Greekaroos

I like Red Sheriff's team if Mitroglou & Torosidis are definitely unavailable for the Estonia match. Without a traditional number 9 like Mitroglou having four players with a lethal shot from outside the the penalty area like Tzavellas, Stafylidis, Bouchalakis & Fortounis would be a very good option against a team that will be very defensive around the area.

Below is the entire 27 man squad called up for the two matches against Estonia and Belgium: Goalkeepers: Giannis Anestis (AEK), Stefanos Kapino (Olympiacos), Orestis Karnezis (Udinese) Defenders: Vassilis Torosidis (Bologna), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (B. Dortmund), Kostas Manolas (Roma), Panagiotis Retsos (Olympiacos), Kyriakos Papadopoulos (Hamburg), Kostas Stafylidis (Augsburg), Babis Lykogiannis (Sturm Graz), Giorgos Tzavellas (Alanyaspor) Midfielders: Panagiotis Tachtsidis (Olympiacos), Andreas Samaris (Benfica), Giannis Maniatis (Alyanspor), Alexandros Tziolis (Al-Fayha), Carlos Zeca (Panathinaikos), Manolis Siopis (Olympiacos), Dimitris Kourbelis (Panathinaikos), Kostas Fortounis (Olympiacos), Petros Mantalos (AEK), Giannis Gianniotas (Real Valladolid), Andreas Bouchalakis (Nottingham Forest) Forwards: Dimitris Diamantakos (Karlsruhe), Kostas Mitroglou (Benfica), Apostolos Vellios (Nottingham Forest), Tasos Bakasetas (AEK), Tasos Donis (VfB Stuttgart)

SKIBBE MIXES OLD AND NEW IN LATEST GREEK SQUAD Michael Skibbe announced his squad this week for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Estonia and Belgium. The Ethniki boss selected 27 players into the Greek camp this week springing a couple of surprises with his call-ups. For the most part Skibbe has relied on familiar faces as the bulk of the squad is similar to other ones he has used in the qualification process. However, there are first-time call-ups for Andreas Bouchalakis and Giannis Anestis. Skibbe continues on with his policy of bringing in new faces who are in form. Panagiotis Tachtsidis and Tasos Bakasetas are included in the squad despite missing most of their club’s preseason due to injury. The main concern of Greek supporters has centered around the injury of Kostas Mitroglou. The Benfica striker has been sidelined for the last couple weeks, but has been included in the squad though he is set to miss the Estonia match. Mitroglou is expected to play against Belgium, either from the start or as a substitute. Sokratis Papastathopoulos is in the squad, though suspension will keep him out of the Estonia qualifier. Below is the entire squad called up for the two matches against Estonia and Belgium: Goalkeepers: Giannis Anestis (AEK), Stefanos Kapino (Olympiacos), Orestis Karnezis (Udinese) Defenders: Vassilis Torosidis (Bologna), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (B. Dortmund), Kostas Manolas (Roma), Panagiotis Retsos (Olympiacos), Kyriakos Papadopoulos (Hamburg), Kostas Stafylidis (Augsburg), Babis Lykogiannis (Sturm Graz), Giorgos Tzavellas (Alanyaspor) Midfielders: Panagiotis Tachtsidis (Olympiacos), Andreas Samaris (Benfica), Giannis Maniatis (Alyanspor), Alexandros Tziolis (Al-Fayha), Carlos Zeca (Panathinaikos), Manolis Siopis (Olympiacos), Dimitris Kourbelis (Panathinaikos), Kostas Fortounis (Olympiacos), Petros Mantalos (AEK), Giannis Gianniotas (Real Valladolid), Andreas Bouchalakis (Nottingham Forest) Forwards: Dimitris Diamantakos (Karlsruhe), Kostas Mitroglou (Benfica), Apostolos Vellios (Nottingham Forest), Tasos Bakasetas (AEK), Tasos Donis (VfB Stuttgart)

Torosidis & Sokratis both came off late in the 1st half in their respective matches in overnight action for their club sides.

I was surprised how many Greeks are currently playing their club football in Turkey. Except for Giannis Maniatis & Georgios Tzavellas playing in the Turkish Super Lig with Alanyaspor there are at least four more playing in the league below TFF 1. Lig Georgios Samaras- Samsunspor Andreas Tatos- Elazigspor Andreas Vasilogiannis- Umraniyespor Panagiotis Dimitriadis (Swedish-Greek)- Giresunspor

Karnezis, Stafylidis, Samaris Tachtsidis, Mitroglou were all not even on the bench for their clubs in weekend domestic league action.

Karnezis wasn't in Udinese's squad for the opening Serie A match of the 2017/2018 season?????

Any news on how long Mitroglou is out injured for? Will he be ok for this WCQ on 31 August?

https://www.google.com.au/amp/www.nottinghampost.com/sport/football/match-reports/brilliant-brace-bouchalakis-sees-nottingham-317324.amp His 1st goal giving Forest a 1-2 lead https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F1ivB2NjcOs&feature=share His 2nd goal making it 1-3 lead https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=share&v=8QVILrEAuE0

I've been predicting for a while now that Andreas Bouchalakis will become a regular national team playing member from when I first saw him play for Olympiakos in a pre-season tournament in Canada or the USA against AC Milan, Man City & one other great team. For such a young man he showed so much composure on the ball & thunderbolt of a shot with both feet, especially his left foot.

Andreas Bouchalakis made his English League Championship debut for Nottingham Forest away to Brentford with two brilliant goals to help Forest win 3-4.

Any news on how long Mitroglou will be missing from playing after that injury he picked up in the pre-season Emirates Cup tournament match against Inter Milan? He seemed to be pointing to his hamstring when explaining to the trainer.

SAMARAS AND SIFAKIS CONTINUE IN SECOND DIVISION TURKEY Two former Greek internationals Michalis Sifakis and Georgios Samaras will continue their careers in Turkey for Samsunspor. Over the weekend, Michalis Sifakis and Georgios Samaras made their move to Turkey official after signing new deals with Samsunspor, a club that competes in the Turkish second division. The two players, who have both played for Greece’s national team, are in the later stages of their career and will look to help their new club gain promotion to the Turkish Super Lig. Sifakis is coming off a two year spell in Belgium with Kortrijk while Georgios Samaras finished a short stay in the Spanish second division with Real Zaragoza.

SAMARAS AND SIFAKIS CONTINUE IN SECOND DIVISION TURKEY Two former Greek internationals Michalis Sifakis and Georgios Samaras will continue their careers in Turkey for Samsunspor. Over the weekend, Michalis Sifakis and Georgios Samaras made their move to Turkey official after signing new deals with Samsunspor, a club that competes in the Turkish second division. The two players, who have both played for Greece’s national team, are in the later stages of their career and will look to help their new club gain promotion to the Turkish Super Lig. Sifakis is coming off a two year spell in Belgium with Kortrijk while Georgios Samaras finished a short stay in the Spanish second division with Real Zaragoza.

The Giannis Maniatis (Standard Liege) thread had the following. This topic is now closed to further replies. js1000 you must have a way to post on a closed topic but?

The previous thread from his stint in Belgium did not allow you to post anything because it was closed. Not sure if I was able to re-active it?

MANIATIS SIGNS WITH ALANYASPOR Giannis Maniatis is an official player of Turkish club Alanyaspor. The 30-year old completed his move to Turkey for Alanyaspor on Thursday after signing a deal with the club. Maniatis will be teammates with fellow Greece international, Georgios Tzavellas, who joined Alanyaspor in January on a free transfer from PAOK. The two have been teammates in the past at the club level when they enjoyed a common spell at Panionios. Maniatis signed as a free-agent after a 6-month spell at Atromitos in the Superleague. The 30-year old has been a consistent call-up to the Ethniki under Michael Skibbe and will look to keep Skibbe’s trust with his displays at his new club. The club announced the signing and welcomed him in Turkish, English, and even Greek.

Tachtsidis will undergo the necessary medical tests later today and sign with the club.

According to reports out of Portugal and England, Newcastle want to sign Greece international Andreas Samaris from Benfica. The English side is offering €15 million for his transfer, however Benfica price Samaris at €20 million, double the amount they acquired him from Olympiacos a few years back. Newcastle coach Rafa Benitez is set on bringing the 28-year old midfielder to Saint James Park for the new Premier League season and despite the €5 million difference between the two sides, talks are expected to proceed and Samaris will sign with the English side. Samaris made 32 appearances last season in all competitions for the Portuguese champions. On the last day of the January transfer window he nearly signed with Sunderland, but Benfica saw Samaris’ departure as a big risk to the club after Danilo was already loaned out to Standard Liege.

If Greece have all it's major players available they are a tough team to break down & will hurt you with one mistake or lapse in defense. They fear nobody & the bigger the opponent or match the better they play. Bring it on!!

Money talk$!!! He is probably going to a club with big European ambitions & lots of money to spend. I don't see him being in Russia for more than two years.

Needed at Liverpool FC with his former boss at Dortmund.

Mantalos puts that away for a 0-1 win away to Bosnia-Herzegovina & Greece hold on a few more minutes away to Belgium & Greece are sitting on top of the table.

Michael Skibbe in a short time has picked a lot of younger player in his squads. You only have to look at the changes from the Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup squad & you realize the majority of the changes started to happen since Skibbe's arrival.

A real positive in this current team under Michael Skibbe is the return of team unity, passion, discipline & not relying on the same starting 11 match to match. Although Greece don't have a superstar, Skibbe is slowly building a very good solid squad.