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He got a yellow in the Cyprus game for time wasting in the 90th minute, and didn't play against Gibraltar

FIFA said Manolas was judged to be guilty of "intentionally seeking a yellow card" in a World Cup qualifying game. FIFA have banned Kostas Manolas for the first leg of Greece's World Cup play-off The defender was found guilty of intentionally getting booked against Cyprus The booking triggered a one-match ban which cleaned his record for play-offs He will be unavailable for Greece's away leg at Croatia but can play the home tie Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5047531/FIFA-hand-Greece-s-Kostas-Manolas-World-Cup-play-ban.html#ixzz4xQn8TAAH

I can’t see Scibbe changing NT unless forced by injury. Karnezis Toro Manolas Soc Tzavellas Zeca Tziolis Mantalos Fortounis Donis Mitroglou If Donis inj. Stafylidis takes his spot. He may start with Stafylidis and drop Mantalos or Donis. If Toro inj. Maniatis or Retsos come in. If Manolas or Soc inj. K Pap comes in. Lazaros and/or Gianotis will sub for Mantalos, Fortounis or Donis. Samaris sub for Stafylidis, or an AM. Anything different to this would be a surprise.

Croatia are solid. talented side that will be difficult to break down. In that sense they are harder for us, but they are not as menacing going forward. I have no doubt that their tactics will be to not concede a goal at home.

I would like to get a goal over there. Come back with a 1-1 or even a 1-0 win, would be nice. A 0-0 away is risky, because if you concede at home then you have to score twice.

If we do get the job done, it will be massive party in Athens on the return leg. Looking at their results, they have only conceded 4 times in 10 matches. This will be tough. I can only see 0-0 and 1-0 score lines.

Ah, my mistake. I thought he had accumulated 2 yellow cards.

Hmm. Sounds like a grade two or grade three adductor strain. As a general rule, grade one groin strains should be rested from sporting activity for about 3 weeks, and grade two / grade three injuries for about 4 to 6 weeks. This is not an injury you want to rush back from, unless you risk longer term problems. Looks like we will be without him for both games and that means we will be without Socratis and Manolas for game 1.

My prediction: POT 1: Portugal or Switzerland, Wales, Italy, Croatia POT 2: Sweden, Denmark, Northern Ireland, Greece If Croatia fails, Sweden may go into POT 1 and Ukraine into POT 2. Whatever the outcome, we will be heavy underdogs, but if we are at our best we won't be easy. We conceded just 5 goals in our 8 games against the top 4 teams in our Group. I think back to Tzavellas goal in the last kick of the match, in the 95' min vs Bosnia in Greece. Got us a point. How valuable did that turn out to be.

I actually thought Fortounis did pretty well. He took all of our free kicks near the box and corners, and is pretty much our dead ball specialist. If you look at the highlights. 1st half nearly sets up Manolas for a headed goal, misses narrowly. Takes the corner that leads to Tziolis goal. Then makes a good run into the box, but Mantalos can't get it to him. In the 2nd half, takes the corner that sets up Torosides for a free header on goal. Also, I recall one play in 2nd half where he makes a run into box but Mitroglou shoots wide from a narrow angle when a pass was there for him to tap in. Got a knock to his knee late in the game in what was a pretty gutsy challenge, when team mates were getting tired. Cyprus were surprisingly a tough opponent.

A win is a win, but we may regret missed chances, e.g. Torosides header 2nd half, Mantalos 1 on 1 in 1st half and hitting the post in 2nd half. Mitroglou shooting from a tight angle when Fortounis made a good run in the box. Our goal difference is +4, and our only chance now, is to beat Gibraltar and hope for one of the following results: 1. Slovenia to draw or beat Scotland 2. Ireland to draw or beat Wales 3. Serbia lose or draw with Georgia 4. Ukraine and Croatia draw Other possibilities are unlikely e.g. Northern Ireland would need to lose by 2 or more goals vs Azerbaijan at home and Denmark would need to lose by 4 goals to Romania. Sweden +10 goal difference, can only go out if Holland beats them by 5 or 6 goals. Samaris and Manolas both got yellow cards and will miss the match with Gibraltar.

4-3. No way Belgium loses 5-4

Croatia just sacked its coach

Croatia drew with Finland and play Ukraine away. Draw would be good here. Also, we can better Serbia and Wales if they don’t pick up wins in their last games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm4doDMwUEo

Greece has 10 pts and goal difference +3, after discarding the result with Gibraltar (6th placed team in Group H). Aside from relying on Belgium drawing or beating Bosnia, then If Greece can beat Cyprus and Gibraltar in last 2 matches, Greece standing with respect to 2nd spot will be 13 pts and goal difference +4 or better. Will this be good enough? Group D: Serbia 18 Wales 14 Ireland 13 Worst scenario: Wales finish on 20 pts with wins away to Georgia (6/10) and at home to Ireland (9/10). This would make it mathematically impossible for Greece to better them as a 2nd placed qualifier. 2nd scenario: Ireland finish on 19 pts with wins at home to Moldova (6/10) and away to Wales (9/10). In this scenario, if Greece wins both its final 2 matches, we would be equal points with Ireland. Greece's goal difference is +3 (7) and Ireland 0 (7). Ireland would have to better Greece's result by 3 or more goals. Unlikely. Best scenario for Greece: Georgia draw with Wales (6/10) / Ireland draw or defeat Wales (9/10). Group A: France 17 Sweden 16 Netherlands 13 Bulgaria 12 France play Bulgaria away. Bulgaria have won all 4 home qualifiers, but lost 4-1 to France in France. Sweden at home to Luxembourg (7/10) and Netherlands away to Belarus (7/10) should be easy wins for them. Netherlands play at home to Sweden (10/10) Worst scenario: France and Sweden finish on 20 or more points. Best scenario for Greece: Netherlands beat Sweden at home (10/10). In this scenario, assuming Sweden and Netherlands win easy matches on 7/10, then both finish on 19pts if Netherlands can beat Sweden. Sweden's goal difference +3 (6) and Netherlands +2 (7) if Belarus is 6th placed in Group A. Group E: Poland 19 Montenegro 16 Denmark 16 Key matches: Montenegro at home with Denmark (5/10) and away to Poland (8/10), Denmark at home with Romania (8/10). Poland play Armenia at home (5/10) and I expect them to win. Best scenario: Montenegro draws Denmark / draws or loses Poland / Denmark draws or loses to Romania OR Montenegro beats Denmark / loses to Poland. Montenegro goal difference +3 (6) and Denmark goal difference +4 (6). Prediction: Too many results need to go our way for this Group and I can't see anything but a Denmark win vs Romania. Group F: England 20 Slovakia 15 Slovenia 14 Scotland 14 Key matches: Slovakia away to Scotland (5/10) and Slovenia at England (5/10). If Slovakia beat Scotland away would mean they are virtually guaranteed top 2 finish as their last match is at home with Malta (8/10). Assuming Slovakia draw with Scotland (5/10) then beat Malta, then they finish with 19pts +6 goal difference. Greece would need to beat Cyprus by more than 3 goals to better Slovakia. Best scenario: Scotland beat Slovakia (5/10), England beat or draws Slovenia (5/10), Scotland draws Slovenia (8/10) Group I: Croatia 16 Iceland 16 Turkey 14 Ukraine 14 Ukraine plays Kosovo (6/10) and Iceland plays Kosovo (9/10) which should be easy wins. Best scenario: Turkey beats Iceland at home (6/10) and draws Finland away (6/10), Croatia draws Finland at home (6/10), Croatia draws or beats Ukraine away (9/10) Bottom line: If Croatia beat Finland and Turkey fails to beat Iceland then at least 2 teams will finish on 20 points <assuming Kosovo don't cause an upset> ... Ps: All of this is meaningless, if we can't beat Cyprus or Bosnia doesn't drop points with either Belgium or Estonia.

Form guide last 5 matches Greece: L D D D D Cyprus: L W W L D The thing that bugs me is not that Cyprus are still a chance of making 2nd therefore guaranteed to give us a tough match, and I believe they will, but that even if we beat them and Gibraltar we are not guaranteed a playoff. It's a game of small margins. A missed chance hear or there is all it takes to miss out. We need to make sure we get max points in Cyprus and prey that Bosnia drops points, and results in other Groups go our way. Our match with Gibraltar regardless of how much we win it, will not improve our points and goal difference with respect to being in top 8 2nd place teams.

Down 9 spots to 47 http://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/uefa.html We're making it hard for ourselves even if we by some chance make it to the knock out rounds. Need to get some wins in October.

^trotsk13 Good data. Greece would have 10pts and +2 goal difference but has played 7 games. It's fair to say if we don't win in Cyprus it will be improbable, else impossible to qualify even if Bosnia lose to Belgium and draw away to Estonia.

Koutroumbis has been called into the squad as backup, for Retsos and K Pap who are both nursing injuries. Mitroglou will be on the bench and Diamantakos will be a starter. http://www.sport-fm.gr/article/podosfairo/ektaktws-stin-ethniki-o-koutroumpis/3455768 http://www.sport-fm.gr/article/podosfairo/oi-skepseis-tou-skimpe-gia-mitroglou/3455763

I think Manolas and Soc at Juventus would be great. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DErFjIwXoAE2afq?format=jpg

Team is coming together nicely. To get a draw in Bosnia with 4 starters out is a good result. Zecca and Donis add depth to the squad, which is important. Well done to Scibbe. Still a long way to go. Next match with Estonia is must win. I need to get this off. With all the interest in this match and importance clear from start, it was extremely disappointing there wasn't a stream into Australia. ESPN had streams of all the other matches WTF. First Greece match I wasn't able to watch live since we played Confederation Cup vs Mexico in 2005.

I heard it live on Sport FM.gr radio http://www.sport-fm.gr/player/

Starting 11 will be Karnezis Toro Soc Manolas Stafylidis Tziolis Zecca Mantalos Fortounis Bakasetas Mitroglou