Soccer brings together locals and refugees in northern Greece

The game had passion and intensity while the atmosphere was festive. It was the afternoon of Holy Wednesday at the Municipal Sports Center of Alexandreia in Imathia, northern Greece, and two strong teams were locking horns on the pitch: Megas Alexandros soccer club from Trikala, with a history of 50 years, against a team of refugee men staying at a nearby camp on the former 722 Military Base. The game ended in a 4-4 draw, though no one was really keeping score.

Nikos Lioliopoulos, a farmer from the village of Meliki, came up with the idea for the game. He has been volunteering at the refugee center, home to 500 adults and 300 children, for some time now.

"I thought it would be nice for the children to be allowed to play some soccer on the pitch nearby, to be kids for awhile," he tells Kathimerini. Before the big game against Megas Alexandros, Lioliopoulos organized a...