Vasilis Toliopoulos emphasized the need for the Greek national team to secure the wins it needs against Romania and Portugal in the World Cup qualifiersin remarks made today on the sidelines of practice.
The international star noted that it’s wonderful to play in stadiums packed with Greek fans, and regarding his role on the team, he emphasized that he is now quite happy with his consistent presence on the national team.
Here are his comments in detail: –
On the National Team’s upcoming matches: “We’ll look at the
matches ahead of us later. Right now, we want to focus on securing two wins in our final matches of the first round. We want to finish with a 5-1 record and have more wins in the next round.”
-On the fans’ support for the national team
: “It’s important; we all want to play in front of a packed stadium, especially when we’re playing in our own country—to play in stadiums filled with Greeks and young children, and for us to enjoy it. We’ll give it our all to put on a good show and secure the win.”
-On the days off they had: “Since
we finished on June 15, we needed those ten days to calm down a bit, put the final matches out of our minds, rest physically, and now we’re all here to play these two games.”
-On the opportunity Greek players have to play for the national team and get more playing time
:I don’t think you join the national team thinking, ‘I have to play because I’m not playing for my club.’ You’re called up here to help the team and the country achieve their goals. Everyone must think first and foremost about the team and how we can win, rather than thinking, ‘Oh, I’m not playing for my club, so I have to play a lot here to prove myself.’”
-On his now-regular spot on the national team
: “It was something I’d always wanted in my career. It took me a while to fulfill that dream of being a regular on the national team. But now I really feel like I’m part of it and that I’m an important player. I’m truly very happy to be here and to contribute.”
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