MR: How much pressure
are you currently having from your FA to have just Greek-born players on
the national team?
Xanthi: No, it’s not the Greeks, it’s the Greek-Americans. No
pressure really because the FA has approved it. It was a project
of mine to have the Greek-Americans 4 years ago because the FA wants a
good team.
MR: You mean you didn’t have a lot of opposition to go looking for Greek-American
players?
Xanthi: From 1996 when I was at women’s soccer at the Atlanta Olympics,
I began contacting Greek-American coaches. I know very well the level
of women’s soccer in Greece. I know very clearly that we couldn’t
afford that level of playing in the Olympics, that is, just with the players
in Greece. In 2000 when I heard from the FA that we only had 20 teams
in all of Greece, that meant no more than 400 players. We couldn’t
possibly find the best from that group. So I had in my mind 4 players
and of course the FA approved it. But this is happening with other
sports at the Olympics as we want to be strong and competitive. We
began this 2 years ago and back then 43 players came to Greece. Now
more than 80 Greek-American players have so far contacted me to want to
play for the national team.
MR: You don’t necessarily have though a “quota” of say 80% Greek-born
players and 20% Greek-Americans (or Canadians as in Stacey’s case)?
Xanthi: No. We know though that the Greek-Americans MUST
be better than the Greeks otherwise why should they come? We’re asking
players to fill certain positions which we don’t have in Greece. We made
the trials in 2001/02 and I chose the best. The pressure is from
the local teams who believe that their players should be at the Olympics.
MR: How many natural-born Greeks do you have in the roster at the Algarve
Cup?
Xanthi: 10/10.
MR: Where do you think you’d be without the foreign players right now?
Xanthi: I don’t even want to think about it! The Greek-Americans
help a lot the Greeks to impose their own levels of play. I’m satisfied
with the whole team. We started from a VERY low level but I know
that even now the level is not enough. We’re still far away from where
we’d like to be. Two years is not enough to catch up to those countries
that have been playing highly organised women’s soccer for decades.
In Greece the game is very new and totally amateur. It’s not socially
acceptable either. Only in the last year things have changed primarily
because of the Olympics. It was very difficult previously for a girl
to play soccer in Greece. Soccer is a very, very popular sport
for Greek men but not for women.
MR: What will happen after the Olympics? Will everything be reduced
again?
Xanthi: I hope not! I think that what the situation did two years ago
was to put some goals in the Olympic project. It was to prepare the
Olympic team and the Greek championship The third thing is to start
up the youth sector, to get the young girls to play the game. I think
that the Olympic team will make a lot of progress even though we are rather
far away from the levels of other nations. In 2000 there were 20 teams
and now there are 42. This is very important. We now have young players
in the club teams. After the Olympics the FA wants to organise an
U-15 tournament. We also have girls playing with boys’ teams.
What is happening now is that the women’s game is slowly becoming more
acceptable. Hopefully, it should continue after the Olympics!
One of our goals is to be number 1 in our group even though we know we
can’t compete with such giants as the US!
MR: What is your program leading up to the Olympics?
Xanthi: We have two official games in April and as of May 20th we begin
in Greece the official preparation. The Greek-Americans will be in
Greece permanently. We also have contacts with Ghana, Denmark, Russia
and other countries. All games will be in Greece. We are also organising
a U-19 national team. We’ve had some of these players at the AC.
MR: How many friendlies have you had so far?
Xanthi: I think only China has had more. In 2003 we played 26
friendly games and in 2002 about 17 (I began coaching in the summer of
2002).
MR: So you’ve had about 45 games. You’ve also played against tough
teams?
Xanthi: No, we’ve also played teams at our level, including two from
the AC. This year we played against Italy and Russia. Last
year we played against Sweden’s U-19 and also against Israel and Cyprus.
We have had official matches. I’m now preparing the team for tough matches
as all the teams at the Olympics will be very tough. Only Norway
is out of the Olympics.
MR: Realistically, how are you really hoping to do at the Olympics?
Xanthi: Realistically? I hope that we’ll have a decent performance.
MR: What do you mean by decent?
Xanthi: By decent I don’t want anybody to leave our games by saying
“Why are they here”? We want to show everyone that we deserve to
be at the Olympics. The ball is round so anything can happen!
We want to especially show the Greek men that women can play soccer. After
all, we’re opening the Olympics as soccer begins on August 11th at 6 pm.
We will be the first team. It’s a special pride for us.
MR: Which team do you want to avoid in the opener?
Xanthi: The US!! Actually, all the teams are good. This event
happens once in a lifetime. The Olympics for us Greeks are VERY important
because it’s part of our history. I’ve been following the Games since
1972. I have a dream to be in the Olympics!
MR: You’re then a sort of Greek “Martin Luther King” (“I have a dream…”).
Xanthi: I had a dream of being in the Olympics playing soccer but we
didn’t have women’s soccer until 1996. Now my dream has come
true. I thank God for that!
MR: You mean you thank Zeus?
Xanthi: Yes, both!
MR: How much of a boost will the Athens Games be to the women’s game?
Is it all based on you performance?
Xanthi: Yes, I think it’s the same in Italy. If we have a good
performance we’ll inspire a lot of young players. We don’t have though
role models right now.
MR: Such as the Americans, Canadians, Swedes, Norwegians, Chinese and
Germans which have role models for the younger players.
Xanthi: That’s right. We need that now.
MR: Who could your role models be, number 17 for example, the Greek-American
who plays for Sparta Praga?
Xanthi: Yes, someone like her. She’s very good. After the Olympics
I think more people will get to know also the other national team players.
A few years ago for example no one in Greece knew who Mia Hamm was.
Thanks to USA’99 and Internet, things are changing in Greece.
MR: Are you getting some coverage back home of the AC?
Xanthi: Yes, the FA site is reporting on the results and all the newspapers
are picking it up from that. The FA in the last 2 years has given us a
lot of money and increased our budget. We would have never imagined
this before for a women’s team. They’ve also approved our international
matches as they are rather expensive. The president of the Greek
FA started to support us. The FA’s press officer has given us coverage
as has the championship. Every Monday the papers report on the championship,
not like the men’s because it will never be the same as the men’s game,
but nevertheless we get coverage. I must say that all-in-all I’m
very happy with the support that I’ve been getting from the FA.
MR: Less than 130 days left to Athens. Will the organisers make
it?
Xanthi: As the Greeks are, everything is at the last moment but the
world shouldn’t worry, they’ll be the best Olympics ever!
MR: Will you be around for Euro 2005?
Xanthi: I don’t know because my contract expires after the Olympics!
MR: Would you like to extend your contract after the Olympics?
Xanthi: It’s not up to me but up to the FA (laugher)! I don’t
know yet. I don’t want to think about tomorrow. I’ll begin thinking
about tomorrow after August 31st. We want to enjoy the Olympics without
having second thoughts. My experience will be naturally available
for after Athens.
MR: Would you like to coach in the US?
Xanthi: My heart is in Greece. I think the American mentality
is too different from the Mediterranean one. We sometimes need that
glass of wine or that coffee with friends in an outdoor caffé!
MR: But wouldn’t you find it challenging to coach in an American university
like Len (Len Tsantiris, a Greek-born coach, has been coaching for about
20 seasons the women’s team at the University of Connecticut)?
Xanthi: Why not? But I prefer a European country. All my life
I’ve worked under pressure. I don’t know how much I’d enjoy working
in a country like the US where everything is so organised!
MR: You’d love then to coach in Italy! How did you come to the
women’s game as opposed to swimming or other sports?
Xanthi: I played soccer since I was a little girl, 30 years ago.
I was the first person to have been involved in women’s soccer in Greece
in 1979 and I was the captain of the first team in Greece. The first
international game ever was my team, Olimpias, against Milan. We
lost 6-0 in June of 1980! I was the captain then. I’m the first-ever
woman in Greece to have her coaching license. So I’ve been involved
for more than 25 years in soccer.
MR: You’re the history of Greek women’s soccer! But why soccer though.
Usually women play because of a family history, such as a father or brother
who has played the game?
Xanthi: I was born in a village. All the boys played soccer so
I played with them. As far as the AC is concerned, this is the best
tournament to see the players up close in a very relaxed atmosphere, such
as the Americans and the Chinese. I don’t want my players to see these
teams in such high-pressure events as the Olympics.
MR: Any complaints politically speaking such as that you’re taking the
place of Norway at the Olympics (Norway won’t be there yet they won gold
at Sydney 2000).
Xanthi: Of course they want to be there but the rules are very strict,
that the host country has to be in the Olympics.
MR: Where will the women’s event take place?
Xanthi: In all the Olympic sites such as Patras where we will begin
the event. Every team will visit two cities. The schedule is in the
official web site (www.athens2004.com)
While watching the US-Norway final together at the Estadio Algarve I asked Xanthi the following question: “If you do meet the US in the opening match, what system do you think you’ll use”? “The cross”! responded Xanthi. “The cross”? I asked, “And what system exactly is that one”? “Well, we’ll simply do the sign of the cross and pray for a miracle” laughed Xanthi!
And to Xanthi and her national team, from all of us, “In bocca
al lupo” for your Olympics!