Fresh from a 3-0 win over Finland, there is plenty of top-class talent in the current Greek squad which last year registered two convincing victories over Ireland
Fresh from a 3-0 win over Finland, there is plenty of top-class talent in the current Greece squad which only last year registered two convincing victories over the Republic
The chasm between the countries is even more pronounced at club level, as illustrated in August when PAOK eased past Shamrock Rovers on a 6-0 aggregate scoreline to qualify for the group stage of the Europa League. Things were much closer in 2021 Europa Conference League when Bohemians were unlucky to fall to PAOK on a 3-2 aggregate scoreline.
Before that, the only Greek side to play in a European final were the Panathinaikos team, managed by Ferenc Puskás, who lost the 1971 European Cup Final 2-0 to Johan Cruyff’s Ajax at Wembley Stadium. The popularity of manager Otto Rehhagel was so great that he was named Greek Person of the Year despite being German and a BBC documentary made earlier this year to mark the 20th anniversary of the triumph was called: King Otto and Football’s Greek Gods.
Greece have an even greater wealth of talent up front. Evangelos Pavlídis recently joined Benfica for €20 million, but the in-form striker is Panathinaikos’s Fotis Ioannidis who scored twice in the 3-0 Nations League win over Finland on Saturday, illustrating why he has been linked with a €30 million move to Leicester City.
Greece haven’t qualified for a major tournament since they lost a penalty shoot-out to Costa Rica in the round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup. Gus Poyet came close to ending this drought, leading Greece to a Euro 2024 play-off only to again lose on penalties, this time to Georgia, who had never previously qualified for a major championship.
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