\n<\/p>\n
Born in a poor Athens neighborhood during the dark times of the Nazi occupation, Dimitris Domazos, or Mimis to all who knew him, grew up in the bleak aftermath of World War II and the civil war that split Greece down the middle. Soccer was an obvious escape for youngsters with few prospects and acted like a magnet that kept him in the city\u2019s streets and allotments for hours at a time, away from classes and homework.<\/p>\n
His parents opposed his passion for soccer. His mother was always scared that he\u2019d injure himself and could barely listen to his games on the radio, much less watch from the stands. Before leaving the family in 1952 and moving to Karditsa, where he remarried, his father advised him to give up \u201call that soccer nonsense\u201d and learn a trade that would allow him to help his mother financially. He watched him play only after he became a big name and their relationship was never close.<\/p>\n
Domazos was born at the Elena maternity hospital, where his mother worked as a nurse, and grew up in a very modest house on nearby Tsocha Street, in the central Athens neighborhood of Ambelokipi. His house was practically next door to the Panathinaikos stadium on Alexandras Avenue, which would go on to become his second home after a childhood spent playing soccer with his friends on the capital\u2019s packed-dirt streets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI woke up and slept to the sounds of the stadium,\u201d he once said in an interview.<\/p>\n
Domazos did indeed train to become a lathe operator as a youngster, but it was a career path that held no attraction for him, so he dropped out of the Sevastopouleio Technical School two classes shy of graduation to dedicate himself to soccer. He was so bent on his resolution that he turned down an invitation from the school\u2019s principal a few months later to play in a game with the Sevastopouleio\u2019s team in exchange for getting his diploma, refusing to take an easy pass.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dear lady, he\u2019s only good for a shoeshine boy,\u201d the Sevastopouleio Technical School\u2019s principal had told his mother.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Domazos had joined Amyna Ambelokipi at the age of 13, though his player\u2019s card listed him as 15 \u2013 the legal age limit at the time. He was later spotted by PAO coach Svetislav Glisovic, who often checked out the \u201ctalent\u201d of youngsters playing soccer in the streets near the stadium. He recommended that PAO snatch him from Amyna, even though Domazos wanted to stay with his friends on the neighborhood team.<\/p>\n
The people managing Amyna, however, convinced him to put on Panathinaikos\u2019 green jersey, though only after \u201cthreatening\u201d to take back the only suit he owned. That suit had been given to him when he briefly joined the national youth team for a tournament in Bulgaria. Domazos spent the entire event on the bench after the Greek team\u2019s coach, Paul Barron, took one look at the stocky, 1.68-meter player and said: \u201cWhat\u2019s with the short guy? He can\u2019t play ball!\u201d<\/p>\n
A bottle of orange pop and 16 jerseys was all Panathinaikos had to \u201cpay\u201d in 1959 to sign him on. He was so green and starstruck when he joined the team, he addressed his fellow players in the plural. Such niceties were cast aside as soon as he stepped on the pitch, however. He was \u2013 in the best sense of the word \u2013 a tough guy, but so were most soccer players at the time, or at least they were regarded as such.<\/p>\n
Domazos went on to become a symbol of his time, the first star in the Greek world of sports and a household name. His stormy relationship with popular singer Vicky Moscholiou intrigued the public almost as much as that of movie stars Aliki Vougiouklaki and Dimitris Papamichael, and more than 30,000 people crashed their wedding at Athens Metropolitan Cathedral on May 1, 1967. The 7,000 favors of sugared almonds wrapped in a tulle pouch decorated with a shamrock (Panathinaikos\u2019 symbol) and a clef were way too few for such a crowd and became a treasured collectible that could be found being sold at black-market prices in Athens\u2019 flea markets.<\/p>\n
The ring slipped off the bride\u2019s finger during that eventful ceremony and was considered a bad omen for the marriage. That ended up lasting 12 years, during which the couple had two daughters. Domazos had a third daughter a few years later with his second wife, Io.<\/p>\n
Contrary to his own father, Domazos was always close to his children and considered his family his greatest achievement off the pitch.<\/p>\n
Domazos earned the nickname \u201cGeneral\u201d thanks to his leadership skills on and off the field. He was a born winner, with tremendous passion and commitment, not just in soccer, but in every goal he set in life.<\/p>\n
Loved by Panathinaikos fans and respected by his rivals, his career trajectory was impressive. He played 536 games in Greece\u2019s First Division, a record that is still unrivaled, as are his 14 titles. He also played 50 games with the national team, but was not in the crucial game with Romania that saw Greece lose its chance at qualification for the 1970 World Cup. He had been benched as a show of force by coach Dan Georgiadis for a misunderstanding over a jersey.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tensions with Panathinaikos\u2019 management spilled over in 1978 when, at age 36, he was dismissed as being too old to captain the squad for another season. His departure from Panathinaikos was an opportunity too good to pass up for AEK\u2019s legendary president, Loukas Barlos, with whom Domazos had become friends in the meantime, not least because they both had holiday homes in Saronida and their families often spent time together in the summer.<\/p>\n
His attachment to PAO was never severed, however, which is why Barlos agreed to let him return to Panathinaikos halfway through the last year of his two-year contract with AEK to end his career there.<\/p>\n
Domazos\u2019 love for Panathinaikos was greater than his ego, says Christoforos Kontazis, a veteran team reporter, now in his 90s, and close friend of the soccer legend. \u201cWhen he came back to Panathinaikos and scored the 2-0 against Olympiakos, he kneeled down and kissed the grass. He then raised his arms in the air, as if thanking God for allowing him to get back together with his great love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Domazos never gave up soccer entirely, of course, going on to run a five-a-side business. And, as one of the game\u2019s most celebrated proponents, he had the honor in 2004 to carry the torch \u2013 taking the pass from basketball great Nick Galis \u2013 in the relay at the opening ceremony of the Athens Olympic Games.<\/p>\n
That moment, taking Panathinaikos to the European Cup final at Wembley in 1971 where it faced off against Ajax under the legendary Johan Cruyff, and a spectacular bicycle kick in a derby with Olympiakos at the Karaiskaki Stadium in March 1974, regarded as his best goal, are three of the many amazing \u201cmedals\u201d accompanying the \u201cGeneral\u201d of Greek soccer on his final journey.<\/p>\n
Mimis Domazos died on Friday, January 24, at Athens\u2019 Erythros Stavros Hospital after suffering a heart attack. He was 83 years old.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n