Former United States and Greek National Team coach Alkis Panagoulias died on Monday. Panagoulias will be remembered as the coach who took Greece to the 1994 World Cup, but his career bridged both the USA and his homeland.
Panagoulias won three Open Cup titles in the late 1960’s as the coach of Greek American Atlas, spent the better part of the 1970’s as Greece’s National Team coach and qualified them for the 1980 European Championships, and coached Olympiacos in the early 80’s. In 1983, he took the US National Team job, which meant coaching Team America in the North American Soccer League. He was the coach of the US Olympic soccer team for the 1984 Games. He returned to Olympiacos in 1985, moving to Aris in 1987. In 1992, he began his second stint as Greece’s National Team coach. Panagoulias retired as coach of Aris in 1999. In honor of one of the cornerstones of Greek soccer, Greece has asked UEFA for permission to wear black armbands in Friday’s quarterfinal game against Germany.
