Greek soccer legends encourage a new generation of players

A crowd of children dressed in football uniforms, sitting on the pitch and listening to the team of coaches talking to them

Photo credit: Champions for Life

The soccer legends of Greece’s 2004 Euro championship team are working to mentor young players and foster an environment of healthy competition through a series of youth soccer tournaments around Greece.

On September 18, more than 200 girls and boys took part in an event in Piraeus as part of the Legends 2004 Youth Cup program.

The program seeks to create an atmosphere of warmth and camaraderie in sporting competition and to instill an ethic of teamwork, sportsmanship, collaboration, and grace in victory and defeat alike. The participants, players under the age of 12, are members of local soccer academies.

The sixth and final educational tournament in the series, organized by the nonprofit Champions for Life, will take place in Rethymno, Crete in September 25.