Three wonderkids to watch from Olympiacos’ UEFA Youth League triumph

Olympiacos’ U19s have become the first Greek club side to win a European trophy.

The Greek youngster prevailed over AC Milan in the UEFA Youth League final on Monday after a stunning six-minute blitz that saw them win 3-0. Christos Mouzakitis, Antonis Papakanellos and Theofanis Bakoulas scored between the 60th and 66th minute to down the Rossoneri.

The U19s of Piraeus giants Olympiacos will go down in history as the first club side hailing from Greece to have won a European trophy. It is somewhat poetic that they managed to upset the odds and achieve this exactly 20 years after their country did the same at Euro 2004 under Otto Rehhagel.

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Manager Sotiris Sylaidopoulos, who is also an assistant to first-team head coach Jose Luis Mendilibar, said after the triumph over Milan: “It’s an amazing feeling, only saying the words that we are European champions is something very special for us. We’re very proud as a club. I think we deserve it 100 per cent. Not only because of the final, but I think we are the only unbeaten team in the tournament.”

Three stars to keep an eye on

FootballTransfers exclusively revealed last week that scouts from Juventus and AC Milan were in attendance to watch Olympiacos’ semi-final victory over Nantes, keeping a close eye on several players, including Charalampos Kostoulas and Antzelo Sina.

The former, in particular, massively caught the eye during this season’s Youth League. A 16-year-old striker, Kostoulas scored five times in eight games and also provided two assists.

Sina, meanwhile, is the side’s goalkeeper. The 20-year-old only conceded five times in nine Youth League outings and kept five clean sheets. In domestic play, Sina has conceded a measly 11 goals in 13 appearances.

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Finally, another player who deserves to be mentioned is the man who sealed the result against Milan in spectacular fashion: Theofanis Bakoulas. His brilliant overhead kick against the Rossoneri was the 19-year-old’s only goal at the tournament as he is usually a solid defensive midfielder. Nevertheless, despite his position, Bakoulas has also netted five times for the U19s domestically this term.

Expect to hear more about these three and Olympiacos’ other young stars in the coming months and years.