samu telling me that he had met Alessandro and Gianni in the same flight. I am so glad that for the Málaga boys to begin their first WC in such exceptional way.
Most of us went to the designated place to have the Friday WC dinner, and I loved getting to see such a lively area of Athens. The food as it was served was a very good idea, just huge platters of different kinds of meat and fries, all served with big glasses of beer. Not only was good, but avoided us the hassle of having to order individually. When most people had decided to back to the hotel a select few were lured by Robert to stay having more drinks, and that kept us happily entertained until almost two in the morning. However, once we arrived to the metro station the fence was already down, so we had to get some taxis to go back to the hotel. Completely worth it!
The next morning, after such a long and disgraceful pause, it was, at last, World Cup Saturday.
There was a little anecdote on breakfast: I saw Michele sitting in a 4 chairs table, and went to sit with him and some other guy which I thought was Manfred. I began talking to him about the day ahead, showing him my cool Athens 2022 t-shirt, Jaume also joined us, and after a few minutes of conversation turned out to be that that man was not Manfred, but a Norwegian tourist having breakfast on his own. It seems that he was just too kind not to follow the conversation, although he probably did not understand much of it. What puzzles me the most is why was Michele sitting in his table.
First of all I complied with my duty of going to the registration desk and paying for the WC fee, meals and t-shirt. And I got to meet again, after so long, Roula, and for the first time, beautiful Nephele. It was so awfully nice to get to see the whole family, and I must say that it also made me miss the presence of some other classic KOA wives, which graced us with their presence in past World Cups. Besides Roula, in charge of the registration process, were two pretty ladies that also played a big role in making the WC experience better for all of us: Penny and Vicky.
I remembered very well Penny from 2008, and she looked just as nice and sweet. The new addition in this WC was Vicky. When I got there to say hello and register, for some reason she spoke a record number of words in a few seconds, which was equally an impressive show of energy and a bit scary. I believe afterwards I gave all my matches results to Penny, though I could not help quite often observing energetic Vicky from a safe distance. Above all, the work they did was simply perfect, and one can only think of what a downer it will be in the future to give the results to someone else.
It was marvellous to finally get to see the rest of the Greeks, and I must highlight my favourite Vasilis. He provided me with accommodation in his own apartment 20 years before, after being only faceless MSN friends, and showed to me for the first time the enormous generosity that most KOAers era endowed with.
The presentation and draw was so wonderful, with Alkis and Robert doing what they do best: keeping a perfectly balanced presentation and draw ceremony that is as informative, and as moving, as it is entertaining, all done with the invaluable collaboration of Nephele, who did a perfect job. However, to me the best part was the recollection of memories of past World Cups, so necessary, so poignant, to put us all definitely in the best WC mood. The KOA has indeed a rich history that is worth to be revised.
After that we played kick off matches. I did not do very good, but cannot say it was a surprise. I did my best match in the first one against George Ka, but lost, and then everything got worse. However I had my moments, like when I took the lead twice in my match against Mario. By the way, it was funny that after scoring, he selected lockout. Come on, it was only me, no need to expect lobs or quality kick off routines
For the dinner we had another great time at Salero restaurant. Panayotis had the clever idea of giving us in the afternoon the list of main dishes so we could choose in advance, while he arranged for everybody the starters. Once again, good real food, in good quantities. I had the luck of seating beside Nikos (and luckily there would be a second on Sunday), who always has interesting subjects for conversation and provided me of valuable information about Athens life. In the end, as it was another constant of the weekend, while almost all of us retired, Robert wanted to stay longer. But this time I believe it was only him and Panayotis who asked for another drink.
The next morning it was World Cup Sunday, the day that we all are waiting for. It is the time when you will be grouped together with your kick off equals (more or less), and when each one of us has to show how far he will get on a levelled field. No more Giannis, no more Thors, no more excuses.
I had luck on my Silver Cup group, and managed to finish first after winning all matches except for a draw with Ian. But honestly, it was really some luck: most results were really close, and could have easily gone either way. The best consequence was, that once eliminated from the Silver Cup competition format the traditional (though hugely absurd) quarters and semis, I was going to play my sixth Silver Cup Final. That made me very happy; although when I realized that I would have to play against Gabriele I knew that my chances of victory were really slim. It happened that I had already played a friendly with him the day before, and knew first-hand how he was in many ways better than me. The only hope I kept is that he got nervous because of having to play in the big screen, but was I wrong! He is not just young, has the best hair, killer lobs, but he is also cold as ice. Although I scored the first goal and played a decent first half, he completely dominated the game on the second, and already before the final whistle I resigned and just wasted time waiting for the end. Congratulations, don Gabriele.
That is as far as my personal performance goes, but of course, on a WC there is so much more. It is so thrilling watching the big guys’ games, and being witness of great stories, like Samu beating mighty Alkis on his WC debut, and above all, the story that captivated my heart: the incredible advance of Lorenzo to semi-finals.
Lorenzo was in the old days a classic Silver Cup player. In fact, he was always the one that I wanted to avoid, but proving that everything is possible with determination and hard work, he was the biggest and nicest surprise of this tournament. Too busy with my own games I missed him getting to quarters instead of Alkis (another historic moment per se), but then I heard that he had qualified for semi-finals! I went to look for him to congratulate him, and found him out of the room, telling his wife about it on the phone, with tears in his eyes that very soon appeared in mine as well. Amazingly for him the dream would still go further, and he reached the 2022 KOA WC final, where heroically resisted for practically all the first half of leg one without conceding a single goal. This has been one of the best sport stories in the 20 editions we have had so far of the KOA WC, while at the same time being a very touching one.
The final was, although as I have said Lorenzo resisted heavily at first, dominated with iron fist by Gianni, who achieved his 5th title. He was already the most successful player of all times, but it was also true that for all of us and most likely for him, the last big achievement was getting a little behind. I can see that it may take more or less time, but the 5th will definitely not be the last. Bravo, campione!
As it has been the case of Alkis too, one can only wonder how much Gianni could have won throughout these twenty World Cups if he had not been often so busy and involved as main or secondary organizer. Most of us, who just get there and play and enjoy, must never forget that always, behind a fun event for most, there is very hard work by a few. And this goes, above all, for Alkis, Gianni and Steve. Always there, always giving, always ready to help the rest of us to have the best of times.
After the competition was over, it was time for the closing ceremony. Again, what happened exceeded my expectations. First of all, it was great that we finally could finish on a decent time, so we could have this beautiful unifying moment at the proper pace it deserves. We must keep that in mind before complaining about empty hours on Sunday.
Alkis took the microphone to begin with the presentation of the highest KOA honour: The Lifetime Achievement Award, which was so rightly given to Alessandro. No need to remark his fundamental role as co-organizer in several World Cups and other tournaments, since Alkis already did that in front of everyone. I just want to share some personal memories of him. To me it all began in Cologne 2005, where somehow we connected so fine since the first day. Already on the Saturday evening dinner, at a Mexican restaurant, he was sitting in front of me, inviting me to go to Italy, to stay in his house, putting himself at my service! I also remember that 2005 WC because I arrived at a very very low personal point, but having Alessandro around is the best therapy anyone could ask for. Seventeen years later he is still here, always making everything better around him, and I could not be happier that he got this award. The emotional speech he delivered made all of us have to wipe some tear, and that is a lot of what the KOA is about: an association of kick off 2 players who care for each other.
One of the new players told me how positively amazed he was that among so many people there was not a single asshole. Yes, there was not (in this edition). We do not all have to be close friends, and it is only normal that each one of us connects a little more with this or that player. But in the end we are all, better and worse players, extroverts or shy persons, in the same boat, making all together the dream possible once more.
The last WC was also very special for me because of the arrival of Fran and Samu, to join the already veteran Jaume and me and conform a respectable national team. I am sure that they enjoyed this new experience enormously, and that they probably regret not having got here before. But what really counts is that now that they made contact (and at least in Samu’s case, tasted the flavourful blood of getting victories over KOA legends) they are certainly going to stay as long as we have the World Cups running. It was a pity that Jaume could not win the Bronze Cup, and that Fran could not play with me an all Spanish Silver Cup final, but this was not the year for that. This was the year of Italy, and a little for Greece as well. In summary, all the champions were from the Mediterranean area, and it is only fair considering how nicely they feed us every time we are there
Before dinner, a few of us gathered at the rooftop bar, and it was lovely that Vicky joined us. I could speak a little more with her and share a drink, to gladly confirm that she is a very cool and interesting girl. I must say I was very pleased to meet her.
In that small drinking group it occurred to someone to give Andy a video phone call, and that was truly nice, I hope for him as well. I really would love to get more of Andy in future big tournaments.
For Sunday dinner the restaurant was again a great choice by Panayotis, and in my opinion the best one counting only official dinners, Friday to Sunday. The food was terribly good, the dishes were big, and on top of it we could sing happy birthday to the great Steve Camber. This last dinner is also usually very emotional, since we all know that it is the final event of the glorious WC weekend. Already knowing that we need to say goodbye, but not even wanting to look at the watch, we stayed in the restaurant until it was obvious that the staff needed to go home. Then we continued the precious last moments together at the hotel’s rooftop bar. For some people there would still be breakfast, perhaps a last Athens walk on Monday, but my plane was too early and had to say au revoir to the last KOAers who were there.
Only had one last appointment: Lorenzo shared with me the morning taxi to the airport, whit his soul full of joy and his baggage full of silverware. Could not have been more perfect.
What a weekend. Really, you cannot realize how happy all of you have made me feel. When unexpectedly Alkis handed me the microphone, I remember I begun by quoting the first two verses of one of my favourite songs: “With so little to be sure of / if there’s anything at all”. Of course that the lines are so good that could not be my invention. I used them to begin in order to remark how incredibly important is that we preserve at any cost these marvellous gatherings, in spite of the so many hazards we must stand in the usual personal matters of health, money, love, and now to make it even worse, world pandemics, inflation, and international conflicts.
Here you have the full lyrics (of the most usual solo version, at its original theatre form is a duet):
With so little to be sure of,
If there's anything at all.
If there's anything at all.
I'm sure of here and now and us together.
All I'll ever be I owe you,
If there's anything to be.
Being sure enough of you
Makes me sure enough of me.
Thanks for everything we did,
Everything that's past,
Everything's that's over too fast.
None of it was wasted,
All of it will last:
Everything that's here and now and us together!
It was marvelous to know you
And it isn't really through.
Crazy business this, this life we live in-
Can't complain about the time we're given-
With so little to be sure of in this world,
We had a moment!
A marvelous moment!
Isn’t it marvellous when you find a song that speaks about yourself, that describes better than anything you could ever try your very own feelings?
After all, that is the usual when you are in love.
