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i thought is was good to have Papadopoulos in the lineup Coach had an open mind to bring someone back who had not played for the national for 3 years. There is some quality in this player .

The class difference between the players of Spain and Greece is huge. That much should be obvious. Even if we wanted to play an attacking game with more possession the current players are simply not capable of doing it. I would be surprised if they could string 3 or 4 passes together before they succumbed to pressure and turned the ball over. I don't think any manager could have played this game any other way really. Sure you could change the formation and the starting 11 but ultimately you know, no matter what, Spain are going to have lots more chances than Greece and will possess minimum 70% of the ball. You pray for a bit of luck with Spain's finishing and pray for a bit of luck with the few counter attack chances you get. It is what it is. Maybe in a generation ... or three ... Greece might change its football philosophy and produce more technical players but right now we are very far behind. In the late 1990's, early 2000's we had some very good players. They were still not as good as the players from the "big" countries but the gap in class between them wasn't as large as it is today. Greek football has regressed. As to the result, it is a very good one. That point could be critical and gives the players some reward for the efforts.

A few things I got from today’s fantastic result. 1. That’s why JVS is a coach and we’re in here posting. He knows a lot more about the sport than all of us put together, and knows a lot about his players tactics than we do. 2. My dog could’ve went in goal for both teams and the game would still be 1 1. 3. Siopis has to be about 5 ft 1 4 tzavellas has the worst haircut I’ve seen. and last but not least. We tied!!! End of story.

What is wrong with some of you? Of course it wasn’t a pretty performance but when Greece was making tournaments regularly they were never playing pretty football they would sit back and defend like crazy Against inferior opponents and then try to catch a team on the counter. This is Spain we are not in the same class as Spain how many chances did you think we were going to get against the world class team like Spain? Why don’t you guys look at the positives we only allowed three shots on target to a team that just put six behind Germany. So much negativity on here. This is a performance to build on why don’t you guys go back and look when the last time we lost a competitive game, we are on a pretty good run and this draw against the world class opponent is a huge confidence booster for this team. Did you guys think we were going to come out and play all out attacking football against Spain? If so then your expectations are not realistic. There’s always room for improvement of course but we don’t have the quality of players to play pretty football against world class teams and if that’s what you guys are expecting then you need to come back down to earth.

What did you think our gameplan was gonna be? Really, take a minute and think. Did you think we could attack Spain consistently? Do you really think we have world class players who can do that? JVS had a gameplan to absorb pressure and hit them on the counter. We did that in the first half. We had two counter chances that didn’t work but besides their goal and crossbar they didn’t do anything except keep possession. You really don’t think we should be happy about this result? Against one of the best teams in the world , just months after we s%$#! the bed in national league. Please go back to playing Fifa on rookie mode.

So everyone besides you?

Clown post. Be happy tonifht drink some Ouzo

I wasn’t happy about the starting line up at all, but I will say most of the guys hustled there asses off and once the changes were made we played better, the guys put in a fantastic defensive effort, yes of course we were only going to get one or two chances against Spain that was obvious, but for those saying it was a fluke Penalty maybe it was but the boys put themselves in the right position to get that call. Some of you clowns have to really man up and just give the team credit when they pull off a stunning result rather than looking at who we play next and automatically assuming we’re going to drop points. I swear some of your clowns are absolutely happy when the Team loses so you can come on here and bitch. Like if anyone can’t be happy about this result then you really are not a fan of the NT and I don’t know why you waste your time on these forums. The guys backed each other up when Spain would beat one of our players they were immediately faced with another blue jersey in there face. Even Bakakis played well, Siopis is like a little bulldog out there really hustles, Tzolis showed he’s worth a starting spot, Bakasetas had a bad game but at least he capitalized on the penalty. There were a few guys that didn’t do so great but the rest of the guys were there to pick them up and I think it was a fantastic team effort today.

Really everyone did well! Not only that but we were putting our bodies on the line. Non stop running. Also it wasn’t like they dominated us in front of goal. They had the goal, the shot that hit the crossbar, and like one weak header. Possession means nothing if you don’t score

Also gotta say Tzavellas was solid. K Paps big match back in the Ethniki.

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.

Quick someone tell Muppet boy we scored! Tell him to turn back on the channel

Xronia polla everyone. May we remember the sacrifices our ancestors made!

I just saw that in World Cup & Euro qualifying since 2003 Spain at home have only dropped points on 5 occasions and Greece have taking points twice from them. with yesterdays draw and the 1 nil win there in Zaragoza in 2003. Very impressive.

The result is what was important. You could see what it meant to the players at the end of the match. This team will fight hard to get a chance at making the WC. Greece has now gone 10 official matches undefeated, 6W and 4D. Hopefully getting a draw helps also climb up the FIFA rankings.

I've heard Aroniadis speak a few times and he is a sharp operator. It shows through all our online presences.

I did what I said I would do if we don't lose. I ran around the block in my birthday suit. No-one seemed to worry about it. Imagine Fortounis got on, we may have jagged another. Go the JVS Pirates!!

He is very good. I just wish he did not play for Bayern I have never liked them but they are one of the top all time clubs of world football..

I did not like the exclusion of Fortounis and Giakoumakis from the starting eleven but JVS had a plan and his second half subs were excellent. Bakakis made a lot of tough clearances and threw a few nice slide tackles in as well. Great team performance to come out of Spain with a result!!

Ive now watched this game again and have been celebrating since the result. A lot of us including me were critical of the XI but everyone played for the shirt today and gave max effort in playing their role. Tzavellas and Papadopoulos were the experience needed and Tsimikas played great. Bakakis also played well and you really cant fault him as that Morata run was just perfect. Lets hope we continue the great results. Bakasettas actually had some really important clearences in the box and I have to concede JVS knew what he was doing. Limnios got way too cute out there trying to show up Ramos but hes the only player i wasent thrilled with. All smiles for Greels today on an important day for us.

Speaking of Tzavellas why is his jersey so tight but his shorts are so baggy. I am not gonna complain too much who am I kidding of course I am. Look I am happy we got the point and I understand we were going to have to play defensively to get anything out of the match but that was really pathetic going forward. Bouchalkis does nothing at ALL. Mantalos also did nothing. Bakasetas scored the penalty which is great also did nothing. Limnios one of his worst NT performance. Positive for me was Tzolis who has to start if you are going to play that defensive his speed for countering comes in handy, also how fast is Llorente he caught him on that break somehow wow. Also if you are gonna set up to absorb pressure and break why is Fortounis not starting when he actually had the ability to to dribble and pick out a pass. Giakoumakis is on pace to break the dutch league scoring record doesn't start. Also Bakakis did okay but we need to find a new RB asap. Papadopoulos did well id start him with Mavropanos going forward. Though Angelos Van Skibbe did actually make decent subs hes gotta put a better 11ada out there. Its not like we would of been hemmed in our own half any longer if we actually had some attacking threat out there. Masouras provides nothing he is a poor mans Salpigidis.

This is a remarkable result. Style points don’t matter. A point is a point. Regardless. I just saw the replay didn’t know the score at all. Was at work. And I am thrilled.

Pleasantly surprised with the return of K.Paps to the NT. He was pretty solid.

Same here - no one was crazy about the line up but results matter. We may not have any real opportunities, but they only had two or three. One was the crossbar (which by the way, was a shot taken from outside the box), the goal they scored, and the one where they couldn't connect. Remember, they beat Germany 6-0.

This team just pulled one of their best results in the last five years and you’re still speaking s%$#! You know we don’t have the quality whoever we put in there to hang with Spain. I was pissed off with the starting lineup as well but you can’t even give the f***ing guys credit for hustling nonstop all game and they didn’t fold after they let the first goal in.. Spain only had about 2 or 3 shots on net..

Yea - they played really well. Kyriakos has a place on the team, really impressed.

Amazing Birthday gift

I would have never thought that. A very good result from JVS and the team. (Actually, defense was okay with Vlachodimos Tsimikas Zeca Bouchalakis and the rest. I had no faith in Bakasetas and Mantalos before the game.)

What a Result!!

Great result despite zero chances.

Spain 1-1 Greece FT This is like a win! Happy 200th re-birthday Greece!

Yea Vlachodimos’ distribution is piss poor today. No distance on his clearances

Vlachodimos is not 100%. He's not taking all his own goal kicks and when he does he looks off-balance.

I suppose these things open to allow someone to get out at some point, right?

nice...fat phil is happy