Dellas takes on AEK coaching job

Former Greece international defender Traianos Dellas was named coach of AEK on Wednesday, as the financially-troubled giants struggle to stay in the Greek Super League. Dellas, 37, was a member of Greece's Euro 2004-winning squad and accepted his first coaching job with the team he closed out his playing career with last season. He replaced 59-year-old German coach Ewald Lienen who was fired on Tuesday following a 2-0 loss at PAS Giannina on Monday. "Traianos Dellas with the jersey of AEK wrote his own chapter in the rich history of our team and will take over coaching the team until the end of this season," the club announced. AEK have won just one of their last seven games and lie in 12th place with just two matches left and only a point separating 12th from 15th. The bottom three are relegated in the 16-team league. AEK have the same number of points -- 30 -- as 13th and 14th-placed Panthrakikos and Veria but a superior goal difference. Aris Salonika are in 15th spot with 29 points. As well as dealing with major financial problems, AEK made headlines recently when midfielder Giorgos Katidis was banned from representing Greece for life after giving a Nazi-salute after scoring a goal in a 2-1 win against Veria. Dellas played 53 times for the Greek national team, scoring one goal. He played for a number of clubs, including English side Sheffield United, Perugia and Roma in Italy. Source: AFP