A new challenge for the Greek national team!
The “blue-and-whites” host the Netherlands (9:45 p.m.) at a packed Toumba Stadium for Matchday 3 of Group 2 in League A of the Nations League.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Ivan Jovanović’s team is riding high on confidence, thanks to a 2-0 record in the group and, above all, due to their historic “away win” in Augsburg against Germany, with a goal by Kurbelis in the 74th minute.
Greece’s primary goal remains to finish among the top two third-place teams in order to secure a path through the European Championship qualifiers, bringing a return to a major tournament within reach. As a reminder, on Sunday (October 4 – 9:45 p.m.) they host Germany at Toumba Stadium. Both matches are sold out.
“Qualifying for a major tournament is always the goal. In Germany, I was absolutely delighted to see the joy experienced by thousands of Greeks living there. It was an emotional experience, and every sprint, every effort by my players was worth it. We still have four games left, and there’s a lot of work to be done,” noted the 64-year-old coach.
The Netherlands, which has had Xavi on its bench for some time now, is coming off a 2-1 (1-2) against Serbia, while in their opener they drew (1-1) with Germany at home, in the Spanish coach’s debut. The “Oranje” hit the… restart button after their disappointing performance at the recent World Cup, where they reached the round of 32 before being eliminated by Morocco in a penalty shootout.
The Greek national team is now playing without both Rota and Vagiannidis, with Tsapras taking the latter’s place. Konstantelias is out due to a cruciate ligament injury; he had previously stated that he would miss the “blue-and-whites’” upcoming matches.
Hakpo, who left Belgrade injured, will not play, nor will starting center back Van Hecke. Forward Brombay and center back Heirtrauda are dealing with injuries, while forward Zirkzee was called up at the last minute. Midfielder De Jong, winger Kluivert, and forward Malen are out.
Possible starting lineups:
Greece (Ivan Jovanović): Tzolakis, Saliakas, Mavropanos, Retsos, Tsimikas, Kourbelis, Zafeiris (Androutsos), Karetsas (Tetei), Kostoulas, Tzolis, Pavlidis
Netherlands (Xavi): Ferbuchen, Damfris, Ake, Van Dijk, Van de Fen, Feerman, Graffenberg, Ryders, Summerville, Van Bommel, Meerdik
Referee team:
- Referee: Marco Guida (Italy)
- First Assistant Referee: Giorgio Peretti (Italy)
- Second Assistant Referee: Giuseppe Perotti (Italy)
- Fourth Official: Fabio Maresca (Italy)
- VAR: Daniele Ciffi (Italy)
- AVAR: Valerio Marini (Italy)
*photo source: AP
