Brklyngrk

During the international break in March, they lined up Switzerland. There is time for another game during that break and they are trying to line up another team, Egypt being mentioned as a possibility...I thought the game against the Swiss was away and the other friendly would be at home in Saloniki...

I think he was referring to the context that he is not playing....

Playing today, scored the 1st goal.....

The best players may play in Europe but the money is definitely spread out.....

I liked Santos original idea of putting together a B team which would play friendlies, to try out guys that normally wouldn't play. This never happened but it was a really sound idea.

The national team should not be an academy. That should be done at the local levels. You first get a shot with your team then the national team calls you up, not the other way around. Some of the guys mentioned above have potential but we need to be realistic. Having said that, I still think the young guys deserve more of a shot than someone than Vellios or Maniatis.

Overall, when the qualifiers started, most of us thought that we would finish second or third. Our goal was second which we accomplished. We had a bad draw and got Croatia, which by many experts, is one of the best teams in the world. Their biggest strength is opposite our biggest weakness, midfield. Skibbe's selection for that game were poor but he did lose 4 starters due to injury/suspensions. Beating Croatia was always going to be tough no matter who we played. I seriously doubt that there is a team in the world who loses 4 starters and not lose a step. In terms of call ups, while I don't agree with Tsiolis/Tzavellas, I do agree with 15 out of the 20. Skibbe identified Zeca as a potential call up and he was amazing. Donis, Retsos made their debut as well. What I am saying is that in his lineup, there are probably one or two guys I would change, but not the entire lineup. We are not that deep.

I remember watching Karagounis play in the Euros, he was the guy the other teams feared. Him and Samaras. When they were on, they were hard to mark.

I thought EPO pretty much extended him till 2020....

Toro - Manolas - Sokratis - Stafylidis Zeca-Tax- -Fortounis-Samaris Giannotas - Mitro - Laz

Regarding the game, we made two really bad mistakes (the 1st and 4th goals). Take those away, the game ends 2-1 with Greece playing Tsiolis and Maniatis in there. Even the second goal, could have been avoided if someone was marking. The first goal rattled the team and the flood gates opened. Overall, it was/is a good campaign, with a few tweaks, we can be very good. I still don't understand Tsiolis and Maniatis playing but that's he decision. For this game, we need to attack, have to go for it!!! I would start the following: Anestis

We looked so unorganized out there. Not sure if we were nervous or anxious, really poor game. Maniatis looked terrible, they kept on making those long passes down the flanks with ease. I think this is were you missed someone like Mandalos, his defense on the fullbacks is not appreciated. Our midfield was non-existent.

What a save by Karnezis!!

Just realized, UEFA only listed 10 names for us in the lineup....was that an accident???

In UEFA's official lineup, it's Samaris instead of Zeca. In fact, Zeca is not on the bench either....something seems odd...

One of the Croatian wingers, Ante Rebic, was interviewed on what he thought of the national team. He said that Greece's soccer team are full of dirty players. All they do is sit back and provoke. He said that Sokratis and Kyriakos play differently for their club teams then they do for Greece, they play much dirtier when they wear the Greek jersey.

Kroates - Welcome to the forum! I did see before the draw that a few of your nationals did say that. Greece is currently going through an injury bug (we will be without our two starting wingers) and FIFA just suspended one of our best defenders (our other starting cb is in a race for fitness) for a rule that has never been enforced before. I guess the circumstances are less then ideal for both our teams.

I thought the MRI showed it was clear, now it's up to him to get over the knock. Regarding calling up two cbs, it doesn't matter who they are as they probably will not play. We have Retsos and Papadopoulos as pretty much locks. Skibbe can always shift Tzavellas there and play Staf as a left back.

It hasn’t been confirmed, all we know is that he left the game....he tried to play through it but couldn’t...

What makes you think he’s out for both games? He seemed like he picks up a knock but he was able to play a bit afterwards and he walked off on his own, it was bothering him but he did try to play through it..

How ironic would it be if Papadopoulos or Retsos score ???

Karelis just got back to the pitch after a long lay off, you can't rely on him to be selected for such a crucial game. He wasn't exactly lighting it up for the NT when he was playing anyway. Not saying he is not good, just selecting him now is risky...

OLY looked like night and day from when they played Sporting in the first match day....

Regards to teams using players not playing in prestigious leagues, Sweden has a few and they are everyone's Cinderella team.

When you beat teams that are ranked considerably lower than you, I think Gibraltar may be close to last, then you can't get too much of a jump.