Home - News - article
Greece: 2 hurt in attack on soccer coach's home
Posted Friday, June 29, 2012 by YAHOO Sport

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Two people were wounded in a shootout after armed robbers invaded the Athens home of PAOK Thessaloniki football (soccer) coach Giorgos Donis and briefly held his father-in-law hostage on Thursday, police said.

The shooting occurred in Athens' upscale Kifissia area. A police officer was shot in the leg and an alleged armed robber was also wounded.

The two gunmen were arrested following a large police operation involving a helicopter and dozens of officers on foot and on motorcycles. One of the alleged attackers was identified as a 25-year-old Albanian man, while the second man was not immediately identified.

Jewelry snatched by the robbers was also recovered, police said.

The 42-year-old Donis, a former Greek National team midfielder and player for Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield United in England, was not present when two men entered his home, holding his wife's parents and two children at gunpoint.

Police were alerted after Donis' wife was returning home and apparently spotted the gunmen through a window. She alerted police guards posted outside the neighboring home of former Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou. Police said the gunmen briefly took her father hostage as they left the building, before letting him go unharmed.

Armed robbery has risen sharply in Greece since the country's major financial crisis broke out in late 2009.

Donis took over at financially struggling PAOK at the end of the season, after coaching top-flight club Atromitos and taking them to the Greek Cup Final for two successive years.

Standings
    Rank Team W/D/L Pts

    Cities & Stadiums

    The Top 3 Teams of Previous Tournaments

    Year Winners Runner-up Third place
    2008SpainGermanyRussia / Turkey
    2004GreecePortugalNetherlands / Czech Republic
    2000FranceItalyNetherlands / Portugal
    1996GermanyCzech RepublicFrance / England
    1992DenmarkGermanyNetherlands / Sweden
    1988NetherlandsSoviet UnionItaly / West Germany
    1984FranceSpainDenmark / Portugal
    1980West GermanyBelgiumCzechoslovakia
    1976CzechoslovakiaWest GermanyNetherlands
    1972West GermanySoviet UnionBelgium
    1968ItalyYugoslaviaEngland
    1964SpainSoviet UnionHungary
    1960Soviet UnionYugoslaviaCzechoslovakia