A tough friendly match for the Greek national team!
The Greek national team will host Poland tonight (8:00 p.m.) at the “Telekom Center Athens,” in a match that will help the team find its rhythm ahead of the crucial matches it faces in the second round of the 2027 World Cup qualifiers.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
We’d like to remind you that following the back-to-back losses suffered during last July’s “window,” losing 73–66 on the road against Romania and 71–56 at home against Portugal, Greece enters the second-phase group stage with a 3-3 record and faces a difficult task in its quest to qualify.
Following tonight’s game against Poland, there will be one more match next Monday (August 24) against Cyprus, again at the “Telekom Center Athens,” before the crucial official games against Ukraine in Riga (August 28 – 7:00 p.m.) and against Spain in Athens (August 31 – 7:00 p.m.).
Vassilis Spanoulis will not have Giannis Antetokounmpo at his disposal, but he has included several EuroLeague players in his roster, aiming to field the strongest possible team ahead of these extremely demanding matches. Notable among them is the return of Nick Calathes.
“We have two important games ahead of us. As a team, we know how important they are. We have to get the wins. It’s okay to feel a little pressure; we’ll make the best of it. The level of competition has risen since the last windows, which is fine— it’s good for us to prepare,” said Dorsey ahead of the World Cup qualifiers, while Mitoglou, for his part, noted:
“All the guys have come in very well-prepared, with the right mindset and the right attitude. These are two do-or-die games; we have to win them at all costs. Our preparation has been excellent; I’m very pleased, and we’ll keep stepping up our intensity. The losses in July are in the past—we have to look ahead.”
Greece’s roster: Kostas Antetokounmpo, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Bazinas, Kalathis, Charalampopoulos, Papanikolaou, Dorsey, Flionis, Kalaitzakis, Karagiannidis, Larentzakis, Moraitis, Netzioglou, Mitoglou, Persidis, Rogavopoulos, Toliopoulos.
*photo source: KYPE
