Lack of playing time frustrates young star

By JOHN SCHWARB

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 8, 2000

Gus Kartes owns the hearts of thousands of fans, enough money to last a lifetime, and according to many experts, a long and prosperous future in professional soccer. What he doesn't haveis a chance to live up to it all.

The Tarpon Springs junior and one-time Spongers player is still three months shy of his 19th birthday but has already completed three years of a five-year, $2-million contract with the First Division Olympiakos Football Club near Athens, Greece.

To show for it, Kartes has frequent-flyer miles, a passport filled with stamps from all over the world and zero goals in international competition.

Call it the Grecian formula for the young and talented.

"It's difficult for me," Kartes said last week during a rare trip home to the U.S. "(Being young) is almost a bad thing. But my role is getting better and better."

This season, Olympiakos won its 29th First Division championship, but Kartes contributed mostly as a practice-squad player. On a team with six players older than 35 years old and 10 between 27 and 30, an 18-year-old is expected to stand aside and patiently wait his turn.

Joining the pro ranks at 15, Kartes, who plays under his Greek name Kosta Karterouliotis, did not expect to be thrust into the starting lineup immediately -- even though fans in the family's hometown of Sparta were clamoring for him.

But three years later, he is still waiting for the chance to make a real impact, the chance to prove his worth as the youngest player ever to sign a First Division contract.

"He's ready to play," said Gus' father, Bob Kartes. "They need to push him."

Gus Kartes is continuing to push himself, even in the brief off-season. While at home in Lansbrook, he worked out daily with friends, preparing for the all-important preseason scrimmages. Olympiakos has a new coach, Yiannis Matzourakis, who knows little about the team's young phenom.

With good performances in scrimmages, Kartes hopes to show that he belongs, not just on the team, but in the lineup.

As a youngster, his feats reportedly included 58 goals in 10 games as an 8-year-old in West Pasco Youth Soccer Association Games and a 110-goal season three years later with the Palm Harbor Nighthawks. Now, just one goal could be a springboard to the professional starting lineup.

"This year is a big year for me," Kartes said. "In preseason, I have to make an impression. Once you get in the lineup, you're there (for good)."

Apparently, Olympiakos officials are aware of Kartes' potential, as his rights are being tightly guarded. Kartes said offers for his services from teams in England, Belgium and Italy came through Olympiakos' offices, but team officials brushed off each one. Even when the U.S. National team offered Kartes a spot (he had played on U.S. Junior teams and had developed a good rapport with coaches), Olympiakos told him he could not accept it.

In terms of team success, financial clout and fan support, Olympiakos is comparable to the New York Yankees in Greece, but Kartes says that if he does not rise up the team's depth chart during the final two years of his contract, he'll look to play elsewhere.

"It would be nice to take a step up," he said. "In Greece, if you're not playing on Olympiakos, it's not worth playing anywhere else.

"If I played in England, I might have an opportunity to be playing right now, in the Premier League or any other league in the world. But Greece is really strict (on age).

"I've just got to show I'm better."

INTRODUCING:

• GUS KARTES AGE: 18.

• POSITION: Forward.

• HIGH SCHOOL: Tarpon Springs (freshman year only).

• OVERSEAS SCHOOLING: "I missed out. I was accepted (to the private American Community School in Athens), but I couldn't balance practice and classes. I would have been fined for being late by my coaches. But there's no regrets -- I've probably learned more about life in the last three years than I ever could (in classes)."

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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