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Road To Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup


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Absolutely not want to draw : Italy

Would rather avoid: Switzerland & Croatia (bot considering that we dodged Italy that would be a fair draw)
Want to draw: Denmark - one man team with Erikssen. Decent squad overall but nothing to be afraid for us and definately much less quality than the other 3. 

Croatia are the only team that ended 2nd coz of underperformingso I would put them 2nd in preference.

Don't let the fact that Albania put up a fight against Italy and Macedonia took the draw from them. As soon as the Group was realistically finished (after spain defeat) they were uninterested in the rest matches and probably conserving power as it did not matter. Not to mention that had they drawn Albania they would probably be unseeded.

Whoever we get I give us minimum chances to qualify. I still believe coz I love this team but I think the play offs is the maximum of our capabilities currently.

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On 20/06/2016 at 12:45 AM, Greekaroos said:

I think the national team coach Michael Skibbe would of found a lot of positives from the long trip away in Australia for the two FIFA international friendly matches in Sydney & Melbourne against Australia. A long trip away is good for team morale & bonding. The boss can work on new playing systems or tactics. New players together with fringe players stepped in & impressed while some of Greece's star players like Mitroglou, Manolas, Fortounis, Karelis, Siovvas & Ninis stayed home to freshen up & shake off injuries. Some of Greece's senior players like Papastathopoulos, Samaris, Maniatis, Holebas & Torosidis were Greece's best players.

TOROSIDIS CITES TRIP DOWN UNDER AS GREECE’S TURNING POINT

Greece captain Vasilis Torosidis said that last summer’s trip to Australia was the turning point in helping the team recover from the shock of missing out on Euro 2016 and qualify for the World Cup playoffs. 

Michael Skibbe’s team booked their place in the playoffs following a straightforward 4-0 home win over whipping boys Gibraltar on Tuesday which saw them end their Group H campaign in second place and go through as one of the best runners-up.

The unseeded Greeks will now enter next week’s draw and face one of European football’s big guns in the playoffs which will take place next month.

And Torosidis, who scored the first goal in the 4-0 win at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in Piraeus, says the key to Greece’s consistency in this campaign was a soul-searching trip to Australia to play two friendlies in the summer of 2016.

“The poor performances before that time when we failed to qualify for the Euro (2016) was not normal by our standards,” said Torosidis.

He added: “The defeats to the Faroe Islands, without underestimating our opponents, were something unprecedented for us. We closed that chapter though and sought to move on. 
During that trip to Australia we all sat down, players and coaches, as well as the administration, and did a lot of talking and solved a lot of issues.”

Greece visited Australia for two friendlies in June 2016, losing one match against the Socceroos 1-0 while winning the other 2-1, before returning to embark on what has been an impressive qualifying campaign for Russia 2018.

“We know we will have a difficult draw,” said Torosidis of the upcoming World Cup playoff draw. “All the teams are very good at this stage; let's just hope we avoid Italy,” he added.
“We have shown what kind of team we can be during the last few months and we are almost there.”

For his part, coach Michael Skibbe said he doesn’t mind who Greece are paired with in the draw, which takes place next Tuesday, October 17.

“My goal since taking charge of the team has always been to qualify for the World Cup and I think we’ll make it through the playoffs,” said the German.

“I don’t have a particular preference in terms of the team we will face. I’m just happy that we’ve made it and let’s see next week who we will be drawn with,” he added, before highlighting the unity in his squad as a key factor.

“If you don’t play as a compact unit then you can’t do it. We’ve been successful because we do just that. Everybody is playing their part and playing for the team.”
“I think it’s been a very impressive and professional qualifying campaign from our side. Although we had some poor results lately drawing at home with Estonia and then losing to Belgium but in the end this point we got against Estonia was still important.”

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I think we would take Denmark they can play real well like when they thrashed Poland or they struggle with the lesser teams. Everything runs through Erickson. Who else do they have? I think we hold our own with Switzerland.

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In my opinion, only Italy is the team to avoid for several reasons. 
A) Not because they are better overall team, but the refs could have an influence to this tie
B) FIFA is run by an Italian and he will do anything possible to stop Greece from qualifying. 
Croatia, Denmark, and Switzerland are better options even though Croatia can be pretty dangerous. 

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9 minutes ago, Molon Lave said:

In my opinion, only Italy is the team to avoid for several reasons. 
A) Not because they are better overall team, but the refs could have an influence to this tie
B) FIFA is run by an Italian and he will do anything possible to stop Greece from qualifying. 
Croatia, Denmark, and Switzerland are better options even though Croatia can be pretty dangerous. 

That's true Italy would get some ridiculous call go there way like for example the Henry hand ball goal vs Ireland. I would be nervous FIFA would conspire against Greece.

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The Intercontinental Playoffs are set 

Australia vs. Honduras 
New Zealand vs. Peru 

Shocking news today is USA did not qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986. 

Edited by Molon Lave
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lets be quite honest here. I think Italy would want to avoid us and Sweeden. Same goes for the rest of the seeded teams. because we scrape a nil all draw in the first leg and pull something in the second leg. Espn said we like to choke the opposition in the most boring soccer fashion haha.

Edited by Megas
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italy-nothern ireland; fifa already lost chile, netherlands and the usa. losing italy would be too much so they'll give them the worse team out there which is nothern ireland.

just a prediction about the rest.

switzerland-greece

ireland-denmark

croatia-sweden.

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1 hour ago, Molon Lave said:

My predication for the draw 

Italy - Northern Ireland
Croatia-Republic of Ireland
Switzerland-Sweden
Greece-Denmark 

Are those your predictions or is that want you want to happen.. lol.. I would take that draw..

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13 hours ago, Molon Lave said:

The Intercontinental Playoffs are set 

Australia vs. Honduras 
New Zealand vs. Peru 

Shocking news today is USA did not qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986. 

USA just had to beat Trinada and even a draw might have got them through. Bruce Arena was speaking to the media after saying the "hot shots" in Europe would find CONCACAF tough? Ya it's really hard going up against cruddy Canada, Guatemala, even mighty Guadeloupe lol. Only Mexico are decent side and they would have it tough in Europe if they had to come out of our region. 

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4 hours ago, Boxou said:

italy-nothern ireland; fifa already lost chile, netherlands and the usa. losing italy would be too much so they'll give them the worse team out there which is nothern ireland.

just a prediction about the rest.

switzerland-greece

ireland-denmark

croatia-sweden.

Thats right FIFA don't want a 4x World Cup winner Italy out of the fold. They would help them find a way in that's why we want to avoid them. I can see Italy drawing Ireland as they seem to get drawn with one an other often.

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I think the Swiss would be toughest. Italy would be interesting. But when you get to this point, it just comes down to who wants it more and of course a little help from lady luck doesn't hurt.

I think that the morale of the Ethniki is in a good place. I believe that anything is possible. It appears the squad is healthy. Defensively we match up extremely well. Our Midfield picture has become clearer. A healthy Mitroglou even not 100%fit, is a blessing. So far so good.

As for the Swiss, they are going to have regain composure after their loss to Portugal. The Swiss are a quality side, so I think that they will regroup quickly and play strong. It appears the Italians are questioning themselves and have doubts. But they will go down swinging. Anything can happen, but it always seems that Greece rise to the occasion against stronger sides. We'll see, I hope the team battles hard, and punches their ticket to Russia.

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^The more and more I think about it I think that we don't match up well against the Swiss as they are a very balanced team.The Swiss scare me I'm actually thinking if we don't get Denmark I'd rather Croatia.... I'm so confused...

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