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Did anyone else crack a massive smile when they showed Otto?

JVS was SPOT ON with his opening statement

I represented Greece on the national level for the Greek National Baseball team in European competitions in Euro 2012. I was in tears the first time I wore that jersey and heard the anthem. So from someone who actually put on the official Greece uniform, I CAN confirm, that I felt in my heart I was representing my country and I put on the best effort I could for Greece.

One time special on Phantis PAOK forums. My prediction 4:0 for Olympiakos with two penalties in favor of the best team ever in Greece.

Did anyone notice at the end that they all got together to take in the win, they wanted it badly!!

We just went toe to toe with the best team in the world. Scoring 2 goals in 5 minutes was unreal. This was a huge confidence booster heading into March. A lot of positives from the boys tonight. We all should be proud of this performance..

Booked my tickets to Marseille. I believe the Scotsman will also be joining me.

Zeca our best player tonight. Really lucky to get the point though in a game where we did not create anything. Take this as a gift for the country's anniversary.

A win here will set off the following chain of events : - Ranked in pot 3 for WC Qualifying - Top the following group: England, Wales, Greece, Estonia, and San Marino . (We don’t drop any points) - Go into the WC Draw still as underdogs, with media saying we were a fluke. We get drawn with : USA, Greece, Germany, Japan. - Group goes as followed: Greece 9, Germany 6, USA 3, Japan 0. - Make a run all the way to the WC Finals against European champs , Netherlands. Media plays up the JVS vs Netherlands story line. We win easily, 3-0 with goals from Fortounis (2) and Athanasiadis (revitalizes his career in Greek 3rd division). JVS becomes a national hero. Wonderkid Tzolis is transferred to Barcelona for a whopping €3.5 million. - The following Nations League we start off 0-2 with losses to Armenia and Latvia

PAOK's new coaching staff:

As much as I criticized the coach for the mistake to start the game I give him full credit for making in game adjustments and changing the style to at the very least give us a chance.. Hopefuly now he sees unless we are playing a superpower we need to come out with speed and creativity and not just sit back and take the pressure..

Full of excuses! You sir drag Greece down to the lowest level on any international competition. Greece should be playing in League D with such BS performance. Greek fans deserve better! At least in Greece our track and field athletes brought us more joy than this hot garbage!

Why they didn't reseed based on FIFA rank is baffling. Greece should be playing both at home!

Diego says hi to all PAOKtzides.

And let's give Poyet his due! None of us were too crazy about his hire, and he is 4-0 in this competition, and 5-1 overall. This is the best we've been since we got back from Brazil.

The atmosphere has changed they are starting to learn how to close out games and get the 3 points this was a non factor with this team and previous coaches. The players look like they are plying for each other, they look like they have the passion that’s been missing for years and you can see that when the national anthem was playing with Tsimikas reaction. Even the players on the bench are not stop interacting.. The tide is turning for this team and Poyet is looking like a true coach we’ve been missing. Poyets in game decision making in his short time he’s been here so far is looking spot on he can read the game and the players that don’t have it on a particular night. When was the last time we’ve scored 7 goals and allowed 0 in 4 games played? Man the is the first time in years I’ve been so excited for this team..

That is a big part of the issue, we do not have an abundance of options in central midfield and the players that do play there are limited in one way or another. Kourbelis, Zeca, Siopis are all pure defensive mids who aren't great with the ball but are pretty solid at the defensive stuff (especially Siopis and Zeca) Bouchalakis lack of pace wouldn't necessarily be a problem if he made quick decisions but he doesn't. He wants time and space on the ball something not often afforded in modern football with so much pressing going on. His control is also hit and miss, at least a few times a game the ball will bounce off him and the opposition will win the ball back and launch a counter when half our team is up the pitch. Galanopoulos is the one who has a key role to play but injuries have completely taken over his career in the last 2 years. Disappointing for him and a big blow for the Ethniki. Alexandropoulos is still young and isn't a nailed on starter for PAO but he is an option, not sure he's the answer at least not at this stage. The buck starts and ends with our talent pool, it's limited. We can bicker on here about who should start over who but the reality is apart from a few (mainly defenders) we don't have many midfielders/attackers who are above Super league quality. And those who are have limitations which hinders them when they play at a higher level.

I had a chance to watch the King Otto documentary. What an amazing way to re-live the dream run of 2004.

Samaris doesn't have a team, before being let go for free by Benfica he basically hadn't played at all last season. Not to mention he's always been bang average to poor for the Ethniki. Fortounis is injured, so unless we roll him out on his crutches probably couldn't have played. Won't deny Sokratis and Manolas would've helped during this campaign, they have had off-field issues with management that has unfortunately ended their NT careers as long as JVS is at the wheel. But half the guys you mentioned it's not feasible for them to be playing currently. Samaris is done with the NT, he needs to find a club and he wasn't able to find one over the summer, clearly his career is winding down. Stick to AFL re, Blues for the flag next year Cerra to win the Brownlow.

I really hope Greece keeps JVS. He has the Ethniki headed in the right direction.

Have a read, from Hellas Football

Rumored Lineup : Vlachodimos Mavrias Chatzidiakos Tzavellas Tsimikas Zeca Fortounis Bakasetas Limnios Tzolis Giakoumakis

@Blackhawk can you please start a new game thread for Xanthi's road trip to Olympiakos this weekend since we own Xanthi? ?

I agree with Dutch Eagle, the joke was in poor taste, but not racist. Why does everything have to be politically correct? Also we should inform our Dutch visitor that PAOK is not a Greek team. Doesn't he know we are gypsies from Bulgaria or Turkey? I don't know which. It depends who you listen to.

Jesus, the Dutch just won't stay away. Going to be tough, but as always I see us really pushing them. They've lost 2 key players over the summer De Jong and De Ligt. @Yiankos this one is for you. ΤΗΝ ΤΕΛΕΥΤΑΙΑ ΔΕΚΑΕΤΙΑ ΠΙΟ ΠΟΛΥ ΜΕ ΤΟΝ ΑΓΙΑΞ ΠΑΙΖΟΥΜΕ ΠΑΡΑ ΜΕ ΤΟΝ άρη !!!

Congratulations for the great comeback and in general good display in 70 minutes of the game. We had furious 20 minutes and that is all. Unfortunately, football should be played for 90 minutes. I cannot say we understated Greece, as we have some kind of rivalry and full respect for the Greece team. We even expected good display from you side because of few missing players, as the new players always want to prove quality. But at end we have to be more than satisfied with result and probably Greece was closer to win. After 20 furious minutes and 2:0 lead we have started to believe that Greece have no attacking potential to come back. We had played on counter attack waiting for Greek's mistake that have never came. Our coach completely misjudged the game, and after red card he even did not know what to do. Leaving injured Dzeko to chase defense and huge gap in the middle with so many tired players resulted at end with huge disappointment. Anyway, this is not first time we got a lesson from Greece that football should be played for 90 minutes, sometimes and 95 ?. However, this is pretty much Bosnia new team. We have lost Lulić, Ibišević, Misimović and few other older players, and definitely we will need time to create solid competitive team. After two games, in my opinion we do not have what it takes for second place. Good luck in next matches. Greetings from Sarajevo.

Can we just get a new subforum made that's exclusively for these two? Yeesh

Skibbe/Tsanas seem to just pick players based on the jumper they’re wearing. Watch Fetfa getting call ups soon. Not that he doesn’t deserve it, but if you’re going to call him up now then you should’ve called him up earlier. Likewise Samaris who hasn’t played a proper game in 3 years and shouldn’t be anywhere near the NT (my opinion) but because he “plays” for Benfica he gets call ups. Tziolis is just a mystery. Good boy but hasn’t been at the level required for years now. The truth is our midfield is in a sad state. Samaris, Taxi, Tziolis sorry guys they are not NT quality. If I was an opposition manager and that’s your midfield, I’d be rubbing my hands together. That midfield is about as scary as a mouse. The only half decent midfielders we have are Zeca and Kourbelis. That’s it. Yes they aren’t technical but they run and fight and don’t need to have their hands held. They are just work horses nothing else. As for the forwards, that’s another story again. Yes Mitroglou is striking fear into the hearts of opposition defences ha ha. Sad to say but I miss the days of Samaras who could actually control the ball and have just a little composure.

we have one of those in here. would you mind taking him off our hands?

And no poison players. All these players have heart.

What is this, 2014? Do you really think that Ninis and Fetfazidis should be anywhere near our national team? Ninis hasn't played for the national team in 7 years. In that time span he has had 5 goals. And you want Fetfazidis as a leader? To lead what exactly? A gas station? Dude has been a major bust for "the Greek Messi". People want change for the team. Yet always call on the old guard. I am fine with Siovas and Manolas. I wouldn't have Sokrates either in the NT, he's honestly around 10th in Greek CB's depth chart. Show me any serious national team that calls up has-beens. Let's see if Charisteas has any legs under him either, or Samaras to help score some goals!

"Organised" fans are living in another decade. They have too much power and they think they are more important than they are. As for the on-field, our form has been patchy all season nowhere near enough consistency to compete for the title. The only way this season is salvaged IMO is by getting out of the group in the Conference League and hopefully progressing beyond the round of 32.

Athanasiadis replaces Dioudis in the Ethniki!

Bro let me tell you something you’re the type of guy that will cheer for the team when they’re playing well and then come out here and start telling everybody “I told you so” you’re like the little weasel that likes to start arguments and then turtles when it comes down to it.. I’ve dealt with guys like you on numerous occasions..

Happy new year everyone! Even to the Aris fans and Tzatziki who are reading this 😏

Needless to say fortounis is our best and most consistent player. I honestly rate him in the likes of manolas and Sokratis. I am glad we have gone back to complaining about how bad the NT played in wins. It’s refreshing considering our performances in the past few years

Lmao what? I think your response here kind of proves you talk non-sense and can't really back up anything you say much of it is baseless. You have a clear hate for JVS which is fine you don't have to rate him as a coach. FWIW I don't think he's a mastermind but I do think he's brought the ethinki into the 21st century with our style of play. It's not perfect and he does things I don't agree with (I agree with you Lambropoulos coming on was ridiculous as was the Bouchalakis sub) My issue is you were no were to be seen in the 1st half when we were playing quite well, the 2nd half starts and Kosovo have 2 chances and look who's back again!! It's obvious troll behaviour and call me what you want but we are discussing football no need to get so angry.

After nearly 40 years, I’m just about done with Greek football. The depths of corruption are just disgusting.

My wife is Portuguese. My father in law explained to me what happened to portugal. They never qualified. In World Cup 66 they finally made it and finished 3rd. Then they never qualified till Euro 84 and world cup 86. In soccer mad country they knew they had to change. So they fired everyone in the federation, invested heavily in training facilities state of the art. Hired the best youth coaches. Got a youth blueprint made up to follow. Also the teams improved their facilities because they new the only way to survive was to produce great young players and sell them. Win situation for them and also the national team. What it produced was youth under 20 World Cup winners in 89 and 91. Plus champions in all age groups. Since qualifying for Euro 96 they have only missed out on the world cup98. That's 11 tournaments qualified for. Well 10 because they were hosts in 04. They have gone to 3 finals winning 2, plus they were semifinalists 5 times in tournaments. This from a country of 11 million people and financial problems like Greece. And they look like qualifying for 2020. This is what Greece need to do. But won't happen. And it's not just portugal. Many countries have done it and its paying off. But there's to much corruption in Greece.

The game against Turkey has been officially announced by EPO. It will be played on May 30, 2019 at Antalya Stadium in Antalya at 21:00 EEST. Also between May 22-29 the national team will take part in training camp in Apeldoorn, Holland before getting back to Athens for the two EURO games against Italy and Armenia.

The one thing I will say about the way they play is that this version of the ethniki def hustles more than the one from the past campaign..

Samaras was also the man, as much as people hated him and called him lazy and useless, he really did offer us that little spark in creating goals.

Listen, I love you yiannaki, but you are triggering my OCD by starting the match thread in a different way to normal. this is my safe space where I come to marvel at the stupidity of JVC and ponder the next Machiavellian move of the great Ivan. Let blackhawk open the thread and then go hammer and tongs at the skoulikia.

Anybody who tries to derive anything positive from this match should be insta-banned fromthis forum. After EURO 2004 and the subsequent 10 years, Greece should have invested in things like a national academy to grow the game. Guess not.

Just finished cleaning the mess I made after we scored...

Pirated Pirates: 4 3 3 Rockafella Skank (scores) NIck the Greek George Laz DJ (Fetfa) J1078 Blackhawk Argy Molon Lave Akritis (vc) Red Sherriff Boxou La Mendell (c) Bench: Ausgreek

v Croatia Games won: 2 Games drawn: 3 Games lost: 1 Date Match Result Score Competition 10 Nov 1996 Croatia v Greece D 1-1 FIFA World Cup 30 Apr 1997 Greece v Croatia L 0-1 FIFA World Cup 10 Mar 1999 Greece v Croatia W 3-2 International Friendly 25 Apr 2001 Croatia v Greece D 2-2 International Friendly 07 Sep 2010 Croatia v Greece D 0-0 UEFA European Championship 07 Oct 2011 Greece v Croatia W 2-0 UEFA European Championship

You cannot compare Red star to Man City, because Man City have actually done some of significance in football since 1991. Bosnia has done nothing of significance since 2004, when we won a major tournament. What`s Bosnia`s most significant win? I can give you 10 Greece wins in the last 10 years that are bigger than that. Just 2 years a go we were a hair away from World Cup wuarter finals and Bosnia was at home watching the game on TV. I mean you are trying to compare Greece`s success this generation, with things that happened in the 70s. And if you want to belittle our 95th minute goal, I can say you needed an own goal to draw with us. Come now, you burrying yourself in a hole. It will take years and massive leaps in the international stage for Bosnia to come close to Greece`s pedigree. A good place to start in this campagn. Let us talk in June.