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I want to see Greece try to get an early goal instead of staying back and going through the motions for the first 15 minutes. Don't let this team breathe. End it early and take out your key players during the 2nd half.

Come on boys. Forget the Nations Cup. Fresh start. The group isn't that bad, we can get in it's definitely possible. PAME!!

If he does this he’s making a big mistake, he needs to start the guys that are going to be playing against Bosnia and use this game to build confidence and chemistry together.. I don’t know what the mindset behind this is.. Why play your most important game with line up that will be rusty or unfamiliar with each other.. Man I hope this is not true.. i also read a similar article that said he may go with something unexpected in the first game.. did he not see what happend against Estonia when he used a messed up line up???

The good thing regarding UEFA qualifying is that head-to-head takes precedence over goal differential. So while I would love to see a 3-0 win, a 1-0 win won't be the first tie-breaker to kill us.

Press conference

Friendly 4:3 loss to Slovakia in a game played in Zilina, Slovakia. Next friendly is against Montenegro next Tuesday in Athens.

It's also reported that he was injured later in the game and had to be substituted. Hopefully it's nothing serious. Siabanis was the other PAOK player (but not for long) that played in the game. In the U19 Elite Round game between Greece and Denmark 2:2, out of the seven PAOK players in the squad 5 started the game and the other 2 were subbed in. Tsausis scored the first goal, while the future PAOK transfer Meliopoulos scored the second one. PAOK players in the U19 squad are Lyratzis, Diamantis, Tsiggaras, Tsaousis, Gaitanidis, Michailidis, Gargalatzidis

The problem with that question is that you are trying to make sense of judicial decisions in Greece on any level (criminal, athletic, etc.). The laws in that country are badly written and randomly and selectively enforced. Actually I should say they are well written, but with loopholes so they can be randomly and selectively enforced depending and who is involved.

ok champ. I’ve probably been to Greece more times than you since 2010 but thanks for the heads up on the economy.

Thanks for the update bro. Manolas out against Bosnia is a huge blow. Hopefully the rest of the team steps up their game the way they usually have against tougher opponents in the past (Bosnia and Belgium last time).

I read the Sokratis interview. Regardless of how good they are or not he was wrong. Very wrong to say that they don’t have the good players needed to be strong. If I were on the team and had to play with this guy, I’d lose all respect for him.

So...any updates? Is Socrates missing the first game? Is Manolas out against Bosnia?

Good win for Cyprus hopefully they can compete for 2nd spot but it will be tough with Russia there.

He is young in a footballing sense.. OK hes not 20 but he could still play for another 10 years easily. You can't teach natural pace or an engine/work rate like his but you can work on your touch, shooting and decision making. Regardless, i think his only really issue this season is sometimes tying to do to much. Klaus i feel is different, i think the pressure of being the main goalscorer and captain was too much for him and as chance after chance was missed and the goals dried up, that was him done mentally sadly. I would have still liked to have seen him stay though. He only had one poor season for us and this was down to pressure and confidence IMO. Losing Pelkas would be a big mistake IMO. He is a future club captain (already been captain 5/6 times this season) and I also think that because he was so good last season that this season he is being unfairly judged.

Καλά, μας δουλεύεις; Αφού σου το έγραψα παραπάνω και απάντησες μάλιστα! ΥΓ1. Αντέχεις να δεις Εθνική και τον κάφρο προπονητή "αν θέλει η Παναγιά"; ΥΓ2. Τουλάχιστον το Σ-Κ έχει το ντέρμπι στο μπάσκετ.

Yet Bakasetas is rumoured to be starting... as is Fortounis which means we will see slow Bakasetas on the wing again. I dunno how he does it, I really don’t ??

O God I hope he doesn’t play Bakasetas, the guy is not in form with AEK and with the NT he has yet to play a decent game.

The coach better field the best eleven and don’t take them lightly. Earlier today Scotland got destroyed by light weights Kazakhstan 3-0.

Yes you are right. We haven’t got the depth. Belgium, Brazil, Spain and Germany have got depth in their teams. There is alway a player to replace that is good enough in their squads. I too believe that resting key players for the first match is wrong. We couldn’t beat Faroes islands with our full enough squad. What’s going to happen now by playing inexperienced players. Siopis is good enough to play but Bakasetas shouldn’t. I read that Anastasiadis is going to either play a 3-5-2 or 4-2-3-1. Also the players that are definitely starting in the first match regardless of the formation are Samaris, Vlachodimos, Siovas, Fortounis, Bakasetas, Zeca amd Mitroglou. Yes, Bakasetas is going to start. FFS!!

I legit think Pelkas is our best player. Absolutely absurd talent levels. Just needs to get his s%$#! together. Personally, though, I'd still include him as part of a package deal for Oliveira, assuming Porto was interested. He needs a different environment, in my opinion.

I really like Pelkas. OK hes not had the best season but his work rate, pace and the fact he is Greek, a PAOK fan and is still young means i would be pretty disappointed if he left. I'm looking forward to another rocket fro vieirinha... surely he's due one from the half way line soon.