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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 🙏

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.

This is just the beginning. I’m hoping for the best. I just wanted and expected changes in the line up in the beginning. I just hope the coach realises now we need younger personnel in place of the likes of Mantalos, Bouchalakis etc. I just hope it’s not a reoccurring theme where we play the old guard continuously when we know these players haven’t helped Greece make a tournament. Good result can’t complain too much. Now let’s see what happens in the Ireland match. Thanks re maik.

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.

Coming off a great home win against Finland, now Greece hit the road for the first time against Ireland. The ethniki were able to beat Ireland both times during the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers.

Bakasetas and Pelkas have a role and will play, just believe the others to be more talented.

Wake up babe, third kit just dropped: Can you imagine @PaokCT and I bro-ing it out on a rooftop as we rewatch old highlights? Steadily getting more and more hammered, horsing around, until he says something bad about Lucescu and I shove him off the roof? And just as he hits the ground, @Dutch Eagle is walking past wearing his Bri'ish-style white wig, and decides to defend me in court from allegations that this was anything but a TRAGIC ACCIDENT?

Greece started off a bit tentative as they did vs Finland. Greece picked up their game in the second half and Ioannidis hit a wonder goal and the team took over from there. Defensively we were solid and did not give Ireland quality chances. Tzolis must be a starter on this team he was all over the pitch and his goal was very well taken. I hope Ivanovich will keep giving him that opportunity. If we can get Konstantelias involved our attack will look very potent. Greece first place in the group with 6pts and lead England on goal difference. Also as other posters have mentioned the win keeps us in pot 2 for the wcup draw! 👏 boys!

Did anyone ever think that Greece would be ahead based on goal differential???

Ireland 0-2 Greece FT

very little

As of this moment, we are currently in Pot 2 for WCQ. Go follow “football meets data” on Twitter and they’re always updating it. Looks like we need 3 more wins in NL to clinch pot 2

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.

Looking forward to seeing a fresh start and some new faces in the line up. I have to agree with so many on here i personally think our lack of making it to tournaments has been our midfield which has been our weakest position ever since our last world cup appearance. Finally having someone that has some pace and skill in the midfield will be huge for this team. In regards to Backseats i went from not being able to stand the guy to admiring him for his passion for the Ethniki you can see it in him. Although he has produced many important goals he still can't be the starter on this team, for what he makes up with his powerful shot he lacks in speed, passing ability and overall creativity. i don't mind him coming off the bench i think he's at least earned that right to have a spot on the team but that's as far as it should go with him. I still would have loved to see Fortounis on this team as we are still lacking someone with his talent to be able to create space and thread passes. Now its up to the new coach to find a style of play that fits these players. I still have a feeling in this first game he will start some of the guys like Bakasetas and so on, so we may need to give him some slack the first few games. Overall I'm pretty excited but again we NEED to finish 2nd in the Nations League we have to assume we will have a very difficult WC qualifiers draw based on our FIFA rankings. I'm at the point where i don't think i can handle another missed tournament especially when i believe we have enough talented players to at least make tournaments.

He has officially been called up for these matches. We need a good CM so fingers crossed Zafeiris can help us in that regard. He scored midweek against Lille in the UCL qualifiers and hit the woodwork twice! Ο Χρήστος Ζαφείρης θα βρίσκεται κανονικά στη διάθεση του Ιβάν Γιοβάνοβιτς για τα παιχνίδια της Εθνικής Ελλάδας απέναντι σε Φινλανδία (7/9) και Ιρλανδία (10/9). https://www.sport24.gr/football/ethniki-mesa-gia-ta-paichnidia-me-finlandia-kai-irlandia-o-christos-zafeiris.10371748.html

Lmao that's our boy!

kalh xronia and what we need is to build some player for our A team

Our best lineup seems like... Tzolis Ioannidis Masouras ( Kostantelias) Kostantelias (Fortounis/Bakesetas)) Siopis (Alexandropoulos/Galanopoulos) Zafeiris Tsimikas Mavropanos/Koulierakis Vagiannidis Vlacho (the other two are fine as well)

Slavko Vincic from Slovenia is the ref. Pol van Boekel from the land of the wooden shoes, tulips and stroopwafels is the VAR.

As long as we keep winning trophies, we can stay at Toumba forever as I am concerned. A new stadium would be nice, but you love to focus on what Savvidis hasn't done instead of looking at what he has done. Talk to me about the fact that in his 12 years at the club, we have won the same number of trophies in that time compared to our previous 86 years of existence. 6 trophies in 12 years compared to 6 in 86 years. Not to mention doubling our League title tally, which have always been notoriously difficult to win in Greece. There is a small minority of fans who will never be happy, no matter the success of the club. The fact is PAOK has had it's most successful era with Savvidis at the helm. Has he been perfect? Of course not, but no owner in world football is. I know I just wasted my time typing all that, but it is always worth reflecting on what he has helped the club achieve. I feel many of us (myself included) lose sight of how far off it the club was before Ivan came onto the scene.

England did eventually go on to beat Finland, but we still have the goal differential! GROUP B2 STANDINGS Greece-6 England-6 Ireland-0 Finland-0

This win was HUGE for us to stay in pot 2 in the WC qualifying draw..

F ing Poyet did NOT play Tzolis vs Georgia! Idiot

Tzolis GOAL!!!

TZOLIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ellas is a cut above Ireland, anything less than 3 points will be disappointing

Who's Zeus the kit guy?

I am gracing this forum with my presence to give my pronouncements, straight from Zeus's mouth to your ears: Koulierakis is the best CB Greece has ever produced Fortounis can eat a bag of dicks Have some respect for Pelkas you insolent whelps Game was played at 70% speed and we were (obv) very lucky with that first goal Finland is, however, hot steaming garbage Team should, therefore, look better once they get their mojo Rota did well today, but I don't think we have a single right-back of Greek extraction that deserves to start for a national team The Bri'ish commentator I was listening to was far too dismissive of Konstantelias' dribbling. Find me his name so that I may insult him online. He gets extra demerits for adding a "sh" sound to everyone's name. Pelkash? Bakashetash? Are you kidding me, or do you just live in the Fener? Don't be surprised or upset when a coach doesn't switch up an entire lineup. Teams that have played together always do better than teams that are new. It takes time - perhaps we'll see another one or two changes vs Ireland, who are have a pretty terrible team that we will struggle to beat

Ella Dean, the press was excellent. This coach has the team playing at the right tempo.

Zivkovic: Serbia - Spain 0-0 Denmark - Serbia 2-0 Despodov: Belarus - Bulgaria 0-0 Bulgaria – Northern Ireland 1-0 and Despodov with the winner!

Jovanovic wasn't going to risk playing all the young players at the same, so having Mantalos (in a different position than usual) and Bouchalakis in the line up was understandable, although I don't think either should be starting. We have 2 thouroughbreds in Ioannidis and Koulierakis who will inevitably become the future leaders of team. Even though the team had a bad start in the 1st half, they weren't threatened, which shows that the team is prepared by Jovanovic to handle things when the game doesn't go their way. He is a conservative coach and understands that high risk football is not the way to go with this team atm. He used a number of youngsters and seems prepared to work them into the rotation, so for a 1st game against decent opposition, it was a nice result and I think he will make adjustments as he evaluates the onfield perfomances of the players moving forward.

Big win! Greece started of slow first 10mins but then we completely dominated Finland. Nice quick passing and great goals and hold up play from Ioannidis who is a star. We really turned it up in the second half and could have hit in a few more goals. Team has lots of talent throughout the lineup along with great talented young players. If Jovanovich can find a way to work Fortounis in the lineup we will be really difficult to beat. Mantalos, Bouchalakis and Pelkas can’t be in starting lineup.

Grateful for the result. But that was the worst line up I’ve ever seen. Was a let down. Bouchalakis is finished and hasn’t played. Chatzigiovannis is not good for this level and starts. Finland were awful. Luckily we had Ioannidis. Only one that wanted to play and looked lively. Scored 2 goals and contributed to the own goal. Bakasetas did nothing for me again. Tried to find positives in his game but nothing there. Fortounis need to replace him. I thought Tsimikas should’ve done better especially with his passing and decision making. A lot of players shouldn’t have started but it is a reoccurring theme with this team no matter who is in charge. Konstantelias was great as usual. Honestly I expected better. The players look flat I think mostly because 70% of the starting line up don’t play for there clubs. We also had no attacking intent. If it wasn’t for ioannidis then I think we would’ve drew 0-0.

GROUP B2 STANDINGS Greece-3 England-3 Ireland-0 Finland-0

What a display so far.

He’s by far the best player on the field today

KOULIERAKIS!

Lmao finland gifts us a goal! Ioannidis

@Ellada2004 and @J1078 Well said. We should give Ivan some time. I think this new regime at EPO are genuinely aiming to make Greek football and the national team improve as a whole. I actually think these selections seem the most logical and make more sense than previous times. For example 2 RBs and 2LBs.. I agree Bakasetas should be on the bench at least. I’m hoping if Fortounis comes back then he starts instead. We also have young inform players at the moment like Tzolis, Koulierakis, ioannidis and Konstantelias so I hope they are involved in the starting 11. I want to see Alexandropoulos start. I think he has something to give. Give him a full 90 and see where it takes us. Most of our midfielders if not all haven’t had much playing time so we need to start using different players to see what works. I’m expecting a 2-0 win against Finland. Pavlidis is in good form. I’m hoping he starts scoring like he does for club. I’m giving this new era a chance. what I want to see is this Tzolakis Vagiannidis Mavropanos Koulierakis Tsimikas Alexandropoulos Siopis Masouras Telias Tzolis Pavlidis I know Bakasetas is probably starting. But this is what I think the team should mostly look like. Zafeiris should make an appearance. We need him capped as soon as possible.

Zaferis is a huge addition to bolster our midfield! Hopefully Karetsas joins Greece too instead of Belgium and our attacking options will look very promising.

Konstantinos Karetsas of Genk, a 16 year old midfielder.

That's the one, and also who got us the winner against Aris in the cup game final played at Toumba in 2003 (0:47 in the video).

I thought this was supposed to be the new beginning for the NT. WTF are Mantalos and Bouchalakis doing on this list?

Supposedly Zafeiris chose Greece over Norway. Just waiting on the paperwork.

AEX dropped 2 points at home against Lamia and only avoided defeat by scoring in '87. Atromitos, our opponent in MD 3, saw two players been sent of with a red card today. So again a team with suspended players in the game against us.

I can see the headlines now. "Greek team banned from all future international competitions due to 'mass-groping spree' that lasted two weeks and crossed three borders."

Terrible for Greek football. With Russia and Ukraine not in the picture anymore all we would need is 2 or 3 solid seasons and 12th spot is attainable. The countries just above can be caught. After seeing the most unlucky draw Panathinaikos got I thought oh well, at least 3 teams will make it Europe ... not so bad. Then they go and lose to FC Nobody who have a stadium like you see for suburban teams.