44th, however, Antchouet was the player who held the final. In the 83rd minute the "Gabonese Arrow" poured on the offensive after the exemplary deep ball of Fotakis and "thundered" the goalkeeper Ebéde, writing the 1–2 that was meant to be the final score. The final whistle of Kyros Vassaras found over 10,000 fans of the team ecstatically singing "because we have lost our minds, this Cup is ours", giving rise to frantic celebration. The celebration began at Panthessaliko from the awarding of the trophy, continued to Alcazar which opened its gates to welcome the winners and ended in the Central Square of Larissa shortly after midnight. AEL 1964 (Donis): Kotsolis, Galitsios, Venetidis, Dabizas, Föerster, Bassila, Silva Cleyton (85 ' Vallas) Digozis, Aloneftis (74 ' Kalantzis), Fotakis, Kožlej, (60 'Antchouet). Panathinaikos (Muñoz): Ebéde, Vyntra, Nilsson, (84 ' Šerić), Goumas, Morris, Leontiou, Tziolis (85 ' Bišćan), Ninis (73 ' Romero), Ivanschitz, Papadopoulos, Mantzios. A week later the "crimsons" made the trip from Heaven to Hell and Heaven again within a 90-minute to ensure in the 81st minute with an Own goal the victory in Kalamaria with 2–1 against the local Apollon, having at their side to support over 3000 fans and putting "happy endings" in a difficult and successful year. European dream The new season started with the best omens. AEL as the Cup Winner, represented Greece in the UEFA Cup and the draw brought its technical leader, Giorgos Donis, faced with the club in which he started his international football career, English Blackburn Rovers. AEL entered the first qualifying round as the clear underdog, but on the afternoon of 20 September 2007 at the Panthessaliko Stadium—after Alcazar did not comply to the UEFA specifications—radically subverted the data: won 2–0 in the first match and lost 2–1 in the second game of Ewood Park and took a proud qualification to the group stage. In the "32" AEL faced powerful teams like Everton with a long tradition in the Premier League, rising Dutch AZ Alkmaar, German Nürnberg and the subsequent 2008 UEFA Cup winners mighty Russian Zenit Saint Petersburg. The team failed to pick a point in the four games, but won the respect that was confirmed by great European coaches, which AEL found opposite in this journey as Louis van Gaal and Dick Advocaat. Liberated from the burden of European obligations and with the assistance of world class players like Maciej