1998 Greek Football Cup final
The 1998 Greek Cup final was the 54th final of the Greek Cup. The match took place on 29 April 1998 at Karaiskakis Stadium. The contesting teams were Panionios and Panathinaikos. It was Panionios' sixth Greek Cup final in their 108 years of existence and Panathinaikos' twenty fourth Greek Cup final and second consecutive in their 90-year history. For the first time in the history of the institution, the president of Greece, Konstantinos Stephanopoulos graced the final with his presence, also awarding the trophy to the captain of Panionios, Leonidas Vokolos, who shortly after signed with his opponent in the final, Panathinaikos.
Venue
This was the fourteenth Greek Cup final held at Karaiskakis Stadium, after the 1957, 1958, 1960, 1965, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1997 finals.Karaiskakis Stadium was built in 1895 and renovated once in 1964. The stadium is used as a venue for Ethnikos Piraeus and was used for Olympiacos and Greece on various occasions. Its current capacity is 42,000 and hosted a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final in 1971 and the first leg of the Intercontinental Cup final in 1971.
Background
Panionios had reached the Greek Cup final five times, winning one of them. The last time that they had won the Cup was in 1979. The last time that they had played in a final was in 1989, where they had lost to Panathinaikos by 3–1.Panathinaikos had reached the Greek Cup final twenty three times, winning fifteen of them. The last time that they had won the Cup was in 1995. The last time that had played in a final was in 1997, where they had lost to AEK Athens by 5–3 on penalties, which came after a 0–0 draw at the end of the extra time.
The two teams had met each other in a Cup final two times in the 1967 and 1989 finals.