Day: August 9, 2006

Wednesday, 9 August 2006 5:26 PM

By Michael Tsoukalis

South travel to the Veneto Club on Monday to take on the Michael Michalakopoulos coached Bulleen Zebras in what looms as a must win match for both sides.

South have the incentive of looking to secure a top two finish whilst if Bulleen are to continue to hold hopes for a top-six finish, a win on Monday is absolutely essential.

The visitors have been dealt a blow with rising young winger Vasilios Natsioulas ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a severe flesh wound to his thigh in last week’s encounter against Oakleigh.

Fellow youngster Nick Curtis replaced Natsioulas against Oakleigh, doing quite well in the process and most probably securing himself a start against the Zebras.

Midfield workhorse George Tzirtis will no doubt also come back into contention for a starting role after missing last week with a bout of flu whilst Con Blatsis may be rested after limping throughout the second half against the Cannons.

In Ricky Diaco, Ben Harbinson and Hamlet Armenian the Zebras posses proven goal scorers at Premier League level with Harbinson in particular having a decent season managing 8 goals so far this term.

Diaco of course played in the inaugural season of the A-League and brings physical prowess coupled with intelligent footwork to a Zebras team that will no doubt look to involve him in the majority of their attacking play.

Players like Ari Drakos, Ross Antoniadis and Steve Martin are all highly experienced at Premier League level and provide the Zebras with a core of players who know what’s required to get the job done.

South will have to address a recent lack of goal scoring which has coincided with a recent run of patchy form with John Anastasiadis’s men having only managed 2 goals in their past 4 encounters.

Contrary to their return of goals, South have in general been playing very solid and sometimes superb free-flowing football which was clearly evident in last week’s encounter against the ladder-topping Cannons whereby South put Stuart Munro’s men to the sword but ultimately paid for their lack of finishing.

Wednesday, 9 August 2006 12:27 PM

South Melbourne are relieved to announce that young winger Vasilios Natsioulas has escaped serious and permanent injury after being subjected to a disgraceful tackle against Oakleigh this past Sunday.

Natsioulas is now at home recovering and is expected to be able to begin his rehabilitation in 4-6 weeks time.

Unfortunately the young flyer will be unable to play again this season but the South Melbourne family wishes him a quick and speedy recovery.

Natsioulas described the moment as one of “shock”, “Rama (Tavsancioglu) saw the incident and froze, I tried calling the physio but nothing would come out”. He went on to add, “Thankfully the muscle wasn’t hemorrhaged which could’ve seen me miss 6-7 months”.

Injury aside, Natsioulas was shattered when under the influence of Morphine, his brother told him Sunday’s result bedside at the hospital. “The pain had settled by then and the result going against us was very disappointing” added Natsioulas.

When asked of his recent unlucky run with injuries Natsioulas offered some entertaining insight, “My mum has told me to go see a priest, the feeling is since moving to South I’ve been cursed. When I score a goal it seems to be the catalyst for me getting injured. It happened last season after I scored against Sunshine and earlier this season when I pulled a hamstring soon after scoring against the Knights”.

In parting Natsioulas left a clear and strong message for the South faithful, “I love football too much to give it away, the injury may have hurt me psychologically but those sorts of issues can be overcome. I look forward to next year, coming back stronger than ever and being able to produce the sort of football that South Melbourne supporters demand and expect. The support the South faithful have given me during this period has been staggering, I sincerely thank them”.