Fyssas determined to show Greeks Hearts' true worth

However, tonight in the Olympic Stadium that was once his home ground when he played for Panathinaikos, it is personal pride that will drive Fyssas on. The Heart of Midlothian full back is intensely angry at the way the Scottish club were ridiculed by his nation’s media after the 2-1 defeat by AEK Athens at Murrayfield in the first leg of the Champions League third qualifying round tie and intends to atone — Athens, beware of Greeks bearing grudges!

“Sure, Athens is my place,” Fyssas said, as he landed on home soil after the flight from Edinburgh. “But coming home like this does not feel the way I thought it would. I have waited for this for a long time. I thought about playing against a Greek team when I was at Benfica but it never happened. However, I do not feel it is something important for me, it’s important for Hearts.

“The feeling in Greece is that Hearts are not such a good team, after our first game with AEK at Murrayfield. A lot of the newspapers said bad things about my team and I was angry with them. They failed to understand that we had so many players missing in the first match because of injury.

“I was hoping that Greek people who know their football would understand the problems, but they didn’t and that’s why I am angry. In the Olympic Stadium, I want Hearts to show that we are much better than we were at Murrayfield. If we won and got into the group stage I would be very happy. Yet, even if we did not, I will still be happy at Hearts because we would still have other targets this season.”

Before moving abroad, first to Portugal and then to Scotland in the summer of 2005, Athens was where Fyssas earned his living for nine years. Panathinaikos own a third share in the fierce passion for football in this city, with Olympiakos, the champions, and AEK the other leading clubs, though smaller ones pepper the suburbs.

Like Panathinaikos did in Fyssas’s time, AEK are renting out the Olympic Stadium — where the 2007 Champions League final will be held next May — while a new ground is built after the demolition of their crumbling Nikos Goumas Stadium, where both Rangers and Hibernian lost in 1994 and 2001 on Champions League and Uefa Cup duty.

AEK’s fanatical support is infiltrated by many hard-core hooligans, as are many other Greek clubs, and trouble at stadia is widespread. Rangers supporters who came here in 1994 and again in 2004 to play Panathinaikos, spoke of intimidation.

“I am glad we are not going to AEK’s old ground,” Fyssas said. “I never won there with Panathinaikos. The best we ever managed was a draw. I think the old ground was an advantage to them because teams were intimidated. Maybe the Olympic Stadium is not so helpful. The difference between the grounds is like the difference for Hearts between using Tynecastle and Murrayfield.

“It’s a wonderful place, the Olympic Stadium. For three years, it was my home. Panathinaikos used it when their ground was being rebuilt. We had some great Champions League games, against Arsenal and Manchester United, when it was full with 80,000 fans. It has a great atmosphere when full but because of the athletics track, the fans are not so close to the pitch so the players can enjoy the game.

“I never had any problems with fans when I was living in Athens. Maybe some words from Olympiakos fans, because they are the main rivals to Panathinaikos. In this city, the fans are fanatical. When you are playing well, you are a king — but when you are not they try to give you a hard time.”

That experience means that Fyssas enjoys the more relaxed atmosphere in Edinburgh. However, the left back knows that Hearts fans can also display passion and he asked for patience from the Tynecastle crowd as they try to exceed last season’s achievement of winning the Scottish Cup and finishing second in the Bank of Scotland Premierleague.

“We know it is not going to be easy for Hearts this season,” Fyssas said. “We have so many responsibilities to our fans and Vladimir Romanov. But we also have so many games to play and even if we only end up in the Uefa Cup, that will still be true. Even the media expect more from us now. Last season, we were only playing once a week in the league but this season it will be Wednesday-Saturday all the time.

“That was the same for us when I was at Panathinaikos. We would play well in the Champions League and then lose points to easy teams in the Greek league the following weekend. We need the Hearts fans to be patient and to know that we are giving everything for them.”

Taken from timesonline.co.uk