Ethnikos won another Piraeus Championship in 1938-39, but lost the South Division by 2 points, just missing out on a chance to play for the National Championship. Ethnikos reached the Semifinals of the Greek Cup in 1938-39 and 1939-40, but lost to PAOK and Panathinaikos, respectively.long the way, Olympiacos developed a habit for luring Ethnikos' best players, like Greek national team players Philippos Kourantis in the late 1920s, Yiannis Chelmis in the late 1930s and Yiannis Ioannou in the early 1950s.