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Greece - Croatia


tihio10

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We're less than a month away from Greece's biggest game of the qualification. :box:

Is it fair to say, however, that without a win on October 7th, Greece will not participate in the final tournament? If Greece were to tie or lose to Croatia, would they not qualify through the qualifying playoffs?

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We need as much depth as possible up front, which means its crucial he calls Mitroglou for this game! And I wish someone would make a serious effort to get Gekas back on the team!

Well you got your wish, Gekas has made himself available and will return to the Greece national team set up. Personally I'm not sure whether i want him back. He was desperate to leave to Frankfurt in August and a price tag of a mere 1m euros was placed on him and he still couldn't find a club! This is because of his poor run of form. So I can't help but think that he's now using the ethniki as a free advertising tool to try and find a new club. if If he scores the winning goal against Croatia i'd be delighted, but there are other strikers in better form (like Mitroglou) that deserve a starting place ahead of him in my opinion
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Papastathopoulos got injured last week against Nurnburg and has missed today's game against Hertha. Does anyone know how long he's out for? Will he be back for this game?

i think he should be ok for croatia, he got a slight muscle strain. you got your wish by the way, with sifakis out for 4 months chiotos of apoel has been called up for this one
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barring a horrid performance this weekend i think tzorvas will get the start and i prefer him over chiotis for this one. chiotis has no international experience and this is the biggest game of the group stages. although id like to see him tested out, im not sure this is the type of risk we want to take.

as for this whole gekas situation, while im glad he is back because we are in dire need of a finisher and a proper striker, i have to question his reasons. i agree with euro, he is using this to try and broker a deal in january for himself...while i dont look down on the quality of the german second division, i think its unfair to just throw gekas in as a starter for this match...both ethically and tactically. i would rather see a striker like mitroglou or salpi who are playing important roles in the current clubs, playing well, and who have always made themselves available to santos and have respected the jersey...

do we really want to set this sort of example? hell, i would rather see samaras, who is in absolutely horrendous form and cant score a goal to save his life start instead of gekas, who thinks he can just do whatever he wants with no consequences. at least samaras treats the NT call up with respect as opposed to gekas, who will use it as an opportunity to jump start his career.....

if i were santos id say, "ok, i will consider you for selection, but before I do, i would like to see you playing well and scoring goals regularly for your club..." especially in the second division where a player of his quality should be topping the goalscoring charts...

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i think he should be ok for croatia, he got a slight muscle strain. you got your wish by the way, with sifakis out for 4 months chiotos of apoel has been called up for this one

Well i want him given a few chances in friendlies, certainly not thrown in at the deep end. As pao123 says, unless Tzorvas has a catastrophic run of form then he should be in goal for this game. I also agree that Gekas should start on the bench. I'd go with Samaras as a left forward (even though I don't rate him, it's too late and too unrealistic to give Koutsianikoulis a chance there for the Croatia game), Mitroglou as the target man and Salpi as a right forward.

None of this matters though. As long as Karagounis plays 90 mins for Greece then we can forget success. He can be useful to introduce in the last 15 mins, but he's incapable of playing for any longer. To think that he and lazy Katsouranis will have to deal with Modric is scary. I see this being a low scoring draw, which of course won't be enough for us. We blew qualification in our last game

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I wouldn't start Kara either but I don't think it would be a total disaster if he starts (which will happen). We can still pull off a win, especially with a dynamic force like Fetfatzidis. As for Gekas we don't have too much depth in the striker department right now so we need all the help we can get. Mitroglou, Samaras, Salpi and Gekas need to be there. I would start Gekas and Samaras.

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holebas is a real plus, the left back position is worrying tzavellas hasn't played this season and neither has zaradoukas. sifakis being injured is a real concern, its risky to throw in chiotis (he should have been called up much earlier) for this one as he lacks international experience and tzorvas doesn't really inspire confidence. k paps is another big loss although papastathopoulos should be back and tziolis is playing regularly again. i don't know what to make of gekas' inclusion his strike rate for greece is excellent but rumours are he doesn't get on with some of the players.

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holebas is a real plus, the left back position is worrying tzavellas hasn't played this season and neither has zaradoukas. sifakis being injured is a real concern, its risky to throw in chiotis (he should have been called up much earlier) for this one as he lacks international experience and tzorvas doesn't really inspire confidence. k paps is another big loss although papastathopoulos should be back and tziolis is playing regularly again. i don't know what to make of gekas' inclusion his strike rate for greece is excellent but rumours are he doesn't get on with some of the players.

I agree, Chiotis would be too much of a risk. If I was Greek manager players like Chiotis, Fotakis and Koutsianikoulis would have been playing from long ago. Although they are all good enough to play in my opinion (particularly the outfield players because Sifakis would still be my number 1, just!) you can't just throw them in at the deep end.

I really don't understand how Fotakis hasn't played more in an area where we are quite obviously weak. I mean he's having another blinder away at Rubin as we speak. Everyone and his mother has been given a fair chance there, Karagoinis, Katsouranis, Tziolis, Kafes, Makos. Give the guy a chance, he's a neat passer, clever, works hard, positions himself well, etc! As mangas rightly says we're too weak in midfield. If it was down to me i'd like to see a friendly or two with Holebas, Fotakis, Koutsianikoulis, and Chiotis all playing.

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fotakis should be in the midfield rotation for sure...he should have been these past couple of years now...chiotis should have been in the mix too, so we could have relied more heavily on him in matches like this...but now its too late...

as far as koutsianikoulis goes, he lost two years of potential development in his time at paok...i would like to see him more involved in the NT, but more in "easier" qualifying matches and friendlies...its important he works hard with ergotelis this year and will hopefully pressure santos to play him...at the moment, he isnt ready to be a regular fixture...

koutsianikoulis, fetfatzidi, athanasiadi, ninis, kyriakos, sokratis, mitroglou, petsos, fortounis....the future could be bright.

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koutsianikoulis, fetfatzidi, athanasiadi, ninis, kyriakos, sokratis, mitroglou, petsos, fortounis....the future could be bright.

sokratis is top class, an excellent player, k paps has improved so much in germany he looks excellent also, but i feel for mitroglou he's too good for atromitos and fetfa is seeing more playing time for greece than he is at oly but he has himself to blame, the moment he signed a 5year deal he stopped being picked :angry: :angry: . will be interesting to see how many of these players actually fulfil their potential.
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Ok get ready to get pissed guys. Our coach has seriously gone senial.

http://www.sportdog.gr/article/58287/sosta...ike-o-haristeas

He has selected Charisteas for the game against Croatia and left out Mitroglou! :angry: Furthermore he said his decision was not based on form but on a tactical decision, suggesting that like Koutsianikoulis, Mitroglou will never be in his plans because regardless of form he doesn't feel that he fits in. I cannot understand this. They are both big strong target men. Mitroglou holds up the ball better. It's a no brainer! What future does this team have with Charisteas and Karagounis

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Great, now I know what to expect next week, will be going to the stadium to watch the game live!

Just make sure you chant and get everyone around you to chant too, even if that means standing on your chair looking at everyone and ordering them to scream! :P In all seriousness we tend to play better in hostile atmospheres, whether it's supporting us or against us. The players seem to be more up for it so hopefully there's a good turn out
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back to the future...............hari-fukcing-steas !!!!!!!!!!!!!! are u kidding me?

oh where, oh where has my otto gone, oh where, oh where has he gggggggggggone?

(enunciated in a musical tone reflecting angst and a longing for a yester-year that was kinder-gentler)

the greek team better have a flat screen on that boat so they can at least WATCH the tournament on tv......

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whats ironic about charisteas' call up is that he actually is at his best form in years so far at panaitolikos...i havent seen him play this well in a loooong time. they actually have a decent squad too...

i still dont like it, and would still rather see mitroglou, but i do slightly understand what santos is thinking...if we are losing, he'll stick him up from for the last minutes of the match to use his experience to sniff out a goal...who knows.

glad fotakisgot the call as well...he can really help out the midfield..

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mate if i'm not mistaken minutes to goals ratio Mitroglou was top scorer in the league last season at Panionios! At Atromitos his form continues, ironically, today is Mitroglou's Atromitos meet Charisteas' Panetolikos. Atromitos are winning 1-0 and guess who scored? <_<

CORRECTION.... It's 2-0 and guess who scored just scored his 2nd of the day? <_<

I hope Mitroglou gets his hatrick now and I hope Santos is watching!

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