2002–03 Greek Football Cup

The 2002–03 Greek Football Cup was the 61st edition of the Greek Football Cup. That season's edition was entitled "Vodafone Greek Cup" for sponsorship reasons.

Tournament details

The two finalists were the arch-rivals, PAOK and Aris, meeting up again in a Cup final after 33 years. PAOK had to overcome some big obstacles to reach the final. They qualified against OFI^[1][2] on away goals rule and eliminated league champions Olympiacos^[3][4][5] with two wins in the quarter-finals and Cup holders AEK Athens^[6][7][8] with 2–1 on aggregate in the semi-finals.

On the contrary, Aris had an easier path on their route to the final. They eliminated PAS Giannina with two wins, Ethnikos Asteras^[9][10] with 3–2 on aggregate in the quarter-finals and qualified against Egaleo^[11][12][13] on away goals rule in the semi-finals.

The final was held at Toumba Stadium, on 17 May 2003. PAOK defeated Aris by 1–0^[14][15][16] with a goal scored by Georgiadis who made an impressive individual effort, dribbling past a defender with his right foot, faking a shot with his left (outsmarting another defender and the goalkeeper in the process) and finishing with a swift side-foot kick (using his left again) that launched the ball up and into the back of the net. The assist was provided by Markos. Aris had a great chance to equalize late at the game, but the ball hit the post on Morris' effort.

During the postgame press conference, Aris manager Giorgos Foiros made a complaint that the final should have been a two-legged tie because PAOK had the advantage of playing on home ground. Kaftanzoglio Stadium, a neutral ground and Thessaloniki 's largest stadium was under renovation for the 2004 Summer Olympic games. The Hellenic Football Federation's regulation for that season's Cup stated that if the final was to be held at Thessaloniki (that would be the case if at least one of the two finalists was a Thessaloniki 's team), it would be hosted at the second largest stadium of the city which was Toumba. About a week before the game, Aris demanded^[17] from the federation either the final to be played at Kalamaria Stadium or Makedonikos Stadium, both neutral grounds (with much smaller capacity though) or to be held a draw between Toumba Stadium and Aris Stadium, but both requests were denied^[18] due to the tournament's regulation.

PAOK manager Angelos Anastasiadis became the first in club's history to win the Cup both as a player, in 1974 and manager.

Calendar

Round	Date(s)	Fixtures	Clubs	New entries
First Round	8–12, 14, 16–18, 21, 28 August & 4, 11, 12, 25 September 2002	52	52 → 26	52
Second Round	6, 7, 14, 21, 23, 30 October & 2, 6, 13 November 2002	20	26 → 16	none
Round of 16	4, 11, 18, 19 December 2002 & 8, 15, 22, 23, 29 January 2003	16	16 → 8	none
Quarter-finals	5, 19, 26 February & 5, 12, 19 March 2003	8	8 → 4	none
Semi-finals	9, 23 April & 7 May 2003	4	4 → 2	none
Final	17 May 2003	1	2 → 1	none

Knockout phase

Each tie in the knockout phase, apart from the final, was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level, the away goals rule was applied, i.e. the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs advanced. If away goals were also equal, then extra time was played. The away goals rule was again applied after extra time, i.e. if there were goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score was still level, the visiting team advanced by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals were scored during extra time, the winners were decided by a penalty shoot-out. In the final, which were played as a single match, if the score was level at the end of normal time, extra time was played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if the score was still level.
The mechanism of the draws for each round is as follows:

• For the 1st Round draw, the 1st Division teams and the top 10 teams of the 2nd Division are seeded, the remaining teams are unseeded.
• From the 2nd Round draw onwards, there are no seedings.

First round

The draw took place on 11 July 2002.^[19]

Seeding

Seeded	Unseeded
Olympiacos AEK Athens Panathinaikos PAOK Skoda Xanthi Iraklis Panionios OFI Aris Egaleo Akratitos Ionikos Panachaiki PAS Giannina Kallithea Proodeftiki Ethnikos Asteras Apollon Kalamarias Athinaikos Panserraikos Patraikos Olympiacos Volos Chalkidona Paniliakos Kalamata Apollon Athens	Panegialios Kerkyra Kassandra Fostiras Kavala Atromitos Agios Nikolaos Kilkisiakos AEL Ethnikos Piraeus Marko AO Chania Leonidio Trikala Nafpaktiakos Asteras Thrasyvoulos Agios Dimitrios Levadiakos Ergotelis Niki Volos Poseidon Neon Poron Agrotikos Asteras ILTEX Lykoi Acharnaikos Vyzas Megara Kastoria

Summary

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Trikala	0–6	Kallithea	0–4	0–2
OFI	4–0	Kavala	4–0	0–0
Panionios	3–2	Marko	2–1	1–1
Ethnikos Asteras	2–1	Niki Volos	2–0	0–1
Athinaikos	2–3	Agios Dimitrios	1–1	1–2
PAS Giannina	3–1	Vyzas Megara	1–1	2–0
Egaleo	6–4	Agrotikos Asteras	3–1	3–3
Olympiacos Volos	1–1 (9–8 p)	Panegialios	1–0	0–1 (a.e.t.)
AEL	0–4	Skoda Xanthi	0–1	0–3
Panserraikos	2–6	Ergotelis	1–2	1–4
Nafpaktiakos Asteras	2–7	Panachaiki	1–5	1–2
Akratitos	8–0	Acharnaikos	3–0	5–0
Agios Nikolaos	2–4	Iraklis	2–3	0–1
Ethnikos Piraeus	0–7	Paniliakos	0–3	0–4
ILTEX Lykoi	0–5	Panathinaikos	0–2	0–3
Levadiakos	4–5	Apollon Kalamarias	2–2	2–3 (a.e.t.)
Chalkidona	6–1	Kastoria	4–0	2–1
Patraikos	3–2	Atromitos	1–1	2–1 (a.e.t.)
Leonidio	0–1	PAOK	0–1	0–0
Kilkisiakos	1–2	Kalamata	1–2	0–0
Kassandra	0–2	AEK Athens	0–2	0–0
AO Chania	0–6	Aris	0–4	0–2
Kerkyra	1–0	Proodeftiki	0–0	1–0
Fostiras	1–4	Olympiacos	0–2	1–2
Thrasyvoulos	0–3	Apollon Athens	0–2	0–1
Poseidon Neon Poron	0–4	Ionikos	0–1	0–3

Matches

Kallithea won 6–0 on aggregate

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OFI won 4–0 on aggregate

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Panionios won 3–1 on aggregate

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Ethnikos Asteras won 2–1 on aggregate

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Agios Dimitrios won 3–2 on aggregate

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PAS Giannina won 3–1 on aggregate

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Egaleo won 6–4 on aggregate

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Olympiakos Volos won on penalties

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Skoda Xanthi won 4–0 on aggregate

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Ergotelis won 6–2 on aggregate

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Panachaiki won 7–2 on aggregate

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Akratitos won 8–0 on aggregate

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Iraklis won 4–2 on aggregate

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Paniliakos won 7–0 on aggregate

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Panathinaikos won 5–0 on aggregate

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Apollon Kalamarias won 5–4 on aggregate

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Chalkidona won 6–1 on aggregate

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Patraikos won 3–2 on aggregate

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PAOK won 1–0 on aggregate

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Kalamata won 2–1 on aggregate

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AEK Athens won 2–0 on aggregate.

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Aris won 6–0 on aggregate

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Kerkyra won 1–0 on aggregate

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Olympiacos won 4–1 on aggregate

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Apollon Athens won 3–0 on aggregate

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Ionikos won 4–0 on aggregate

Bracket

	Second round						Round of 16						Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Final
	Iraklis	0	1	1
	Panionios	0	2	2
							Panionios	1	1	2
							Ionikos	0	1	1
	Ionikos (bye)
													Panionios	1	2	3
													AEK Athens	1	4	5
	AEK Athens	3	3	6
	Chalkidona	1	0	1
							AEK Athens	2	3	5
							Apollon Athens	0	0	0
	Apollon Athens (bye)
																			AEK Athens	0	1	1
																			PAOK	1	1	2
	PAOK	2	0	2
	Olympiacos Volos	0	0	0
							PAOK (a)	0	1	1
							OFI	0	1	1
	Kerkyra	0	0	0
	OFI	1	3	4
													PAOK	3	2	5
													Olympiacos	1	1	2
	Panachaiki (bye)
							Panachaiki	0	0	0
							Olympiacos	2	0	2
	Kallithea	1	1	2
	Olympiacos	4	0	4
																									PAOK	1
																									Aris	0
	Kalamata	1	0	1
	Akratitos	1	2	3
							Akratitos	0	0	0
							Panathinaikos	1	3	4
	Panathinaikos	1	0	1
	Skoda Xanthi	0	0	0
													Panathinaikos	0	1	1
													Egaleo	1	1	2
	Egaleo	2	2	4
	Agios Dimitrios	0	2	2
							Egaleo	4	2	6
							Paniliakos	0	1	1
	Paniliakos (bye)
																			Egaleo	1	0	1
																			Aris (a)	1	0	1
	Patraikos	0	1	1
	Aris	1	3	4
							Aris	3	1	4
							PAS Giannina	0	0	0
	PAS Giannina (bye)
													Aris	3	0	3
													Ethnikos Asteras	1	1	2
	Apollon Kalamarias (bye)
							Apollon Kalamarias	0	1	1
							Ethnikos Asteras	2	2	4
	Ergotelis	2	0	2
	Ethnikos Asteras (a.e.t.)	0	3	3

Second round

The draw took place on 27 September 2002.^[20]

Summary

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Iraklis	1–2	Panionios	0–0	1–2
AEK Athens	6–1	Chalkidona	3–1	3–0
PAOK	2–0	Olympiacos Volos	2–0	0–0
Panathinaikos	1–0	Skoda Xanthi	1–0	0–0
Kalamata	1–3	Akratitos	1–1	0–2
Egaleo	4–2	Agios Dimitrios	2–0	2–2
Kallithea	2–4	Olympiacos	1–4	1–0
Patraikos	1–4	Aris	0–1	1–3
Kerkyra	0–4	OFI	0–1	0–3
Ergotelis	2–3	Ethnikos Asteras	2–0	0–3 (a.e.t.)
PAS Giannina	bye
Apollon Athens	bye
Apollon Kalamarias	bye
Ionikos	bye
Paniliakos	bye
Panachaiki	bye

Matches

Panionios won 2–1 on aggregate.

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AEK Athens won 6–1 on aggregate.

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PAOK won 2–0 on aggregate.

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Panathinaikos won 1–0 on aggregate.

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Akratitos won 3–1 on aggregate.

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Egaleo won 4–2 on aggregate.

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Olympiacos won 4–2 on aggregate.

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Aris won 4–1 on aggregate.

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OFI won 4–0 on aggregate.

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Ethnikos Asteras won 3–2 on aggregate.

Round of 16

The draw took place on 28 November 2002.

Summary

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
AEK Athens	5–0	Apollon Athens	2–0	3–0
PAOK	(a) 1–1	OFI	0–0	1–1
Aris	4–0	PAS Giannina	3–0	1–0
Panionios	2–1	Ionikos	1–0	1–1
Panachaiki	0–2	Olympiacos	0–2	0–0
Egaleo	6–1	Paniliakos	4–0	2–1
Apollon Kalamarias	1–4	Ethnikos Asteras	0–2	1–2
Akratitos	0–4	Panathinaikos	0–1	0–3

Matches

AEK Athens won 5–0 on aggregate.

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PAOK won on away goals.

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Aris won 4–0 on aggregate.

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Panionios won 2–1 on aggregate.

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Olympiacos won 2–0 on aggregate.

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Egaleo won 6–1 on aggregate.

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Ethnikos Asteras won 4–1 on aggregate.

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Panathinaikos won 4–0 on aggregate.

Quarter-finals

The draw took place on 30 January 2003.^[21]

Summary

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Panathinaikos	1–2	Egaleo	0–1	1–1
Panionios	3–5	AEK Athens	1–1	2–4
Aris	3–2	Ethnikos Asteras	3–1	0–1
PAOK	5–2	Olympiacos	3–1	2–1

Matches

Egaleo won 2–1 on aggregate.

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AEK Athens won 5–3 on aggregate.

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Aris won 3–2 on aggregate.

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PAOK won 5–2 on aggregate.

Semi-finals

The draw took place on 20 March 2003.^[22]

Summary

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Egaleo	1–1 (a)	Aris	1–1	0–0
AEK Athens	1–2	PAOK	0–1	1–1

Matches

Aris won on away goals.

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PAOK won 2–1 on aggregate.

Final

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Patrick Ogunsoto	Ergotelis	5
2	Panagiotis Ziakas	Akratitos	4
	Thomas Makris	Egaleo
	Dimitris Nalitzis	AEK Athens
	Alessandro Soares	OFI
	Pantelis Kolliakos	Ethnikos Asteras
	Savvas Giannakidis
8	Loukas Karakatsanis	Levadiakos	3
	Theofanis Gekas	Kallithea
	Lampros Choutos	Olympiacos
	Emanuele Morini	Panachaiki
	Fotis Mitsakis	Agios Dimitrios
	Ilias Manikas	Paniliakos
	Stratos Garozis	Akratitos
	Nikos Kyzeridis	Aris
	Christos Maladenis	AEK Athens
	Ermin Šiljak	Panionios
	Ioannis Okkas	PAOK
	Sotiris Konstantinidis	AEK Athens
	Njogu Demba-Nyrén	Aris
	Georgios Georgiadis	PAOK

References

External links

• Greek Cup 2002-2003 at RSSSF
• Greek Cup 2002-2003 at Hellenic Football Federation's official site