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Greece: Opposition Analysis w/Stephen Kountourou (Hellas Footy) · Scots With A Mic

0:04
Welcome to the noise. Listen to the passion in Hamden
0:07
Park. It's John again.
0:09
It's John again. The great done by Elvis
0:18
Chancellor, One for Scotland. Hello and welcome back to the
0:30
Scots with a Mic podcast. I am your host, James Scott, and
0:35
I'm delighted to have you all along again listening to our
0:39
latest offering, another episode and the opposition analysis
0:45
style series we're doing. Obviously, last month Scotland
0:49
played Denmark and we previewed that with a discussion with
0:53
T.O.K Tile. He's a Danish sports writer.
0:56
So he came on, we discussed all things Denmark and he gave us
1:00
some valuable insights, to be honest, into the the Danish
1:04
national team, some stuff that with hindsight you could really
1:07
appreciate. You knew what he was talking
1:09
about, especially after they played Grease's rally.
1:12
You highlighted Scotland is a bigger threat than Greece,
1:15
something that may not and probably didn't actually agree
1:18
with them actually during the podcast.
1:20
And but you know, the results proved proved us wrong and
1:24
proved him right. And yeah, we're going to look to
1:26
do something similar today preview in Scotland's match
1:31
against Greece. It's been a quick turn around.
1:33
It doesn't feel like too long ago we were in Copenhagen and
1:36
now we play in Belarus. And well, the squad's already
1:40
released. And yeah, Thursday night,
1:43
Thursday night under the lights at Hampden Park.
1:45
It's going to be a huge game. Hopefully I near sold out Hamden
1:49
Park. It's going to be an absolutely
1:51
massive 1 big game for both sides and yeah, we're going to
1:56
be discussing that today mostly from a Greek perspective.
2:01
We do have a very special guest coming on.
2:04
An award nominated podcaster will be joining us in the form
2:08
of Steven Conturu. Now Steven.
2:11
Steven runs the Hell Ass Football X page and also on
2:17
Facebook and Instagram. It's quite a big profile in
2:20
terms of Greek football and he also runs the podcast, the
2:24
Hellas Football Podcast. So yeah, he really knows what
2:27
he's talking about. He covers Greek football all the
2:30
way from the domestic stuff right up to the national team.
2:34
Yeah, if you can possibly have or haven't seen him on the
2:38
socials, but he has quite a big presence in Greek football and
2:42
he's coming on. He's hopefully going to be able
2:44
to share lots of things with us about the Greek national team.
2:48
I mean, Scotland fans are only too well aware of Greece from
2:52
recent games. We played them in March and I
2:55
mean away in Greece, a very promising result.
2:59
We started off in the right foot by getting A1, no one away.
3:01
It was a it was a great result, one of the better results
3:04
Scotland's had in recent years, especially away from home.
3:07
But we didn't follow up with a good performance at hand and we
3:10
were beaten 3 nil. It was very disappointing, kind
3:14
of set us off into a bad summer actually, very poor mood around
3:19
the national team. But things have changed that
3:22
we've since then I'd I'd feel confident in seeing because
3:26
Scotland's form, we've come into the World Cup qualifiers and
3:32
Copenhagen was a fantastic result and then Belarus was a
3:35
banana skin that we avoided SO2 games and with four points we've
3:39
done well in that respect. Greece, on the other hand,
3:43
coming off the high of the Nations League, playing us,
3:46
beating us over 2 legs, having a strong summer, they entered the
3:50
World Cup qualifiers and didn't quite have the same.
3:53
I'm going to say the same fortune as us.
3:56
We lost against Denmark and Athens and petty ass even.
4:00
And yeah, it's it's it's kind of changed that dynamic of how this
4:05
game's, you know, the lanes that we're looking at this game
4:07
through. You know, if you'd asked me back
4:09
in March what I was thinking, it's on Thursday night, I'd be
4:12
quite apprehensive. And I'm still apprehensive.
4:15
But you know, hopefully I'm going to, I might change my mind
4:19
on that over the course of the discussion.
4:21
Or maybe not. Maybe I'll be even more anxious
4:23
once he goes into depth about the young Greek talents upfront
4:28
that were giving us Baller back in March.
4:30
So fingers crossed it's going to a great, it's going to be a
4:32
great discussion with Stephen. Hopefully you really enjoy it.
4:36
And yeah, we'll jump right into it.
4:39
Okay, Right. Steven, thank you for joining us
4:43
on the podcast. It's a pleasure to have you on.
4:46
How are we doing? I'm doing very well.
4:50
Thank you, James. How are you?
4:51
I'm good, I'm good. I'm very excited for the match
4:54
on Thursday. It's going to be an absolutely
4:56
massive 1. We'll get into that more in a
4:59
bit, but first I'll just let you introduce yourself because some
5:02
of our listeners might not be all too familiar with you.
5:05
I know you've been all over my timeline, but it's maybe not the
5:07
case for everyone. So I'll let you just update them
5:10
on what you've been up to and who you are.
5:12
Yes, I certainly can so. My name is Stephen Conturu, long
5:16
surname as a typical with a lot of Greeks or Greek Cypriots as
5:21
well. So I write about Greek football
5:25
mostly about Olibiagos, the team I support, but I do write about
5:28
other things in the wider kind of world of Greek football as
5:30
well. Would that be kind of Greeks
5:32
playing abroad, Greek Greek clubs in Europe or those small
5:37
stories that you know, isn't as well known to the wider kind of
5:40
football scope, especially outside of Europe's top five
5:43
leagues. And I help write and host a
5:46
podcast on Hellas football. We are on multiple social media
5:50
platforms including X Facebook, Instagram.
5:53
We have our own sites as well. And like I said, any podcast
5:56
platform you listen to your podcasts on, you can probably
5:59
catch the Hellas Football Podcast to give you a weekly,
6:02
get your weekly update on everything Greek football
6:04
because we talk about the league, we talk about the
6:06
national team, we talk about. Clubs in Europe and.
6:08
Any Greek players that are playing abroad that?
6:10
Do anything notable Greek managers as well, especially
6:13
more recently with Ange Bostagol.
6:15
Yeah, is. Currently not having the best of
6:17
times at Nottingham Forest but I I, I love the, I love Ang, I'm
6:21
an Ang fan all the way. Yeah, I think there's a certain
6:24
big parts of Scotland and Glasgow especially that are big
6:27
fans that are poster called good too actually.
6:30
So Oh well, I guess it's fair to say you know your stuff then
6:33
also a podcast which was nominated for the Football
6:37
Content Awards. So I will say yes,
6:39
congratulations for that. We'll let you get away with
6:41
that. So giving you a little bit of
6:44
praise for that at least. So yeah, I so I guess we'll just
6:49
we'll get right into it then. Obviously it's been a quick turn
6:52
around since the games in September.
6:55
We've just had, you know, the opening two games.
6:58
What should I mean? Just give us your sort of
7:01
feelings on Greeks form. And I can't imagine you're too
7:04
happy. I mean, I'm asking this kind of
7:06
normal what you're going to say. But obviously that defeat to
7:09
Denmark at home must have been a massive blow for you.
7:13
Yeah, it was a. Big wake up call, I felt,
7:16
because we'd really needed to get a win, especially in the
7:23
Yokoscar Aisaki Stadium in Bideas and, you know, Bruce's
7:27
current home ground for the World Cup qualifiers.
7:29
We really, really needed to win that game against Denmark and I
7:32
don't think a lot of us expected the performance that we got.
7:38
Obviously we had beaten Belarus 51 previously and you can only
7:42
take those kind of teams when you beat them with a pinch of
7:45
salt, without any disrespect to Belarus.
7:47
But it wasn't necessarily like it wasn't necessarily the team
7:51
we were playing against that we were so pleased that we'd beat
7:52
it prior. It was the way we played because
7:55
we thought, OK, if they can do what they did against Belarus
7:58
and actually blow them out of the water in the first half and
8:00
game done, there was a chance that we that performance could
8:04
be elevated to a slightly better team.
8:06
Well, much better team in fact, than in Denmark.
8:09
But the but the I think what I've said this to a few people
8:13
who have asked me about what happened that night.
8:16
I think what everything that possibly could have gone wrong
8:18
went wrong. Like the line up, while a strong
8:22
one, may have not been the most experienced against a team that
8:26
has consistently qualified for major tournaments in recent
8:29
times in Denmark. And they just knew how to get to
8:32
us like every time we tried to attack because Ivanovic were
8:35
playing a much more kind of fast-paced style of football
8:38
than what a lot of Greek fans are used to while still maining
8:40
a lot of while still keeping a lot of defensive stability as
8:44
well. But they just were there for
8:47
every single time that one of our tricky sort of forwards like
8:50
Constantelias, Caretzas or Zolis were attempting to, you know, do
8:55
their thing, get the ball up the pitch, try and make that cross,
8:57
try and take that shot. And they just soaked it up and
9:01
then ran us ragged. And yeah, like I said, the so
9:05
the experience of that team, that Denmark team really shone
9:09
through in in the in the end of the night.
9:12
And it definitely showed that while we do have some
9:14
experienced players in our team, like some older players, even
9:19
those older players don't really have the experience of
9:22
qualifying for major tournaments and have failed in the past when
9:25
it's come to the big moments. You know, I think of when we
9:28
lost in the playoff final against Croatian for the 2018
9:31
World Cup and we got absolutely thrashed by them, which, you
9:34
know, isn't necessarily a surprise, but that was one of
9:37
the closest we got to the World Cup.
9:38
And then especially recently when we failed to qualify for
9:41
EUR 2024 in that terrible evening in Georgia when we lost
9:46
out on penalties, when we. Absolutely needed to go through
9:50
there with, you know, very good opportunity wasted there.
9:53
So yeah, it's, it's, I will say, and I'm sure we'll get on to
9:57
this a little bit. Up to this point, the, the, the,
10:00
there's been a lot of positivity surrounding Greece with the
10:04
young players coming through of Ivanovich.
10:07
But that night has kind of dented people's hopes a bit.
10:10
And it's not that's not over yet.
10:12
This international break, what you all know is incredibly
10:15
crucial, the hardest international break I think this
10:18
Greek team, this Greek team will have faced thus far.
10:21
And I, I'm, I'm, I'm really nervous for the, for these next
10:27
two games. But I, I, this team is
10:29
definitely capable of achieving amazing things.
10:32
As we saw, you know, in the playoff final of the of the
10:34
Nation's League against Scotland, but also against
10:36
England when we beat them two, one at Wembley, which I think,
10:39
but I was at the game and that that's one of the the greatest
10:42
footballing experiences I've ever had as a supporter.
10:45
And I went to see if they've touched on a lot there that I
10:48
was. I was almost marking points off
10:50
my head about things. I was going to come back to
10:52
that. I've got joy down.
10:53
But I'm, I mean, I'll come back to the game first of all against
10:57
Denmark, because I didn't always like catch it.
11:01
I did see the highlights, but I didn't think Greece on
11:03
appearance seemed to offer too much.
11:05
I mean the third goal, I mean you could write off a little bit
11:09
down to a little bit of madness from the keeper.
11:11
I don't know what how you kind of viewed that one, but it did.
11:15
I mean, it did for me. It was our result that caught.
11:18
I think Scotland kept fans off guard because when the group was
11:22
drawn back in December last year, Scotland were pretty
11:26
disappointed to end up being a part three team maneuver, a part
11:29
three team that nobody would want to draw.
11:32
But we're still in this situation.
11:35
Getting Denmark was a good result, we felt, because they
11:38
weren't as strong a part one side as we felt we could have
11:40
drawn. Still fully expect them to top
11:42
the group. But when we got Greece in Part
11:45
2, I certainly felt in this, I mean, this has changed over the
11:49
months of past since then. I felt Greece off the back of
11:52
the Nations League looked a very strong team and it was we knew
11:58
we'd be fighting with them for second potentially.
12:00
But there was also a little bit in the back of my head going
12:02
well, Geese are probably more than confident in the feeling
12:04
they're fighting for first with Denmark.
12:06
So getting your first two games at home and one of them been
12:10
against Denmark, it was a real chance for you guys to like get
12:13
a grip of the group and potentially go top, especially
12:16
after Denmark drop the points at home to to us.
12:20
But obviously that's not the way it worked out.
12:25
I mean, in terms of the game on Thursday, I mean, looking over
12:29
the last year, it's, it is kind of, I mean, I don't know if you
12:34
feel it's a bit more of a cup final now for Greece.
12:36
It seems crazy to say that so early in the group.
12:39
But it's a game. There's a lot of pressure on it
12:42
for both teams, maybe more so, maybe not more so Greece, but
12:46
for different reasons. There's a lot of heat on them to
12:48
get our results somewhere then maybe could afford it to.
12:51
Not before obviously looking like you said, when the draw
12:56
happened, we as a Scotland fans, we knew we were going to be
13:00
playing Greece in March and then also later in the year.
13:03
So we knew that the playoff would give us a flavor of what
13:07
to expect. And I think it really put the
13:09
fear amongst the Scotland fans because of how I'm going to say
13:13
deflating the defeat was at Hamden after, especially after
13:17
going to Athens and getting such a good result.
13:19
It's not too all too often Scotland go away from home to a
13:22
hard place like Greece away and yeah, don't pack up.
13:27
You don't don't come away. Well when I mean it's a really
13:30
good result. But into the defeat changed the
13:32
frame. We were looking at this game and
13:36
you know there was a lot of fear for you know on our first game
13:38
at home was against Greece. Our first game with pieces at
13:40
home haven't been turned over at Hamden by them.
13:43
We then had a pure summer. I'd say the friendly results
13:46
than really giving all much completely lost conference of an
13:50
Iceland game. And then like Luxenstein, you
13:52
can't take too much from. But then it changed for us, you
13:56
know, in the first two games of the campaign, I think a tar army
14:00
were feeling quite not too all too positive, but the national
14:04
team. But then the draw in Denmark,
14:07
Sperritz raised expectations started to raise around what we
14:11
could maybe get at home then. And obviously you guys getting
14:15
turned over at home, suddenly the entire narrative of this
14:19
game has changed in an instant and.
14:22
And to be honest, your, what you said about the draw is how we
14:27
felt. We thought, oh, thank goodness
14:28
we didn't get Portugal because we have a history with Portugal,
14:32
obviously with the European Championships 2004 when we beat
14:34
them in their own home, Seoul to claim the, the, the EUR, you
14:38
know, over 20 years ago now, but not just, not just because that
14:42
their team is of huge quality. And so we, when we got when we
14:45
drew Denmark as the as Part 1, we thought, OK, Denmark have a
14:49
lot of experience, but they are on paper the weakest Part 1 team
14:52
that we could have faced. And then when we drew Scotland,
14:54
while at the time we thought, Oh no, like this is one of the
14:59
probably the probably the, the worst part three team we could
15:02
have got in terms of like Scotland, a very strong team.
15:05
And this was even before we played Scotland in the in the
15:09
nation's league playoff final in March.
15:11
And then I think even despite I, I mean, I can't speak for every
15:16
single Greek fan, but the majority of people I've spoken
15:18
to online and, and the guys who work at Hellas football with me,
15:22
even after the way we beat Scotland, sorry, in Hampden
15:27
Park, I don't think we were going into the games in the
15:30
World Cup qualifiers assuming that we were going to do the
15:33
exact same thing. And that's why even if we'd
15:36
beaten Denmark in, in Berea's last month, we would still be
15:43
going into this game with a, with a, with an expectation that
15:46
Scotland will want revenge because of how we, how we
15:49
dispatched you. You know, I, I, other than the
15:52
England game, I'd never seen Greece play like that.
15:54
A lot of people had never had. And it was almost 2 very
15:57
different games because when we beat England, we still had a lot
16:00
of experienced players in the squad.
16:01
So we obviously played with our backs.
16:03
The war. There was a lot of context with
16:04
George Boldock obviously passing, which was very sad.
16:08
And so that kind of the players up to want to perform there.
16:10
But when we played Scotland away at Hamden Park, that was the
16:14
birth of this current team that you see today like with because
16:18
after after we lost the first game in in in in Greece with a a
16:22
lot a much more experienced team.
16:24
Ivanovich made six or seven changes, brought in all the
16:27
young kids brand new kind of midfield duo.
16:29
It was completely untested in a competitive fixture.
16:33
And so that's why we've kind of stuck with that mantra now,
16:38
like, you know, the the the forward line of, you know, the
16:41
midfield forward line of Constantelias in the middle,
16:43
Guerretas on the right and Solis on the left.
16:47
And then bubbly this up top who's doing very well at
16:49
Benfica. That's the kind of team that we
16:52
are are playing now. This is the new generation,
16:55
newer generation, bubbly. This is quite experienced.
16:57
But I, I mean, like in terms of the like throughout the team,
17:00
it's this is one of the youngest Greeks, Greek squads we've ever
17:02
seen. And yeah, the, the the loss
17:07
against Denmark has has only made us even more nervous for
17:11
this, these two games against Scot, Scotland and Denmark,
17:14
because we know that we have to win those games.
17:15
Like you said, if we'd beaten Denmark at home, we'd be going
17:19
to the games thinking, OK, maybe if we play one of these two
17:22
teams, we need at least one win and maybe a draw.
17:25
If, if we lose, not great, but OK, one win out of two.
17:28
Now I think we need to win both games.
17:31
And the only thing I will say is that weirdly Greece don't have a
17:36
great home record in recent times against these like
17:39
properly good teams because we, yes, we beat Scotland away, but
17:43
we lost to you at home in the first leg.
17:45
And even though I thought we didn't play that badly, it's
17:48
still a defeat at home in front of our at home fans.
17:50
We lost quite comfortably to England in the return leg of the
17:53
Nations League when when we played them at the Athens
17:57
Olympic Stadium then. And so we there is starting to
18:01
be a little bit of a trend and, and now the Denmark games as
18:04
well. So now there is starting to be a
18:05
little bit of a trend where at home we've always been stronger
18:08
at home. Historically, Greece has always
18:10
been stronger at home. But for some reason the pressure
18:13
of these big games at home are too much for the team.
18:16
Maybe I don't know if it's necessarily the team that that
18:19
buckles under the pressure, but but away has been the opposite.
18:23
So this is what the only kind of semblance of hope we have, even
18:26
though it's not, doesn't make any statistical or logical
18:28
sense. Going away in these boat to
18:30
going away for these two games is actually potentially going to
18:34
help us because it might take the pressure off potentially.
18:37
But again, that doesn't necessarily mean we could go to
18:39
both games and lose, lose both of them as well.
18:42
So it's not guaranteed, Yeah. Because that's Ivan Ivanovich
18:47
has 12 competitive matches so far.
18:50
He's been at the helm for you guys.
18:52
Nine wins, 3 losses. And like you said, that was what
18:54
caught my eye instantly. I was like all three losses have
18:58
been at home and this includes away games to Hamden, which I
19:03
mean Scotland fans are. We've been in many situations
19:08
where you hope that you've got your doubts but we are.
19:10
We have been playing well and there and it hasn't been an easy
19:13
place to come for teams like Spain even who dropped points
19:17
here. You know, we've beaten to now
19:19
you went to Wembley, maybe England at Wembley and an
19:22
incredible result, but then you lost at home.
19:24
You lost home to us. And then that result against
19:27
Denmark was like you say, I think caught most people off
19:31
guard. I think it's fine.
19:32
I mean, I was out there, I was at the game, LMPA course, the
19:37
playoff March and and Lempiacosa Stadium in March and I was
19:40
impressed by the atmosphere. You know, it's quite a
19:41
formidable place and I was for that, for the visiting team, but
19:44
I didn't quite appreciate that. It's maybe like you said, the
19:46
pressure on the home team. I mean of it I'll go back to and
19:50
enjoy anyway because he was his first year in charge.
19:53
How have you measured? I mean, you sound pretty chuffed
19:56
in terms of how he's brought in the young players had give how
20:02
since March and the result there.
20:03
Do you think there's still been progression or has it been the
20:07
heck up like you said with his first game, the second game of
20:11
the group not going to plan. I mean, look, Jovanovic in his
20:15
first year has done a a brilliant job and he's done what
20:18
a lot of managers who have come even even even when Greece were
20:23
qualifying for major tournaments, he's done what a
20:24
lot of them haven't been able to, which is give youth players
20:28
an opportunity. And that's not necessarily the
20:31
fault of previous managers because the the talent pool has
20:34
always been quite thin. It's more down to the problems
20:37
of Greek football than development and allowing players
20:39
to have those, those senior minutes, which has prevented
20:43
them, the national team from having a greater depth of
20:48
talent. And only recently have we seen
20:51
clubs like BALC from Thessaloniki who developed
20:55
Solis, who's developed Constantelias, who who have kind
21:00
of brought these players through, given them
21:01
opportunities in the first team they've played in Europe.
21:03
So they've got a higher stake there.
21:05
Then they sell them on to other clubs and they're well,
21:08
Constantelias is still there, but he's very much I I'd be very
21:11
surprised if he's going to be if he's there next summer, to be
21:14
honest, at the end of the season.
21:16
Solis has since, you know, had a bit of a bump at Norwich, but
21:18
then he went to club Ruge and he was in Germany before in the
21:21
second division with Dusseldorf and was incredible.
21:23
And he's he's now scored. I think he's now created or
21:26
scored. I think he's scored or assisted
21:27
10 goals in the Champions League so far.
21:30
This for a Greek player and that's fantastic for him.
21:34
You know, he's he's he's an absolute star in the making and
21:36
and Oliviagos as well recently, you know, their under nineteens
21:39
won the UEFA Youth League very recently, the same season Olivia
21:43
Argos won the conference league as well.
21:46
And those and loads of those young talented players are
21:49
starting to come through like Christos Mouzakidis, who's, you
21:51
know, a bit less kind of in the periphery of of like, I guess
21:55
international football fans, because he's not, you know, he's
21:59
just a midfielder. He's a midfielder rather than
22:00
kind of one of those more attacking kind of players, but
22:02
he's passing actually excellent. He can score when need be.
22:07
And so going back to Yovanovitch, he's he's kind of
22:11
been able to bring those players through and play the kind of
22:13
football that, like I said, we've never seen Greece play
22:16
before. And he's always been a
22:17
pragmatist. He's, he gets his teams solidly
22:21
defensively. He sets his teams up defensively
22:25
in a very solid manner and he's achieved a lot of great things.
22:28
He's got a very good long experience in Greek football.
22:32
He, he speaks Greek fluently. He's always, he's always played
22:35
in Greece. He's managed in Greece as well.
22:38
He managed Banaf and Igos, his last kind of club team.
22:42
So the second biggest club in Greece for, for trophies.
22:45
Certainly he was there up until a couple of years ago when they,
22:48
they, they sacked him for, for due to results they deemed not
22:52
sufficient enough for him and, and he became manager of Greece
22:55
as well. And a lot of Banaf and Igos fans
22:57
I've spoken to are kicking themselves that they they let
22:59
him go, but they're happy at least he's manager of Greece.
23:01
But the, the, the one story I always tell people when it comes
23:06
to Jovanovic to show his credentials and what he's
23:08
capable of as a coach is if people remember the Cypriot team
23:12
Abuel, the massive team in Cyprus, they're from the capital
23:15
of Nicosia. He took them to the Champions
23:18
League quarter finals in 2011. Twelve.
23:20
And that team was worth, I think squad worth at the time was like
23:23
€1,000,000. And he beat like Lyon on
23:26
penalties and he took them all the way through the group stage
23:28
and they stood toe to toe with the Mighty Real Madrid.
23:31
And obviously they got absolutely hammered.
23:32
But to get a Cypriot club to the quarterfinals, it's never been
23:36
done again since. And that was Jovanovic.
23:38
That was all him. And so for him to be kind of in
23:41
charge of Greece, he knows the culture, he knows the place, he
23:43
knows the mentality. And so that's why I think he's
23:46
been able to get the best out of them.
23:48
And so I, I really hope that, and obviously this is very pre
23:51
emptive, but I really hope that even if Greece don't qualify for
23:54
the, for the World Cup, I really hope we don't get rid of him
23:57
because I, we can all see what he's trying to build.
24:00
And this team is so young and needs the experience.
24:03
And sometimes you need to fail before you, you succeed.
24:07
And I think that regardless of whether we reach the World Cup
24:10
or not, I would really very disappointed if Jovanovic was
24:13
sacked because I don't think the what he's been building
24:17
justifies that for me. Yeah, like I totally understand
24:21
what you're saying about especially when you're bringing
24:23
young players through like that, it's very hard when they've not
24:27
got national team experience, especially experience of
24:31
qualifying and you can never get experience without qualifying.
24:34
I mean, it's kind of like this yeah, cycle, but you have, it
24:38
does have to be sort of more project mindset and a long term
24:41
thing. And to be fair, even if you
24:42
didn't qualify, like your Nations League, Nations League
24:47
performances and Scotland's not exactly the easiest pot free
24:51
team to come up against Denmark, like you said, weaker put one
24:56
side, but put one side nonetheless.
24:58
And you know you can't you can't take anything for granted there.
25:03
I mean, I'll come back to this sort of this period since we've
25:06
played you in March. How obviously I can't.
25:10
I do appreciate what you're saying about how they're Youvan
25:14
a match with their this all long term project stuff and be
25:17
ashamed to let him go when he's trying to build something,
25:20
especially when you're bringing in young players who don't have,
25:23
he's giving them the experience. You know that they're going to
25:26
need to go on and achieve down the line.
25:28
It's hard to get the end results from that right now, even if you
25:32
do feel like there's maybe the opportunity with the group.
25:35
The, you know, been put to Denmark been a weaker put one
25:38
side by the end of the day. Scone still quite a tough pot
25:41
three sides. You could argue if if it hadn't
25:43
been for the way the seat net worked with us when I think, you
25:46
know, we're we're still going to potentially put one side.
25:49
I can't remember exactly, but we've definitely been put 2 and
25:52
Denmark themselves are still a put one side with lots of
25:54
experience at major tournaments. They know how to get there.
25:57
They know how these things work. I mean, look at again, coming
26:02
from March, Do you, do you feel how much concern has, how much
26:08
concern do you have around the progression of the team?
26:10
Do you feel like they're, they're leaps and bounds ahead
26:12
of March in terms of where we left at full time when you'd be
26:16
as female? Or do you feel there has been a
26:18
star and you're maybe not much further ahead or you've maybe
26:20
dropped off a little bit? I don't think there's been a a
26:23
drop off necessarily. And, and like I said, even
26:26
though Denmark completely outplayed us, that was a good
26:28
learning curve for them because they, they came up against the,
26:32
as we said, a very, very experienced team that knows how
26:34
to qualify for, for major tournaments.
26:36
And, and Greece has gone through a like multiple generations of
26:39
players now that haven't reached a major tournament.
26:41
There isn't, I think the only, I think the only player who's ever
26:45
reached a major tournament in the squad, I think might be
26:48
Betras Mandolas. He might have been part of that
26:50
team that reached the World Cup in 2014, But other than that,
26:55
he's not, he's not really. He, he, there's not, there's no
27:01
real like kind of tournament experience there, unfortunately.
27:04
And it's not, it's not necessarily that the progression
27:08
of the, the, the players have stunted at all.
27:10
I would say that it's continued on nicely from where we are and
27:13
especially the Dune friendlies went really, really, really
27:16
well. There was no issues there.
27:17
You know, everyone got a bit of opportunity to play.
27:19
We comfortably dispatched Slovakia and Bulgaria, albeit in
27:23
friendlies, and so while Denmark has a set back, it's not a big
27:27
enough set back for me to think no, this team has regressed.
27:30
This is this project's going down the drain.
27:33
There's still so much time for these players to improve it and
27:36
that defeat will only give them the experience to not make those
27:39
same mistakes again, especially against Denmark.
27:41
And they know how what it takes to beat Scotland in a very
27:44
important game. Because at the end of the day,
27:46
while people may disregard the nation's league, the pressure
27:49
was on in that game to turn it around.
27:51
And they did. And they, you know, that's one
27:53
of the few moments recently where we've seen Greece not
27:55
buckle under, under the pressure and come back.
27:57
And to get promoted to Nations League is a huge achievement
28:00
considering where we were a few years ago, where we're in
28:02
Nations League C and we couldn't even beat Kosovo.
28:05
Like we, we would eternally draw with Kosovo and let other teams
28:09
kind of go ahead of us and get promoted to Nations League B.
28:12
So from that progression from there, where we were to where we
28:16
are now, there's still so much potential in this team and so
28:20
much still for them to to show. And, and, and especially, I know
28:24
I always go back to those 3 midfielders, but they are like
28:26
kind of the talismanic parts of the team.
28:28
But like Garetzis isn't even 18, he's 17.
28:32
And Ghansandelius is only 22 and sorry and Solis is 23.
28:39
This, this, this, that could be our, our frontline, like our
28:42
front midfield line for the next decade plus.
28:45
And so, you know, no matter which players come and come and
28:48
go, if we have those three like kind of linking everything
28:51
together, that's such a strong position to be in as a national
28:55
team because some national teams have one good player.
28:58
We, I think the majority of this team is probably the strongest
29:00
on paper that we've had for what in in about a decade or two.
29:06
Yeah, because, I mean, I mean, looking at the squad overall, I
29:10
think it's probably a strong a squad as you could name.
29:13
I didn't see any notable injuries or I mean, you had one
29:18
player that didn't make the last, didn't make this squad
29:20
that was in the last one. But I think you've shrunk from
29:22
25 or 24 down to 24 or 20, Yes. So the only changes now.
29:28
It was announced today that Baniyodis Rezos, who's
29:31
Oliviago's captain, will not be in the squad.
29:35
Yanis Mikhalidis from BALC will go in his place, but both of
29:39
them will probably not be starters in either game unless
29:42
there's an injury to Constantinos Mavro Panos from
29:45
West Ham and also Constantinos Culiarakis from Wolfsburg.
29:50
So they they'll be the the number one, number two centre
29:53
backs. And then Aretos would have
29:54
probably been #3 and we've also got Hadtiviakos who's probably
29:58
#4 So not a major issue from an Olivia Argos perspective is a
30:03
bit of a major issue because we have a Derby match this weekend.
30:06
So I would, I wouldn't have, I wouldn't have liked to have lost
30:09
Aretos, but for the national team it's not the end of the
30:11
world. So that's the only change that I
30:13
can think of at the moment that that came a came today.
30:19
And then, like, I mean, obviously those four danger men
30:23
that everyone keeps talking about for this constantly US
30:27
corrects us solace. I mean, I know you mentioned
30:31
that ages earlier on pivot us excluded from that min 26 still
30:36
not old, but he's not exactly as he's not a spring check anymore.
30:41
22/17/23 they are so young. Like there must be a feeling
30:45
around like you said for the next decade.
30:48
This is like your golden generation of guys coming
30:50
through. And then you like you mentioned
30:52
even more. There's potentially more in the
30:54
way with the success on PR courses part, yeah.
30:59
Yeah, absolutely. And you know, especially, I
31:02
think a lot of people especially have highlighted Garets US
31:04
because he he could have played for Belgium.
31:07
He was born in Belgium to greet parents.
31:09
And so for a long, for a while, especially before, I think once
31:14
when Jovanovic first came in, there was a lot of talk as to
31:16
whether Garrettus would start representing Belgium, start
31:19
representing Greece. A lot of time was dedicated to
31:22
convincing him to a lot to become a Greek international.
31:26
Instead, Jovanovic flew out personally because he was.
31:29
He was. He was getting capped for
31:30
Belgium on the 21 wasn't he? Yes.
31:32
Yes, he was. And, and even the, the president
31:34
of the Greek Football, Greek Football Federation, there you
31:38
go, flew out to have that conversation with him.
31:43
And so they went, they kind of moved heaven and earth to make
31:45
sure he he said yes. And supposedly from what he was
31:49
reported and what he said, there was never any doubt.
31:51
It was just kind of you you still have to sell them the
31:55
project and and, you know, they they assured him that perhaps if
32:00
Belgium might not necessarily give him that opportunity now,
32:03
as they still have a very good squad, you know, despite maybe
32:05
being past their golden generation from, you know, the
32:08
late 2020, 10s, early twenty 20s.
32:10
But Garetus has immediately become the the starting starter
32:16
in the team, despite how young he is.
32:17
And this is AI think the exam is especially around him because
32:22
he's not just we. I don't think without putting
32:25
too much pressure on him as a player and his potential because
32:28
things can change very quickly, you know, with injuries and and
32:30
bad career moves or or a loss of kind of love for the game.
32:34
But I think a lot of people rate him to not only be like a
32:38
potentially world class player, but to even be a world kind of a
32:42
world great sort of a player like that next level up.
32:46
He has that potential. And again, that's with not
32:49
without saying that's what he is now, that's what he definitely
32:52
will be. But he he he certainly has the
32:54
potential to reach that. And even if he hits half of what
32:58
he he could be, he'll still be a fantastic player for Greece.
33:02
And we've honestly, we've never, I've never seen a player like
33:07
him do what he does, like his improvisation, his passing, his
33:10
his goal scoring ability fantastic, honestly.
33:13
And the and the 1st off game he had was against Denmark.
33:16
And it wasn't even that he played badly.
33:18
It's just Denmark knew to target him.
33:21
Denmark knew to stop him doing what he did.
33:24
And at times even I will admit that he perhaps there were,
33:28
there were moments where I thought, OK, he would have
33:30
crossed there or he would have shot there, taken a shot there,
33:33
but he hesitated. And maybe it was the pressure.
33:35
Maybe he was just well marked as well.
33:38
But Garretas I would absolutely highlight as as the number one
33:41
in terms of his potential in this Greece team.
33:44
He he's just sensational and absolute joy to watch.
33:47
And I'm so, so pleased that he chose Greece over Belgium.
33:51
Yeah, because I think we've we've not to the same level.
33:54
He's definitely a little bit, maybe not a little bit, but he's
33:57
not quite the player that corrects us as.
33:59
But in terms of age, Ben Duke for us come through is another
34:03
guy where you kind of went, well, he's good enough.
34:06
So it doesn't matter. What's the saying if he's good
34:09
enough, he's old enough. And you know, it's got to the
34:11
point where I feel like he's in a similar situation where the
34:15
crisis and there's a lot of pressure on having been in the
34:18
starting line up when he's fat. Very glad he's back for this
34:20
one. Obviously was absent in March,
34:24
but I mean Crisis has been injured recently though, hasn't
34:29
he? I was looking at his recent
34:31
minutes he was getting. Is he just returning from a
34:34
spell on the sidelines? Do you see him starting?
34:38
I think so. If he's fully fit, then he'll
34:40
start and there are players that can come in instead of him as
34:45
well. I mean, we we do have some more
34:46
experienced heads like Yorgos Masuras who's got a decent goal
34:49
scoring record for Greece, especially in the in the Nations
34:52
League. He was pretty good goal scoring
34:54
wise. And so it's, it's not the end of
34:58
the world because we still have, you know, Zolis is, you know, I
35:00
don't want to underplay the importance of Zolis and
35:03
Constantelius creatively. But yeah, I, I, I, I think that
35:09
if, if he's fully fit and he won't and he's able to, he will
35:12
start and he will play. I will definitely say that
35:15
because. It is it is those four that they
35:17
kind of marked down for me is probably just lead 9 and then
35:21
those three behind them and is a it does strike the feeling you a
35:25
bit because it's like you said, they are so talent and Scotland
35:28
fans are only well too familiar with that across the rest of the
35:33
squad. There must be.
35:35
So I mean, this is an opportunity for us to learn a
35:38
little bit more depth. But the geek team, we know these
35:40
four are threats. Who else would you say are
35:43
people players of Scotland should be looking out for that
35:46
are going to give us issues? So certainly up front, like I
35:50
said, Vangelis bubbly this is in good enough goal scoring form
35:53
for Benfica. He's he's always I mean, he's
35:56
only really started to kind of show a bit more consistency.
35:59
The problem with bubbly this it's like when he put on the
36:02
grease shirt instead of his whatever club side he played
36:05
for, he was like a completely different player because for his
36:07
club side, he's had no trouble scoring.
36:10
And then when he comes to, when he comes to play for Greece,
36:13
maybe at the time under previous coaches, they didn't really know
36:16
how to utilise him properly or he just wasn't in the right
36:18
place at the right time to receive the ball to try and take
36:21
a decent opportunity. But he was.
36:23
So he's been so inconsistent for the national team up until
36:25
recently. But when he's been given the
36:27
lead, like the captain's armband, even when he hasn't
36:29
scored, I actually felt that's really benefited him because he
36:31
can take that kind of leadership responsibility and be in charge
36:35
of the two of the of the three kind of younger players behind
36:37
him. And he helps kind of build with
36:39
build up play, kind of lays them off.
36:43
And so he's he's been very important, especially when he
36:45
scores. He's very helpful, I guess,
36:47
going down the midfield. Like I said, Christos Mouzaki,
36:51
this is a fantastic midfielder. He's only 18, got a lot of
36:54
potential and he's doing well for Olivia Goss.
36:56
Christos Afirez, who's at Slavia Praha on loan, but he was signed
36:59
by BALC in the summer, but he's he's currently at the the Czech
37:04
side to play in the Champions League.
37:06
But he is a great industrious midfielder as well.
37:10
The captain, Dasos Baka said that he he may actually get more
37:14
minutes than than people expect in these next couple games.
37:18
He's very good, influential in and out of the dressing room.
37:21
He's he's not always the most creative.
37:22
He is more of sort like a, I'd say a second striker Slash.
37:28
Yeah, like he, I think he, he's been played in the number 10
37:31
position, but he's not a #10 he doesn't pass the ball.
37:34
He can't like kind of thread the needle as it were.
37:36
He's very much more like a a shadow striker Slash can
37:40
actually play weirdly deep in midfield as well, like as a
37:43
centre mid and kind of bomb forward.
37:45
And he has a great shot on him as well.
37:47
One of the goals he scored against Belarus, again, it's
37:50
Belarus. But that was just a perfect
37:52
example of what he does, like absolutely levers it from
37:55
outside the box. And yeah, so he's very
37:57
influential. I think I'll just go.
38:00
I mean, I'm pretty much naming what I think will be the
38:02
starting line up, to be honest. But yeah, Mavra Banos and
38:05
Gulyarakis are solid centre backs.
38:06
I know Mavra Banos hasn't done great at West Ham.
38:08
He's had a tough time there. But when he's played for the
38:10
national team, he's rarely disappointed in Gulyarakis.
38:13
You know, suitors such as Liverpool to be to replace
38:17
Virgil Van Dyke reportedly. So, you know, that shows his
38:20
kind of how he's rated amongst yeah, some of the big boys and
38:26
our full backs. You know, you see Mikas, he's at
38:28
Roman alone. He's he he's very important,
38:31
good kind of senior player to have and he's and he kind of him
38:35
and Dimitri Xiannulis has constantly competed for the left
38:38
back role. But if Yorgos finally this has
38:41
just left Banaf and Igos for sporting, he's very good right
38:43
back. And then in goal, in goal.
38:45
I mean, I, I actually don't even know who's going to start in
38:48
goal to be honest, because you have three fantastic goalkeepers
38:52
that we that have just come out, two of which have just kind of
38:55
come out of nowhere in the last few years.
38:56
So you have Constantino Solakis who start, who is the starter at
39:00
the moment and he is, and he's a starter for Aleppy Argas as
39:05
well. Hugely important for us.
39:08
But then there's also Christos Mandas, who's doing quite well
39:10
at Lazio when he gets an opportunity and of the Celtics,
39:12
Lacodemus, who had that weird, really, really weird move from
39:16
Nottingham Forest to Newcastle and it didn't work out there
39:20
because, you know, reportedly it was due to balance the books.
39:23
Suppose, you know, again, reportedly, but he's doing
39:25
excellently at severe and he's really saving them at times in
39:30
in La Liga. So with him kind of picking up
39:32
form, it's anyone's guess who's going to be in the starting
39:35
keeping starting keeper role for the game gets gone because so
39:38
Laki's played the second leg, but I think Vlakodimos was I
39:42
think Vlakodimos might have played the first leg.
39:44
I can't remember now. Well, in March you played in in.
39:48
March Oh God, I can't remember that.
39:51
Yeah, I can't even remember. I'll have to double check.
39:53
But yeah. So it's a the, the, the, the
39:55
immediate squad has a lot of talent to it.
39:58
And while I I'm really pleased with how many players are coming
40:01
through and there are players waiting in the wings, there are
40:04
still perhaps a couple of positions where we need a bit
40:07
more depth. The biggest 1 is probably
40:10
midfield, centre midfield I would say, because we have
40:13
safirees and Mouzakidis and we also have Siobius.
40:17
Who's at Banneth and Igos now and Mandelos and Gurbelis, but
40:21
they are all the wrong side of 30 and so they're starting to
40:27
age out. And so there's no one in between
40:30
that kind in that kind of prime kind of peak age role to kind of
40:35
take over on. There's no one below sort of
40:38
Zafides and Musaqidis who can be the backups at the moment.
40:41
There have been a couple of players that we've kind of kind
40:44
of brought to the national team fold in terms of getting them to
40:47
represent like say yes to representing Greece, but they
40:51
haven't been called up yet. So that maybe that process will
40:53
happen later down the line. So it, it, it's, it's like I
40:58
said it, it's genuinely such a talented squad.
41:00
And I think the, the, you know, to end my kind of rambling, the,
41:03
the, the last thing I'll say that's really helped the
41:05
national team the last few years is these players playing in
41:09
European in UEFA competition. Because for the ages, we, we
41:13
would look at the Greece squad and think so many of these
41:16
players aren't even playing in, in like a First Division, let
41:19
alone in a A-Team that's competing for Europe.
41:22
And you've got so many now that are where even if it's the
41:26
Conference league, you know, I'll never bash the Conference
41:27
league because consider my team won it.
41:29
But it still shows like a level that you can compete at that
41:33
then takes, elevates you to that next stage of as a player.
41:37
And so looking down that team, so many players are playing in
41:40
European competition now. And I think that really, really
41:42
helps with the kind of the quality that we've got right
41:46
now. Yeah, I mean looking, I mean, I
41:50
think I would agree with that. That's something that definitely
41:52
helps. I mean, it's something that
41:52
Scotland actually spoke about in the past is something that
41:55
especially maybe further back, there's no Confluence League at
41:59
that point. But I do remember people saying
42:01
the players out that had Champions League football always
42:03
seem to adapt better at this level.
42:07
I mean, I was scanning the squad as a whole, just looking at the
42:12
number of caps, the ages of the players and stuff like that.
42:15
It does seem like a fairly bad apart from the experience you
42:19
referenced earlier when you're saying, oh, there's like one
42:21
player potentially leftover from that 2014 World Cup campaign.
42:28
Apart from that sort of experience messing, it does seem
42:32
fairly balanced across the whole.
42:34
Most players seem to have around or more than 20 caps, which is a
42:37
good you know, they're established at that level, good
42:42
spare of age. You know, you've got your
42:43
youngsters, but you've also got the more experienced heads.
42:45
Like you said, when you're captain back back a set us.
42:50
I think I've got that right. 77 caps, eighteen goals is actually
42:54
a top goal scorer in the squad for the national team.
42:57
And in terms of the most caps it seemed, I mean you seem I'd say
43:01
the foundations are definitely they are for used to like bail
43:06
on something really good. What a loss.
43:10
In that, what would you say are the weaknesses of this?
43:14
What is it? Is it just like you said against
43:16
Denmark, the youth, maybe the lack of experience there lying
43:20
in some of your better players and having the toss up between?
43:23
Or do we play the youth who are maybe a little bit more raw or
43:26
do we stick with some lower Eds? Is it finding that blend?
43:29
This might be the tricky bet. This is the this is the question
43:33
now because I think overall if you ask most Greek fans, they
43:38
would still say, despite the Denmark result, that they would
43:41
want to see that younger, more energetic team playing.
43:45
Because when they are good, they are amazing and next level to
43:48
what we've experienced as a national team, especially since
43:53
we've qualified for major tournaments.
43:56
You know, the last 12 year, 1112 years have been quite
43:59
depressing, supporting Greece with a couple of nice moments.
44:02
But other than that, you know, being a being absent from major
44:05
taunts so long is is really frustrating.
44:07
But I think, yeah, I, I definitely think that the
44:09
biggest weakness for this Greece team is the lack of kind of
44:13
experience. And in those big moments,
44:16
there's really big moments. They need to take those moments
44:19
by the scruff of their neck and just try and go with it because
44:23
I again, I know I the exception to that is the Nation's League
44:26
player finals against Scotland. But when it's come down to it
44:29
more recently, especially at home, it's I think there has
44:33
been a lot of pressure because I think that they they know how
44:37
highly everyone rates them. And so they must, I'm sure they
44:42
even if they may not necessarily say so, they must feel the
44:45
pressure that they could potentially have the quality to
44:48
reach a major tournament after so many years of failure, so
44:52
many lost generations that, you know, highly rated, never kind
44:55
of kicked on from where they were rated when they were kind
44:57
of sub 21 years old. And so that's my biggest take
45:04
from watching this grease team under Ivanovich.
45:06
It's that they need to, yeah. But they, they need to find that
45:11
kind of experience to in those big moments is, is where what I
45:16
would say. And and they've shown signs that
45:18
they can do it and they they just need to do it more
45:20
consistently. Consistency is what gets you to
45:23
major tournaments. Yeah, no, I think I mean Clark
45:28
has one of his first comments about what he wanted to do with
45:32
the Scotland squad was have consistency around the people
45:34
been packed, the people playing game in game out, having a sort
45:38
of club feel about it. And for all his critics I'd kind
45:43
of I can appreciate what he's done there and agree with him on
45:46
that. Like having the consistency does
45:49
seem to foster the the long term success.
45:52
Even if we've not performed 2 albums, we've got two major
45:55
tournaments. I think you can't argue Clark's
45:57
done a good job with us in that respect.
46:01
I mean, I would I would say looking at the ages of your
46:04
players and the quality coming through the edge when I'm out of
46:06
time, because I was, I was so I was blown away by.
46:11
I'll go back to crisis. I was born away by his goal back
46:14
in March because he just seemed to stroke into the top corner.
46:16
I'm turning to my friend and the standing going.
46:18
He's only 17. Well, I can't believe he's just
46:21
stroked at home like it was nothing.
46:22
But yeah, that Scotland will come to Scotland now because
46:29
we've got to talk about them at some point.
46:33
How, how, how would you view this Scotland team?
46:37
Because, I mean, I'd like to hope you're surprised by how
46:41
maybe not how easily in terms of the how well you played, but how
46:46
poorly we played in March. What what are your expectations
46:50
around us? Because I know we've got a lot
46:52
of big names in the team now, Meg Tomany's.
46:56
So I've forced its path in Apple and become a household name in
47:00
Italy in some, some houses anyway.
47:03
And then across Scotland. He's he's well known and loved
47:06
now. But how do, how do you, how do
47:09
yourself, how does Greece use Scotland in terms of an
47:11
opponent? I think, like I said, the
47:14
majority of Greek fans don't take Scotland lightly, despite
47:17
what we did at Hampden Park. They know the quality and also
47:22
it's interesting that Scotland seem to have added a couple of
47:26
younger additions since that defeat in the National League
47:29
playoff finals. And the say I'll I'll say the
47:33
same thing that I felt when we first played Scotland in that in
47:37
that two legged final. The midfield is definitely still
47:42
stronger than ours overall in terms of the experience, in
47:45
terms of the quality as well. And that's kind of the opposite
47:48
of where I'd say Greece is because I'd, I'd say that
47:51
perhaps on paper we have probably the better defensive
47:54
line overall and May and goalkeeping wise, I would
47:58
probably say the same too, yeah. I'd agree with that.
48:01
And and, but, but midfield wise, I just think that that's where I
48:05
was most concerned, especially before we started seeing the
48:08
younger players coming through, you know, from our team.
48:11
I thought I was very concerned that the likes of John McGinn,
48:14
Scott McDonald, even as a players like Ryan Christie who
48:18
have definitely have quality and and I'm just looking down the
48:21
team now, I was really worried that we get overrun and at
48:24
points, especially in the first game in in Gary Skagi.
48:28
So that that is what happened at points and we were just able to
48:32
nullify that so much better in the in the second leg.
48:34
But yeah, no one's taking Scotland lightly at all.
48:37
Because, yeah, I mean, to be honest, considering what you
48:40
guys did against Denmark, that's a fantastic result.
48:42
Now, by comparison, I would have absolutely taken a draw with
48:45
with with with Denmark If, if, if I I'd known that we'd lose
48:49
them three nil. So you know, it, it's that, that
48:52
definitely shows the quality of Scotland as well, that even
48:55
though we beat, we beat Scotland in the Wayne's away in March,
49:02
you guys got the much better result and looked a lot more
49:04
competent against against Denmark than we did.
49:07
And then, and that's a good gauge to where both teams are
49:10
kind of at the moment, because Denmark is the team to beat.
49:12
They are the favourites for this for this World Cup qualifying
49:16
group. Yeah, I mean, I mean, going over
49:20
to Copenhagen and a lot of people are asking me how do you
49:23
Hank, how do you Hank, anything this is going to go?
49:24
What do you, what do you think there's going to be?
49:26
What's your prediction? And I couldn't really call it
49:30
because looking at the team, I always have confidence in
49:32
Scotland to get a result. Looking at the team and a
49:34
potential starting 11 we could put out, I had no doubt we could
49:38
get a draw on Copenhagen. But it's all about what Scotland
49:40
team shows up. And it was the same in March
49:43
when we went to Olympiaco Stadium in Paris and then when
49:48
we came home to Hamden it was the same again because we I
49:51
didn't, I don't want to take credit away from the result that
49:54
we score, but I didn't feel we covered ourselves in glory
49:57
there. But it was a very poor
49:59
performance from us. We've gained back to players
50:02
which hopefully strengthen the squad if we're going to compare
50:07
with the game, the second game in March and we've got an hecky
50:10
back, we've got Ben Ganondo back from injury.
50:14
So these are positives for us to take into this game knowing that
50:18
we are a little bit stronger. But I mean it's it's one I would
50:22
be hesitant to call and make a prediction on.
50:24
I really don't know how it's going to go.
50:26
I mean, do you do you feel it's a must win for Greece or is a
50:31
draw in this situation you surely still happy with a draw?
50:37
If it's a circumstance of still trying to push for minimum
50:40
second, a draw isn't the worst result, but then a draw would
50:45
mean absolutely 100% we need to win in Copenhagen.
50:49
So I would say that every game that Greece plays from now on is
50:55
a must win game because Greece should, even though it's very
50:59
unlikely now, Greece should still potentially push for the
51:02
first, because if you push for first, at the very least, we'll
51:05
get second. And so while Scotland definitely
51:09
won't take us lightly, especially after what happened
51:12
at Hampden, they'll be ready for us.
51:15
And that's why I think it'll be an even harder prospect this
51:18
time. But it's going to be make for a
51:20
very interesting game and hopefully a good one of that
51:22
too, because both teams have quality and both teams on their
51:25
day can be very, very entertaining and, and, and
51:28
strong to watch. So it, it's going, it's, it's
51:32
not going to, I don't think it will go down the same way as it
51:34
did in March. It won't.
51:36
We're not going to thrash anyone.
51:38
We're not going to, you know, it's not going to be the same.
51:42
But but I, I, I, I'm confident on our day, we can win as well.
51:46
We definitely can, especially if we learn from what happened
51:49
against Denmark. They they take that and make
51:52
sure they're not as kind of naive as they were in the foot
51:55
in that game in September, then who knows?
51:59
Who knows? You could go either way I mean.
52:01
It's yeah, because like, I mean, you say that on we know
52:06
Scotland, they'll be out for revenge.
52:08
But it's, it's funny, I, I don't, I could never imagine a
52:11
Scottish, a Scotland team going out to get revenge.
52:14
I don't, I don't know. It's so it's so strange that I
52:17
still, I feel I've not got that. I don't feel like in my head, I
52:20
don't, it'll be different than ingestion.
52:21
But as a supporter, I've not got that sort of like, oh God, we
52:24
got turned over and in March, we bet you know, I really, you
52:28
know, there's I don't feel like an aggression in my head about
52:30
it. I feel I do feel more like an
52:32
anxiety. I'm like, goodness, you don't.
52:35
You guys did look quality. Fair enough.
52:38
We didn't like I said, we didn't perform too well, but these are
52:42
a team who if you don't perform well against, they will
52:45
capitalize on it. You know, they'll they'll expose
52:48
when you're not firing 100%. So, but I mean it.
52:54
I never like making predictions, but I'm going to ask you what
52:57
you think your One will be for Thursday.
53:00
You can be coy with it if you want, or you could give me a
53:03
score line. If it's a result I I want, I
53:08
would say I would want a classic one nil win for Greece, but I
53:13
might have to go with my head and think it's going to be a
53:16
draw. I think it's going to be 1 all.
53:19
Yeah. I mean, I, I think it'd be
53:21
tight. I'd be, I'd be shocked again if
53:24
it was such a large score line like it was in March.
53:27
But if someone said to me on Thursday it's going to be 1 now,
53:32
I'd struggle to say who, who is going to be run now is the
53:36
winners of that game. But no, it'll be an exciting one
53:40
nonetheless. Are you you'll be tuning in for
53:43
it or are you travelling? Are you travelling up to Hamden?
53:45
Maybe no. Or you know.
53:46
What I made plans to, but unfortunately it didn't work
53:48
out. I'm not able to go up to Hamden.
53:50
I did. I did get to see Olly Biagos
53:53
play Arsenal in the week in the Champions League, which was
53:55
quite an experience because I was with the ultras in the away
53:58
from that. And that was that was
53:59
incredible. But unfortunately, no, I'm not.
54:01
I'm not going to be able to make it up to to Hamden,
54:04
unfortunately. But I will be watching it and
54:06
we'll be keeping an eye and also with my, with the country of my
54:10
ethnic background, Cyprus as well, because they're playing
54:13
Bosnia in at home. And we, you never know, might
54:18
win that game. Let's see.
54:20
Yeah, Well, good luck to you both anyway.
54:22
But I'll just say thank you again for coming on the podcast.
54:25
It's been absolutely brilliant talking to you.
54:27
It's been, I know we've had a long discussion, but I
54:30
definitely, I again, I never know how I feel about these
54:33
discussions because I come in with, you know, a presumption
54:38
about how I feel about the game. You've really made me feel more
54:40
confident just by saying that, you know, you guys, you guys are
54:44
a little bit apprehensive around knowing it won't be as easy as
54:47
it was last time. So I don't know, maybe I'm
54:50
feeling a little bit better about Thursday after that, but I
54:52
don't want to get my hopes up too much.
54:55
So yeah, I thank you again so much for coming on.
54:57
If anyone wants to find Steven, they can find them on Twitter
55:01
and also on at Telos 50 is the Twitter X handle and then also
55:10
the podcast, which is nominated. If you fancy going having a
55:14
lesson or even nominating, there's all the challenge.
55:16
You can do that on if you for Steven.
55:18
But thanks again and I'll you never know, might be chatting to
55:21
you again soon. If depend on how results go.
55:24
Yes, absolutely. Pleasure.
55:25
Thank you so much. James, have me on.
55:27
All good, chill. So yeah, that's me.
55:31
Just dropped off the call of Steven.
55:33
I find a wee lesson back to what we discussed and it felt like,
55:37
it did feel like a really good episode.
55:39
We discussed a lot. It was a long one, but yeah, I
55:43
feel like we're going into Thursdays game now with a little
55:47
bit more awareness of what was going on, especially in the
55:50
Greek camp. Yeah, good episode.
55:55
Hopefully you enjoyed it as well.
55:56
I really hope you do. If you're still listening at
55:58
this point, you probably have if you've made it all the way to
56:00
the end. If you have, I'll just ask one
56:02
last one last thing off you and that's if you could please just
56:06
rate US or give us a wee thumbs up on whatever platform you're
56:09
listening on. For example, if it's Spotify,
56:11
you can rate US five stars. That would be it massively
56:15
appreciate it because a lot of hard work goes into not only the
56:18
podcast but also just the general day-to-day running off
56:22
the accounts on Twitter, Instagram, trying to get bigger
56:25
on TikTok and that as well. And now, so yeah, it's a lot
56:29
hard work for us from some good boys buying the scenes and all
56:33
of us, you know, are on the mikes like me here taking care
56:36
of it for it. So it would be if you could show
56:39
your appreciation by a small rating because we usually, I
56:42
feel like I always forget to do things like this to ask for a
56:44
wee plugs. Definitely do enjoy the game,
56:49
whatever you watch it, if you're travelling to Hamden or if
56:51
you're watching at home and I'm sure we'll catch up with you all
56:54
afterwards. Have a good one.