Many fans of the home team were moved when the referee Kostas Andrianos blew the whistle for the last time in the Atromitos – Aris Patrons game.
But the emotion of Vassilis Markatos was special. The old player of the club and one of the most important ever to highlight Achaean football, might not hide the strong emotions he was experiencing at that moment.
Markatos was the footballer who, 49 years ago, in the unforgettable barrage between Atromitos and Aris at the Refugee Stadium in 1975 in front of 3,500 people, had missed the penalty that cost his team the championship and the possibility of claiming promotion to the Second National League!
He carried it inside him so much. An ordinary child then, at the age of 16, he looked like a complete footballer and the future was all in front of him.
Full of dreams, he took his first football steps in Atromitos and stayed for 22 whole years in the team.
“I’ve been haunted by that penalty ever since. I had it in me for almost 50 years. I was a child with dreams and that moment came. I missed the penalty. We would go up to the Second National League. By winning the championship I felt that I was redeemed. Fearless is my whole life, regardless of the factors that created many problems for me. That’s why I was emotional as soon as the game ended.”
From the early 70s to the early 90s, when he served Atromitos, there were many teams that expressed the desire to acquire Markatos, but something always got in the way and he might not leave.
A player for those years, he might leave an era if he took the next step in his career. But he remained forever, a dude, a pantser and a “lord”.
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