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Greece vs Estonia (31 August 2017- World Cup Qualifier- Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus)


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It's very frustrating to find definitive updates for the Greek national team. I do like agonasport,  but generally it is a challenge I find to determine what is the latest injuries/news/updates with the National team.

So that said, from what I have read in this forum that Nikos Karelis is unavailable until October. I also saw that Mitroglou is injured on Agonasport but it does not give a timetable. 

I have been reading forums on the Ethniki and there is often debate as to who should play, who should sit, who sits etc. To be honest I don't know what the coach has planned. It is evident that there appears to be an understanding that we do not have clear superstars on our squad. We do have some good players, we have some potential youngsters, we also have some spare parts. That said, depending on our availability of players, I hope that Skibbe puts an effective roster that is prepared to battle hard in these 2 upcoming crucial fixtures. 

Edited by MItsaras9
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I am not opposed as some have mentioned to see Retsos get capped. 

 

It will be interesting how things unfold. This is NOT a line up I suggest, quite frankly I am uneasy as to whois available, who is fit, who is in form, who has experience, and who does not. Certainly some challenges for the coach and the roster he fields. Things get more interesting vs Belgium, the positive there is that Papastathopoulos is back. This is the big push for the Ethniki.

                                                   Karnezis

Torosidis               Retsos             Manolas         Stafylidis

 

Mantalos               Fortounis            Zeca          Donis

 

                                Diamantakos?        Mitroglou?

 

 

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i think papadopoulos will start since he's better in the air than retsos. also nt usually uses a 4-2-3-1 formation, i guess we'll see something like that

karnezis

torosidis manolas papadopoulos stafylidis

samaris zeca (or tachtsidis, kourmpelis)

mantalos fortounis donis 

mitrogloy (or vellios)

as i said athanasiadis would be a welcome addition if he finds his form

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14 hours ago, Boxou said:

 

as i said athanasiadis would be a welcome addition if he finds his form

He just signed for a club in Israel. I don't think he has a place in a NT no matter his form. 

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I would have no problem at all to see Retsos if the game goes well from the beginning and we have a safe lead. Maybe change the formation as well by subbing an offensive player out and putting retsos to end the whole "south africa want him too" joke for the final minutes. Otherwise I think he hasn't had as many  days with the NT as our other defenders so I think he might become a weak link.

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Ultimately I would like to see Greece play hard in both games. Estonia cannot be simply taken lightly, each and every game has to be taken seriously. We know the big battle will be Belgium, Greece must give their all. We can beat Belgium, they were fortunate to tie at home. 

It would be ideal to fight for the first spot, avoiding the 2nd place spot. It has been a bumpy road since the last world cup, but I am feeling better about the Ethniki. Let's hope some key players get healthy and go from there.

 

 

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https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1636361576374057&id=1828424750

Bouchalakis got called up which is good to see. Again Bakasetas and Diamantakos got called up. Tziolis getting called up is a joke. I can't understand why talented players like Pelkas, Galanopoulos and Androutsos don't get called up. Limnios is another but he needs to prove himself more. Skibbe has called up 27 players which makes no sense. Lykogiannis will not play, Diamantakos and Bakasetas don't deserve to be called up. Tziolis getting called up is unbelievable. Why don't we just call up Andreas Tatos or better yet Fetfatzidis.

Edited by Dean97
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The team has played well and look like they're finally starting to turn it around but Skibbe and his call ups are so puzzling. Fetfa should be given a chance and so should Laz. we have way more talented players then the ones being called up. Either Skibbe is a complete moron or others pick the squad for him.  Laz and Fetfa get regular playing time and have talent yet he calls guys that are bench players for there club team..WTF

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15 minutes ago, Rockafeller Skank said:

According to the call ups im guessing

Karnezis

Torosidis -Manolas-Papadopoulos-Stafylidis
Zeca Samaris

Mantalos - Fortounis - Bakasetas

Donis

yeah most likely scenario but i think bakasetas st and donis winger

hopefully mitro can somehow be in there though

fetfa should absolutely be in there. belgium plays wixel who's in china and look how good belgiums squad is

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I really have no interest to watch us play a derby vs Estonia. It's gonna make the team look bad and blow our confidence. An easy win a posession game is what's needed. Mitroglou ain't gonna be the problem against Estonia. We outclass them without him and Papastathopoulos already. The problem is that they re playing having nothing to lose - only to win, which brings the struggle to us. Belgium is a totally another game and considering that Bosnia might even blow it in Cyprus, our game vs Belgium could be totally non-irrelevant. 

If Bosnia loses away at Cyprus(possible), Greece beats Estonia(most possible) and Belgium beats Gibraltar(obvious) the group is done. from this matchday.

The difference in points will be hard for anyone to change the things in their favor after that.

Edited by Rockafeller Skank
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I Would rather see Mitroglou rest against Estonia, if that will mean he is fit to play against Belgium. No point in playing him, if it makes his injury worse for the match against Belgium.

But again, there appears to be very little explaining the nature of his injury, the extent, and where he is currently at regarding fitness.

 

 

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I strongly disagree. Taking the match against Estonia lightly might be a doom for us.

The all must thing to do right now, after this team did not lose twice to Bosnia and did not lose to Belgium once either, after a horrific campaign, is to just not drop oints to Estonia , Cyprus and obviously Gibraltar. That is going to be 21 points from the maximum 30 and that is in fact an achievement. Friendly reminder that we reached the WC 2014 with 25 points as first seeds  and the WC 2010 with 20 points as first seeds again. 21 points as 3rd seed is an achievement and I believe Bosnia is not going to reach 21 points.

I would prefer if we kept a "low score" with Belgium, because our defense has kept us in game even in case Bosnia ties us in points.

Edited by Rockafeller Skank
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1 minute ago, Boxou said:

naingollan retired from the belgian nt..also hazard is in their squad but not expected to play..let's see..

We have no player who is even close to the level of carrasco , lukaku , de bruyne. we have no proper 8 who helps both offensively and defensively like dembele. They have other options.

Also, why did naingollan retire?

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naingollan retiring is still just a rumour.

I think we're gunna get blown out by belgium personally. like 3-0. de bruyne is back, possibly hazard too and they know we can pull an upset against them so theyll be focused.

so we gotta really not s%$#! the bed against estonia.

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We need to get the win vs Estonia to hold on to 2nd. Belgium will not beat us by 3 goals at home no way. We will keep it close as was the case in Belgium. Having Hazard in the lineup makes it obviously more difficult but I think we can blanket him. De Bruyne is not as much of a threat as Mertens or Lukaku. 

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after a run of terrible luck and circumstances....i would like to see smart soccer against a cagey estonian team that we beat. F*** belgium, we could have won the last game if not for a last minute mistake. if we play hard, lets earn our luck and get two victories. why not

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Am I the only one who doesn't even want to think about the Belgium match until we beat Estonia? This match with Estonia scares me as it's one of those matches that can end up screwing us if we let our guard down or if we get frustrated if we don't score a goal then we start pushing and eat one on the counter by them. I'm nervous about this match...

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