Greece vs Gibraltar Recap | Strong Response at Home

Greece vs Gibraltar Recap | Strong Response at Home

By Konstantinos Massaras,

The Ethniki let off a lot of pent-up frustration at home against Gibraltar on Sunday. For the first time since November of 2007, Greece managed to win by an impressive five-goal margin. The last time they did that, the roster was still stacked with Euro 2004 veterans. 

Now, it did help that they were playing a side that has not yet scored a goal this year, but we don’t take victories over minnows for granted considering what we have gone through in the last eight years.

So let’s get into the match.

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It was evident early on that Gibraltar would not be a factor in any shape or form. I’m not sure they were able to successfully complete more than four passes in a single possession. To the Ethniki’s credit, they never let up on them.

The opener came in the 9th minute after a beautiful pass from Bouchalakis found Giannoulis in the area, who squared it to the middle where it eventually found Dimitrios Pelkas. Pelkas slightly scuffed his attempt, but was able to get enough on it to open the scoring. Fountas, who missed the original attempt on goal, was credited with the assist.

Greece doubled the scoring in the 23rd minute when a Pelkas corner found the towering head of Konstantinos Mavropanos for his first ever international goal. 

Taxiarchis Fountas had scored an incredible scissor kick in the 38th minute, but it was later ruled out by VAR due to an offside. Fountas was slow to get up after having collided with a Gibraltar defender, but was able to continue.

The second half started questionably slow, but the rampage would eventually continue. In the 70th minute, Masouras intercepted a pass that put him through on goal, which he confidently smashed home for his third goal of the campaign.

The fourth goal came in the 82nd minute when a Bakasetas cross found the head of Mavropanos for his second of the match. 

The fifth and final goal came in the first minute of stoppage time when Giakoumakis brilliantly played in Masouras, who slotted in his second.

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There is really no need to analyze each individual player performance in a match like this. Gibraltar failed to register a single shot attempt, and held just 16% of the possession. Every Greek player was clearly a level above that of Gibraltar.

What I will analyze however is Gustavo Poyet. Up until his latest squad selection, I have defended the way Poyet has handled himself and the team. After the selection, and even after the match against the Netherlands, I have said we should not fire this coach. I am however, at the very least, on edge.

After the match against the Netherlands, Poyet compared the skill gap between us and them to that of the skill gap between us and Gibraltar. Basically, he stated we have no business even competing in that game, just as Gibraltar has no business competing with us. I can confidently say that this is almost worse than former head coach Angelos Anastasiadis’ statements after the loss to Armenia. It is simply not the mentality we used to qualify for five major tournaments in 10 years and win a European Championship.

Ok, so one statement can be excused. Then I watched him take a victory lap in his press conference after the win over Gibraltar. I am now very concerned that Poyet will use this victory as reasoning for calling up these same players again. The same players that were just humiliated in Eindhoven just four days ago. 

If I was given the rights to select the squad next month, I would be making drastic changes to this squad, and here is why. We are most likely not going to be able to compete for the second spot in the group at this point. And even if we were, why would you send the same lineup out against the Netherlands that failed to have one threatening attack for 90 minutes? The team we have has proven they can not compete in matches against top level opponents, as stated by Gustavo Poyet himself. Yes, this team has played many matches together, but they are not good enough. 

Greece has an abundant amount of talent available that would bring an immediate impact on the national level. So they need to start now. Call up Konstantelias, Douvikas, Alexandropoulos, Vagiannidis, Tzolis, Tsiggaras, and give them matches now to prepare for the playoffs in March. As I have said, you are not only preparing for them, but we will have a better chance to beat the Netherlands.

It is clear Poyet will not be fired, at least until the playoffs. A failure to qualify against Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, and Georgia, would definitely be a fireable offense. If he wants to improve on his public opinion, and also increase the chances of our qualification, he needs to make the changes for the next international break.

Hellas Football 

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