The National Team of Greece mourns for its former coach
The deceased was the coach of the National Football Team that led Greece for the first time to Euro finals in 1980 in Italy and to the 1994 World Cup in the USA. Also, when he was the coach of Olympiakos, he won three championships.
Friends of the deceased told AMPE that his health condition had deteriorated in recent days. The news of his death caused deep sadness to the football-loving public of the Greek community, since Alketas, as everyone knew him, had been identified with successes and distinctions of Greek football teams.
The funeral service will be held Friday at St. Catherine's Church in Falls Church,'s state.
Alketas Panagoulias had a long and remarkable career in football, both in Greece and in America, where he was also a federal coach in the US national and Olympic team.
His story is recorded in the book "From the White Tower to the White House", through which the Macedonian coach recalls his childhood in Thessaloniki and his beginnings in the historical team of Aris Thessaloniki, in 1949. Apart from Greece, football and "outside Hellenism", in his book he also refers to the people who had a special role in his life, such as his wife Vana Dimitriadis, his children Despina and Giannis and his grandchildren Mikelas and Zoe Vanna.
Andreas Pieris