Greece vs Belgium (3 September 2017- World Cup Qualifier- Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus)

[Greekaroos 171]

GREECE - BELGIUM  

WORLD CUP QUALIFICATION UEFA - 3 SEPTEMBER 2017

World Cup Qualification UEFA match between Greece and Belgium starts at 20:45 on 3 September 2017. 

http://www.eurosport.com/football/world-cup-qualification-uefa/2018/greece-belgium_mtc802222/live.shtml

Edited June 12, 2017 by Greekaroos
More information on event

[Boxou 134]

We can afford losing it even though I don't think we'll lose it. Overrated bosnians will beat only Gibraltar from their upcoming games, losing to Belgium and drawing Cyprus and Estonia. Wish them good luck fighting for the 3rd spot in the group.

[Argy 237]

Boxou, although I agree that they are slighlty overrated seeing how we handled them with a depleted side on Saturday, they will have no trouble for third place. It is up to us not to drop points to Estonia and Cyprus and try to get a result vs Belgium. 

[Boxou 134]

we won't blow the chance away, there's already too much desire for the world cup in the team. i'd only be worried if we'd face italy in the playoffs. every other team assuming france and portugal top their groups is beatable for me. 

[Molon Lave 192]

lol France beatable? 
Have you watched EURO 2016? 

[HellasLEAF 35]

Belgium without KDB and Hazard were toothless, did not impress at all really.  Thought we contained them handily actually.  

I really think this is a winnable game the NT have their confidence again to play well in tough matches.  

[Argy 237]

10 hours ago, Molon Lave said:

lol France beatable? 
Have you watched EURO 2016? 

Molon, you misread, he said as long as France and Portugal top their groups, every other team is beatable. So we'd avoid them. 

[Molon Lave 192]

OK, let's hope that will happen. Greece would prefer Sweden or Switzerland over those two. 

[ASGRK 0]

Hey all, I'm new to this forum and will going to Greece again this summer. I'll be in Athens specifically on August 3rd, and I'm considering taking my brothers and a few friends that are coming along to this game.

Was wondering if any of you can speak on the atmosphere at national team games. I've seen the attendance has been mediocre at times when watching qualifiers but I'm kinda optimistic that the turnout for this will be much better because its against Belgium. I don't want to end up taking them to a game that only has half the tickets sold. My brother's and a couple friends are Greek so they'll watch no matter what, but there are few others who aren't and would be coming for the experience. Any insight you guys might have is helpful!

[Mark 1]

Remember going to the Greece Russia world cup qualifier when i was a teenager visiting Athens for the first time.

Atmosphere was memorable.Even the train ride to the stadium was an awesome experiance.Everyone was singing.

Great experiance.Just go brother.

[Greekaroos 171]

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)

[RED SHERIFF 666]

tziolis, diamantakos, vellios, bakasetas..have no place in this squad...

[Argy 237]

I mean how far off is even Ninis, who plays first flight Belgium, from getting a shot when guys like Bakasetas and Diamantakos are virtually shoe-ins in the squad. I get that Skibbe has his comfort players, but this is becoming ridiculous. Take a chance with some subs it can pay off. 

Edited August 28, 2017 by Argy

[Ellada2004 98]

Agree with your posts don't know what Tziolis, Bakasetas, Vellios bring to the squad. With Tziolis it must be that they are comfortable in having him as he has been capped for so many years. Ninis who plays in Belgium should be given another shot I believe.

[J1078 420]

compared to the guys that we call up how the hell do you NOT give Laz,Ninis and fetfa even a look at what they can bring to the table.. Fetfa has some serious skill and good foot work.. better than the majority of the call ups.

[Argy 237]

The Fetfa topic has been exhausted. There is no legitimate reason why he should't get a call up. Skibbe is doing well but some of his selections are baffling. If he is trying to build depth and unity leading up to a world cup, he is doing it with the wrong subs. 

Edited August 29, 2017 by Argy

[Ellada2004 98]

Fetfa has the attacking skills and mindset that we desperately need I can't understand how he never gets called up since the Euro 2016 qualifiers.

[georgelaz 456]

no one wants to make the trip to saudi arabia to scout him lol

 

[Dean97 256]

Fetfatzidis without a doubt should be in the squad. If we all agree on this then it's obvious to the majority of people around the world I don't know what Skibbe problem is with him. Maybe he sees Bakasetas and Diamantakos as the future of the team. Pelkas should of been called up he has played more games than Gianniotas. Gianniotas is a good player. The reason why we think players like Tziolis, Bakasetas and Diamantakos are not good enough is because they are not good enough. 

Edited August 30, 2017 by Dean97

[georgelaz 456]

yeah pelkas can play on the wing too and was a huge part of why we beat hungary in the 4-3

[HellasLEAF 35]

On 8/26/2017 at 8:16 PM, RED SHERIFF said:

tziolis, diamantakos, vellios, bakasetas..have no place in this squad...

This.  Hopefully it's not too late now, but it might be.  

[ausgreek 245]

Another major reason we beat Hungary 4-3 was the best player on the day, Tachtsidis.

[ausgreek 245]

                                             Pirates 4 2 3 1:

                                           Mitroglou

         Donis                                   Mantalos           Fortounis

                         Tachtsidis

 Stafylidis                                        Zeca                           Retsos

                                Sokratis (c)                   Manolas                    

                                            Karnezis

Some subs:

Samaris    Bakasetas    KPaps    Tzavellas    Tziolara  

[J1078 420]

Just updated Mitro is doubtful for Sunday's match.

[Argy 237]

That would be horrible. Skibbe says he's counting on him to play however.

 I just don't wanna get ripped 4-5 nothing like Bosnia did. 

Edited September 1, 2017 by Argy