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Very promising last 2 friendlies from the Ethniki. Gosh, i hope we qualify for the upcoming WC. The pain from missing out so narrowly on the Euro still hurts daily. A wc quali might help me forget that.

Greece totally dominated Scotland 3 nil could have been 5. Karetsas will be the next Messi his talent is off the charts. What a finish. Konstantelias with a fantastic goal and performance. Zaferis, Tzolis, the whole team was incredible. Our team is loaded and will qualify for the World Cup and cause damage. Would love to see us draw Canada here or the USA and just have our way with them. lol.. PA ME ELLADA!!!!

This brought joy in my heart after I was gutted not to see Tentoglou get a medal in the World Indoor Championship. The Greek National Football Team was cooking from the start and the coach had massive balls to start most of his youngsters in a critical match. God bless Karetsas for choosing his countries main motherland over the country of his birth. His goal was out of this world!

I'd say we have the best squad we've ever had at the moment, so many exciting players Tziolis and Karetsas the stand outs. If we can't qualify for the WC now, I'd be very surprised. Btw I think Karetsas will be tapped up by a top club imminently.

Amazing performance. What a coaching call. 6 new starters a bunch of youngsters given opportunities. We have something to be excited about for the first time in 11 years

Hi everyone, I'm feeling optimistic about the national team and Greek football. We're seeing a surge of talented players emerge in the 18-22 age range, including Kostoulas, Mouzakitis, Tzolakis, Tzimas, and Vagiannidis. Add to that the likes of Konstantelias, Tzolis, Koulierakis, and Zafeiris, who are already making waves. With Olympiakos eyeing another European trophy and players like Pavlidis, Mavropanos, and Tsimikas shining abroad, it's an exciting time to be a fan. I believe it's time for Konstantelias to make a move abroad and for these young talents to secure permanent spots on the national team – the future is looking bright!

Top 5 in terms of victories all time? Maybe not due to the Euro run and WC wins, but definitely one of the most emotional

Scorers Konstantelias, Karetsas and Tziolis. When you consider the fact the we also got Pavlidis and Ioanidis, this team has goals. There was a play where the Greek player passed the ball with the back heel, and the Scottish comentator says "well they're now even passing it with their back heel". Yep, that's right. I was looking at Tziolis, and thinking he's one of the more experienced players in the side. He's 23. Karetsas, looks so young. Probably just started shaving. What a great exciting talent. And to think, there are 3, 4 others waiting in the wings. Amazing. Konstantelias my man of the match. A goal, 2 assists. I love those dink passes that roll past defenders, nice technique. We could have scored 4, 5. Zafeiris, and Mouzakitis in the midfield. Vagianidis shutting out one of the best RBs in the world. Would you bench them for Bakasetas, Manatalos, and Rota in 4 months? I think that win was our 6th away win in our last 7 away matches. Nice record to take to the WC qualifiers.

Such a great win! It could’ve been more. I’ve been saying this for years… trust our youth! We looked so much better this game. The best players should always be in the starting 11 and it just so happens that our best players are our youngsters. This team that started should start again next game. Some of our experienced players are not good enough and don’t have the quality to make this team go to tournaments. Some should be on the bench and some not even included in the team.

Great win by Portugal we get Denmark a great draw for Greece. Denmark ranked 21st in the FIFA rankings, Scotland and Belarus. It is a dream draw compared with our last Euro draw which saw us get France and Holland! For the 2022 World Cup qualifying we had Spain so this is fantastic and it wont be easy but Greece have to get the direct ticket!

If this result holds up and Portugal wins, this will be the most favorable draw we've had in years for a qualifier.

Scotland 0-3 Greece FT Greece wins the series 3-1 and will be promoted to League A of the UEFA Nations League!

Now ranked 39 in the world. Moving in the right direction. They will get into the 20s this year. https://inside.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/men

FINAL GROUP B2 STANDINGS England-15(+13) Greece-15(+7) Ireland-6 Finland-0 I think when we saw this group, we always assumed England would win it, who knew it would come down to tiebreakers. That win at Wembley will always be historic. Good job ethniki. Let's get to that 2026 World Cup!

I am so pumped for 17 year old Olympiakos player Christos Moutzakitis to play for the Greek NT.

FIFA Rankings Update! Greece climbed 6 places after the October international break to 42nd thanks to wins against England & Ireland

I believe I saw that we had a 98% or 99% chance of being in Pot 2.

This coach has this team playing as a complete unit. They know when they need to defend as a unit and when to press as a unit. Pavlidis steps up for an injured Ioannidis and scores 2 goals and could have had more. What's more impressive is that we were able to go toe to toe and IMO outplay England. What a start to the nations league campaign. 1 Greece - 9pts 7GF 1GA 2 England - 6pts 5GF 2GA 3 Rep. Ireland - 3pts 2GF 5GA 4 Finland - 0pts 1GF 7GA

Greece moved up 6 spots they are now at 48.

Norway's win last night added 9 points to their ranking. Here is the breakdown as of this minute : 22. Norway (1472) 23. Czechia (1464) 24. Slovenia (1462.97) ----------------------------- 25. Greece (1462.55) 26. Scotland (1462) Top 24 are first two seeds. We dropped due to Norway's win. If we win today, we gain 6 points. If we lose, we lose 9. Draw and we lose 1. So basically we NEED to win today to move up to 23rd.

Still waiting for new Toumba, but in the meantime we can celebrate the 65th anniversary of the Toumba Stadium inauguration. It was September 6, 1959, when the Toumba Stadium was opened to the public for the first time with a friendly game against AEK Athens which was won by PAOK 1:0 with a goal by Kiourtzis. . The stadium capacity at that time was 15,000. Here is is aerial view of Toumba in 1959 and a pic of the PAOK - AEK friendly, the first game at Toumba Stadium.

Zafeiris looks like the type of 8 we’ve been hoping to have all these years. Skilful player that can help the attack. I’m hoping for the best with him. All these years we’ve should’ve tried Pelkas or Mantalos as an 8 to help with the fluidity in midfield and attack. Pelkas isn’t a winger he’s a midfielder. Same as Mantalos. Alexandropoulos I think is capable for that role at the moment. He can be a 6 and an 8. We’ve had Bouchalakis Kourbelis and Zeca all these years and it hasn’t worked. They are all DMs and all very slow. We should have always played a 6 and someone a bit more attacking next to him. Instead of just having two DMs holding and not contributing going forward. We have Konstantelias. Who is very talented. Especially on the ball. I hope he and Zafeiris work together well and if they do our strikers will get the proper service that is needed. It’s time to move on from Bakasetas. I’m sorry if it offends anyone but he was never good enough. He’s too slow and isn’t technically good enough on the ball. His decision making is not there either. He has a powerful shot that’s it. He’s been dropped to the bench for PAO. Fortounis should come back and take his place. Also happy to have Konstantelias as a 10 or wing depending on the formation. We have great strikers so we should be grateful for that. Tzolakis and Mandas are coming through in the keepers position which is helpful. Time to give Vlachodimos some competition. If we can get Karetsas aswell then we are cooking. I’m optimistic with the new coach I just hope he knows that Bakasetas needs to start on the bench from now on. Bouchalakis doesn’t deserve to play either so I hope Zafeiris and Alexandropoulos step up and perform like I know they can. Thought I give my view about the team. It’s been a while. I just want the best for the national team and Greek football as a whole. Thanks 🙏

Jovanovich mainly plays 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1. He usually plays a possession game and tends to favor players who perform their defensive duties properly and work hard through out the 90 min. He has no problem using younger players (ex: Ioannides, Vagiannides) but he has shown a tendency to stick with certain players who may not be in form. Of course this is based on what I saw at PAO and the NT is a totally different beast. At least he won't have to worry about transfers or being screwed over by the owner and media. The main thing he brings, besides experience, is a logical thought process in the game (being able to identify and play to the strengths of the players available) as well as plain speaking, honesty, creating a tight team mentality and a refreshing dignified approach to dealing with the media. He is, imo, a very capable manager who is able of getting the most out of his players. Best of luck to him.

The real question's going to be, what do we do against Denmark? Everything we've seen under Jovanovic has been encouraging though

Big success for PAOK's basketball team, which qualified to the final of the FIBA Europe Cup after defeating Cholet BC 90:88 in France erasing the 1 point deficit from the first semifinal game (88:89) in Thessaloniki. After 29 years PAOK BC will play once again in an European final: 16-Apr-2025: Bilbao Basket - PAOK 23-Apr-2025: PAOK - Bilbao Basket

After years of lacking a quality striker, all of sudden the Ethniki has 3 playing at a high level + Tzimas about to join a Premier League side. And you can throw in Kostoulas to that mix, although I am not sure that he actually has a natural position and I don't think he is an out and out striker. As a general rule, I don't think Greek footballers should be moving at such a young age to England. It didn't work out for Tzolis, Tsimikas really had to bide his time and was almost unsighted for a whole season until becoming a trusted depth player. Mavropanos went to Arsenal super young and eventually had to move to Germany for 2-3 years before moving back to EPL. I just don't think it suits our young players, especially so early in their professional careers. Different to go back as a more seasoned professional who has spent a few years playing abroad. Which is why I think moving to Germany should always be the priority. Beyond that, Portugal, Belgium and even Holland are a good smaller step-up before making a bigger leap. These countries and leagues have a reputation for developing talent and being patient. Unlike your England's, Spain's and Italy's which are a lot more cut throat. I hope Tzimas is the exception, Brighton has become known for signing talents and on selling them for a big profit. There is always added pressure and expectation when you come with a decently sized price tag. Good luck to the kid and I am sure he will get his shot with the Ethniki in the near-ish future.

The order of the games suit us well : H - Belarus H - Denmark A - Scotland A - Denmark H - Scotland A - Belarus First 3 games must be wins. If we do that, just a tie in Denmark should be enough to see us as group winners

Okay my children, fear not, I am here to provide more of my wisdom. Kudos to Jovanovic for making such a rotation. I am very much over the "old guard." Use them as super subs, but cut this nonsense of playing guys who are well past their prime. The average age of the starting 11 was under 23, and we still absolutely bossed around Scotland on their home turf. Complete no brainer where we should go from here. Konstantelias obviously the man of the match. What a player. I can't wait until PAOK sells him and then spends all that money on a dozen 35-year-old Ghanaian left-backs. Karetsas fit in immediately. It very much helps that he stylistically works so well with our other young players. The Tzolis-Konstantelias-Kartetsas line is such a blindingly obvious play going forward. Imagine how good they'll look if they can cut down those errant passes by another 10%. That's another goal a game right there! Giannoulis is a friggin stud and deserves game time. He's better offensively than Tsimikas so I can definitely see why Jovanovic would have started him here, where we're chasing two goals. This move paid dividends. Pavlidis and Ioannidis are both fine, but not as productive as we need our strikers. I'd still give the nod to Pavlidis going forward as he is playing at a higher level and scoring more goals. Simple math there. Tzimas will take his job soon anyway. I will disagree that this was a hugely meaningful game (sorry @J1078). I think this was considered a sort of... "what else do we have to lose?" kind of thing. We get to see how the youngsters look vs Scotland, who we will be competing against in just a few months...and of course he gets the chance to get our youngest, newest additions more minutes with each other. That last bit is probably hugely valuable to the team. Also, if we ended up staying in league B, we'd just have more matches to drive up our coefficient with - I'm not sure if that's better or worse than having our guys get tested against this higher quality of competition, in the lead-up to the next Euro (it's also such a shame that we won't get these games before next summer's world cup). The new midfield was maybe the best move by Jovanovic. I very much disliked the last lineup - Mantalos and Siopis are so obviously cooked. Especially considering how Scotland's main strength is that midfield; they were chewed right up. What do we have to lose by playing an ascendent Zafeiris and Mouzakitis? Clearly, it worked out even better. I can definitely see those two holding on to that spot going forward. Hopefully Bakasetas' manager doesn't have so much sway that our diving professor forces his way back into the starting lineup going forward. His weirdly piercing eyes belong on the bench. Ps you're welcome from a paoktsis -edit- edited for spelling

AMAZING!! and we have more talent coming!! Tzimas and Kostoulas. The talent is of the charts!!

Great game - could have had a few more...We were the better team by far, didn't care for the Scottish players pushing our guys around. The slaps to Zafeiris head or their other player pretty much kicking Koulierakis on the floor. He reminder him that they were up by 3...lol Overall, we played great - Tzolis - Delias - Karetsas should start all the time. Striker - try Tzimas or Kostalas. Midfield - Zafeiris and Moutzakis played well, not sure if we need someone bigger there but they were fine. Our back four were not bad, if you want to put in Retsos for Mavropanos, wouldn't argue. Tzolakis should start going forward. They deserved the tie, even the announcers were saying that and actually praising our guys. When was the last time English announcers were praising our guys???

I was impressed with the team's performance in the second half. Karetsas was outstanding and deserves a starting spot in the next game. However, I felt that some of our more experienced players underperformed. Siopis, despite his energetic efforts, struggled with passing accuracy and decision-making. Mantalos seemed sluggish and failed to provide sufficient support with his forward passes. While Mantalos showed promise, his execution was lacking. In my opinion, Tsimikas is no longer an effective player, and it's time to consider replacing him. Similarly, Masouras had a slow start and was correctly substituted at halftime. Konstantelias, on the other hand, brought a refreshing energy compared to Bakasetas. Delias's ball control is a valuable asset to the team, and Karetsas's talent enhanced the team's overall performance. Tzolis was unfortunate to miss his chances, but he, along with Delias and Karetsas, should be considered for starting roles more often. Although I liked the substitutions, something was missing. It's clear that we need to upgrade our midfield. With Siopis suspended for the next game, I'd like to see Alexandropoulos given a chance. Alternatively, Zafeiris would be a decent replacement. I've heard criticism of Ioannidis, but I believe he's a valuable player. His pressing, timing, and positioning are excellent, despite an off-day with ball control. I'm confident he'll bounce back in the next game. For the upcoming match, my preferred lineup would be: Tzolakis Vagiannidis Mavropanos Koulierakis Tsimikas Mouzakitis Alexandropoulos Karetsas Delias Tzolis Ioannidis

Greece can turn this around, if Jovanovic starts the same players who played mostly in the second half.

“According to multiple news sources Konstantinos Karetsas has been called up for the Greece national team against Scotland in March. The rest of the squad is due to be announced”

Just on the bolded part. Of course he has a say but the board doesn't always follow through. We know he wanted Meite, they wouldn't stump up the extra 200-300k needed to give him the salary he wanted. You know Lucescu wanted Chatzidiakos in the summer right? Deal was all but done, player was on his way to sign. Then at the last minute PAOK tried to change his wage by knocking off 100-200k and he said see ya later I am going to Denmark. None of these instances are Lucescu's fault. It is the club letting him down and leaving us with players who are worse (Lovern/Colley) or no one at all in the case of Meite. I don't disagree with your next point, but you're all too keen to tear something down that has literally won us a third of our trophies in our history. I have said it before and I'll say it again. We are talking about Greek football, Jurgen Klopp isn't banging down the door to take over when Lucescu leaves. The next in line is probably a Portuguese or Spanish manager who we've never heard of, who has never coached at a big club or if he has had an unsuccessful stint there. The alternative isn't a world class coach. Lucescu isn't perfect and I agree with you guys that some of his player selections and behaviour (this particularly annoys me) leaves a lot to be desired. His time will come but I don't think that it is now. Just my opinion of course. He is being under resourced so I refuse to COMPLETELY blame him for what has been up until now a poor season. He can't rotate the squad, because there is no quality there. Ozdoev and Camara have been run into the ground. We have one CB who is trustworthy, the other 3 either are error prone or can't pass a ball to save themselves. So yes that allows any team, even Volos and Kallithea to take advantage and get results. We are clinging on in the title race by a thread and as if the Slavia game already wasn't big it is now huge in the context of our season.

We've been drawn to face Scotland in the play-offs for the Nations League. First leg in Greece, return in Scotland a few days later.

Keep in mind that PaokCT thinks himself a television pundit, so wants to stir up engagement. Unfortunately, he hasn't figured out how to monetize that yet. If you'll recall, he said Lucescu should be fired like six times last season, too. It is absolutely vital that Lucescu be supported by PAOK's administration. He's won with worse teams, and the first half of every season is always bad. It'll turn around.

Great to Mouzakitis included. Also great to see Alexandropoulos back in this team. 👍

We are looking good to be in pot 2 for World Cup Qualifying. The draw for that is on the 13th of December.

With that result we clinch top 2. Meaning we will at minimum have a playoff shot for league A. Also we have a 98% shot at being in Pot 2 for WCQ. And if we top this group , we will be guaranteed at minimum a playoff spot for WCQ

I'm honestly shocked. What a historic performance from the NT and especially considering George news so recent. I felt we were capable of this performances now but awesome to actually see it. What heart and character we have to get this win. I thought to myself typical English squeak out the draw we should be up at least 1 goal, as they had chances as well. But they pulled it off and delivered the deserved full points. Pavlidis gets the call and delivers the performance. We are busting with attacking options and depth and Ivan has them on a mission looks like for this performance at Wembley. Will do wonders for our ranking and our World Cup chances!!

That was one of Greece's best attacking performances in quite a long time. We showed true grit to keep playing despite all the setbacks of disallowed goals, goal that looked to have crossed the line, dodgy decisions and biased refereeing. Glad the players were able to do it for Baldock and the nation.

We should get Karetsas. Great option to have on the wing and CAM. He can score goals too. There’s a player named Antonis Papadopoulos who has German citizenship at the moment. Don’t think he is the answer but he plays CB and CDM. He could provide good cover when needed. We lack a physical number 6 and he seems physically strong and a great tackler. Played at Dortmund (mostly for the 2nd team). He now plays at Lugano in Switzerland 1st division. He plays regularly according to transfer market. Just an another option I guess. By the way, you created a great topic. 👍

The 2024-2025 UEFA Nations League begins for the ethniki. The ethniki returns to Piraeus for the first time in 7 years, first game in League B, and the first match under Ivan Jovanovic.

The Jovanovic era has officialy begun. Ioannidis (24), Koulierakis (20), Konstantelias (21), Zafeiris (21), Tzolis (22), Vagiannidis (22). There was time when If you weren't 25 you weren't allowed on the field. Nice start for Jovanovic.

Great points. Bakasetas should be utilized as a sub going forward. I admire his dedication to the NT but he isn’t in good form. He had a very good Euro qualifying campaign with some nice goals and good link up play but his performance in the match with Georgia was very disappointing. He made way too many errors and sloppy passes and he did not even break a sweat. Also he missed his penalty which is a rarity. Mantalos should not be getting anymore call ups. With all these talented young mids we have the future looks bright especially given the plethora of strikers we know have. Greece went years without having an option at the #9 when Mitroglou left. I am really looking forward to see how we play under Ivanovich. He has even opened the door for Fortounis to come back in the October window.

Curios to see who Jovanovic calls up and what style he prefers to play. Is he going to play it safe and have a very similar line up we've seen under Poyet the first couple of games. Most important here is we take 2nd in the nations League as England will most likely advance directly through the world cup qualifiers. We need this 2nd chance as our current FIFA rankings will most likely not give us a favorable draw in the qualifiers.

The men’s national basketball team has qualified for the tournament for the first time in 16 years!

Guys I missed you! Even you @pash