Our greek collaborator and friend Yannis Mostrios sent us this message in memory of our great friend Dimitri.

OUR COACH IS GONE

Sunday the 16th of April 2007 is a day we will never forget. Our coach has passed away. Dimitri Nicolaou at age 43 lost the battle to cancer and will be coaching us from heaven from now on. The Futsal family is mourning the loss of a true friend, a loving father, and a great person.

Dimitri Nicolaou was born on the 12th of March 1964. He got involved in Futsal in 1997 as a player of Athina ’90. He moved on to become the head coach at Doukas in 2000 and Platon in 2003. He won three championships and two cups and was currently the head coach of the Greek national team and the U-21 team. Dimitri was the reason why the futsal virus (as he liked to call it) “infected” so many of us, and got us involved to the sport. He is considered the best to have passed from the sport. His knowledge and passion for the game was inspiring and one could say that he was on to bigger and better things in the future. Only fate decided to deprive him from the opportunity to reach his dreams.

As we stand in shock, speechless at what the Sunday morning news brought to us, we look back at the legacy Dimitri left us. His values in life, his love for his family, his passion for Futsal. Above all we will miss having him next to us, fighting about Olympiacos and Roma (his two favorite teams), discussing about futsal, telling stories about life. Our deepest condolences to his family, his wife Elena, and his two children Apostolo, and Niki. They will keep his fire burning and continue his legacy, for his memory will always be strong in our minds.

We will never forget you Dimitri, thank you for everything…

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