May 1, 2024

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The second attempt to cooperate with Cordon and the trip to Athens

The second attempt to cooperate with Cordon and the trip to Athens

Antonio Cordón is no stranger to the Olympiacos organization, which first approached him five years ago.

The name of Antonio Cordone first appeared on the Olympiacos table five years ago when he left Monaco, to which François Modesto was entering.

However, his case did not advance at that time, but it is back in the forefront now as the red and whites prepare to change their organizational chart and are looking for a technical director and coach.

Information indicates that the President of Olympiacos, Vangelis Marinakis, met a few days ago with Antonio Cordon in London and discussed the possibility of cooperation.

Indeed, according to the same information that is not confirmed but not denied by the Piraeus team, the Spaniard then came to Greece and toured Georgios Karaiskakis and the training facilities of the red-and-white team in Rentis.

Cordon left Betis last February and last week, according to reports in Spain, he has been linked with the sporting director position at both Barcelona (a position being contested by Deco) and Sevilla. In fact, his compatriots point out that he has many proposals on his hands and will soon decide his future.

In his statements in the past two days in the media of his homeland, the 59-year-old denied that he had accepted an offer from Barcelona, ​​stressing that he was open to the possibility of working abroad, as he had previously worked in Monaco (in the 2016-2017 season) and in Ecuador (for five months in 2016). 2020), while also passing through Italy (Parma) and China (Lifan).

Cordon raised his “stock” and worked great at Villarreal where he was for 17 years (from 1999 to 2016), while also doing well at Betis where he was for 2.5 seasons.

During his tenure, Betis (coached by Manuel Pellegrini) won the 2021-22 Cup on penalties against Valencia, while reaching the last 16 of the Europa League where they were knocked out by Eintracht Frankfurt, who went on to lift the trophy.

During Cordon’s tenure at Villarreal, the latter won the Intertoto Cup in 2003 (against Heerenfen) and 2004 (against Atlético Madrid on penalties).

In the 2003-2004 season, Villarreal reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, where they were knocked out by Valencia, and in the following season (2004-05) they reached the quarter-finals, where they were knocked out by Alkmaar.

Yellow Submarine finished second in La Liga in 2007-08 (the best finish in its history), eight points behind champions Real Madrid and ten ahead of Barcelona. In the following season (2008-2009) he reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, where he was eliminated by Arsenal. They also reached the semi-finals of the Europa League in 2010-11 where they were knocked out by Porto, who went on to win the title.