The loss of Mimi Papaioannou left an unfilled void in the realm of Greek football and reminded us that no one is invulnerable, no one has won the battle against time and allowed himself to build his legend with the sword of the winner. Many important people in football spoke fondly of the “eternal AEK captain”, but two of them, both his teammates and rivals, have a special place next to him: Thomas Mavros, because it was he who set the championship record. most goals on the recommendation of the First National Team and Mimis Domasos, because with him he shared the title of the leading Greek footballer of all time in two official records. Therefore, their opinion of the man and football player Mimi Papaioanno, as they express it through “K”, is of particular importance.

He spoke little. He weighed his words, they were few, with meaning and meaning.
He said what he wanted to say, correctly and sharply, without “ribbons”.
Thomas Mavros

• What to expect from Mimi? Great player, great person. Simple, noble and humble, he had a balance, an internal brake that put joys and sorrows in the right dimension. When we had a big win and soared high, he was the first to turn down the volume and remind us that there was another game next Sunday. And when we entered the dressing room with our heads down after the defeat, he was again the first to say everything that we young people needed to hear to cheer ourselves up. I never remember any sharp reaction from him. Always meek, the personification of moderation.

• When I was little, I played tic-tac-toe to win a photo of him or Nestorid. He was an idol for my generation. Imagine my joy when, at my first training session at AEK, walking from Panionios, he came up to me, hugged me and greeted me. He was the biggest name in the group and never looked down on anyone. What did he say to me? Nothing special. For everyone to work together to help AEK, but the fact that he came to greet me was a great honor for me.

• Mimis didn’t talk much. He weighed his words, they were few, with meaning and meaning. He said what he wanted to say, correctly and sharply, without “ribbons”. He was 100% professional, fully aware of his role. While he was a star, he was a very humble, simple man who didn’t want to make a fuss with his presence. Very kind, inspired respect, and it never occurred to him to object.

• The first year he took me with him and we lived in the same hotel room. It was a big surprise for me that he chose me to share such personal space with him. He always talked to me and advised me, I learned a lot from our conversations. Because I learned a lot from him and on the field. He showed me things, I worked on them, included them in my repertoire, and this brought me great benefits.

• I enjoyed getting to practice early, going out on the court alone and working on my technique. One day he followed me. He took the ball, picked it up and started playing. For half an hour the ball landed, stuck to his leg from where he threw it, he did not lift it low to make it easier. I was tired of seeing him and shouted to him: “Stop, have pity on me!” His technique was incredible, he didn’t do so many things on the pitch by accident.

• He was a football genius. He worked well in training, but the ball was in him. He knew where to go, made quick decisions and made the most of his turn in the first 5-10 meters, especially in the few open spots in the area.

• Another of his weapons was that he stood in the air after – mind you – he made a very high jump. He saw the ball, weighed it, didn’t go blind. His headers were tucked into the corner, so he scored a lot of headers even though he wasn’t tall. And he was very smart, he knew how to wait for the right moment. He had a sore left leg. He sent the ball wherever he wanted. He played as a center forward, winger, left midfielder, always successfully.

• Of course he could establish himself at Real Madrid if he left. He was a star player, not just someone who joined the roster. In Madrid, he certainly would have developed a lot more.

• We had a great personal relationship and he helped me a lot in my first year on the courts without being allowed to play. I returned to Panionios when I broke his record while he stopped playing football for ten years. We met a few months later and as soon as he saw me he came up to me and hugged me like the first time he welcomed me to AEK. What did he say to me? “Well done baby, you deserve it!”

• Mimis and Mimis, teammates and rivals, we’ve always had a special relationship with each other. We were opponents of Panathinaikos and AEK, as well as teammates in three teams. You know about AEK and the national team, but you don’t know for sure that we also played together in Pansiprios. He went to New York and at the end of the season called me and we played together for a month.

• What about the facial expression person? Only better. I was horribly impressed that even though it was a big AEK brand, when I got there he gave me the number 10 shirt he was wearing. “You have this number in the national team. I have another one there, I will have another one here,” he told me. Who else would do it? It was a gem.

• He had an amazing jump, a unique way of standing in the air and waiting. His left foot was magical, he would drop the ball, stick it to himself and do whatever he wanted with it. These two were his superweapons that made him stand out from the rest.

• He had a measured, but also cheerful character, he liked the company, not seeking the attention of others. I was always nervous when I played, but he never was. I don’t remember him getting angry, losing control. In one game, he was disturbed by a blow, and I shouted for him to react, to do something. Nothing, he got up and continued as if nothing had happened.

• In… cockfights during matches, he was always a fireman. One day we were playing between Panathinaikos and AEK and when I wanted to grab him, he rushed at me and pulled me further to calm me down. He always tried to make something good out of bad, to find a way to cheer up others. A very good boy, a rare character.

• We didn’t play much together at AEK because it was his last year with the team, Viera was great too, he played a few matches. In the national team, I played further in the center, and he is more in attack, often in a duet with Sideris. He was not a foreman, his role was different, more executive and less creative.

• We didn’t interact much off the pitch, although he loved to sing, and I also had a close relationship with singing because of my marriage to Vicky Mosholiou. In the hotel he sometimes gathered us and sang. He had an excellent voice and a great soft spot for Stelios Kazantzidis, with whom he had a close relationship.

• We have been aware of his difficulties in recent years. We invited him to inaugurations, games, events, and when he stopped coming, we learned that he was not in the best condition. All this was very sad.

• We never had a feud. Who is the best, the first of the first, the pinnacle of the century. It’s from others, not from us. We wanted one thing: go out and win games…

Relay of myths

Those of us AEK fans who entered adolescence in the 80s had their own god: Thomas Mavro. But ten years ago – and almost twenty years in a row: from 1962 to 1979 – the god of AEK was Mimis Papaioannu. The most amazing thing about Papaioanna is that he was a legend even for us young people who hardly ever saw him play. I personally saw him once, when I was not yet eight, when AEK beat Olympiacos 6-1 in New Philadelphia in the Greek Cup. Papaioannou did not score on that historic day (Mavros scored three goals), but I looked at him. My father also had a hand in this, a fan of AEK since the 30s, and very reserved in spirit, who always spoke of him with me with immense admiration. But in essence, what I saw in 1978 and will remember ever since was the living flag of AEK, which fans of other teams also bowed to. Like Mavros in the 80s, Papaioannou was a living symbol of AEK before him. He took over from Nestorides and passed it on to Mavro. This ensures the historical continuity of football clubs in the minds of fans. Without these symbols, which are mostly unconscious, all the fuss with the ball is meaningless.

ILIAS MAGLINIS