Hellas Football

We caught up with former AEK shot-stopper Giannis Anestis, the somewhat forgotten man of Greek Goalkeeping, who is currently plying his trade in Sweden with IFK Goteborg. How is football like in Chalkida? Can a local youngster find any chances there? Football in Chalkida is not at a great level right now. I don't know what the reason are but it has deteriorated. I would say that if any young athlete from Chalkida wants to reach the next level, they need to find an opportunity at another big city with a good academy. How did you feel when you made the step up from Panionios to AEK? Did you feel any extra pressure or motivation from the fans? I wouldn't say I felt any extra pressure playing for AEK as I was prepared, but I will say I felt really motivated to succeed there and go on to achieve greater things in my career. Which moment would you describe as the best in your career so far? The best moment of my career so far (until the next one) is the game v...

Once again our man on the scene gives us an overall view of Greeks Abroad and looks at the key playing in the #SLGR Tasos Donis / Stuttgart Came on for the last 15 minutes of the match in a 3-1 loss for Stuttgart. His team hardly had the ball but he had some good touches, controlled the ball well the few times he did have a chance, while he also made good runs, etc on the wing but never really got the ball. On the negative side while it’s great he’s being more aggressive these days and playing defence more, a bad foul on Witsel in the middle of the field nearly cost his team a goal from a free kick from Paco Alcacer. Panos Retsos & Kyriakos Papadopoulos are just now coming back from injuries while Kostas Stafylidis is still out for a few weeks and missed his teams match as well. Sokratis Papastathopoulos / Arsenal Not his best match midweek in the Europa League having got sent off with a second yellow card late in the first half. While the second yellow was...

European national team setups are gearing up for international action once again, with the first two rounds of the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying campaign set to take place March 21st-26th.  The bar could not have been set any lower during the previous Euro qualifying campaign (2016), as Greece finished bottom of their group, losing twice to the lowly Faroe Islands. But after a creditable World Cup 2018 qualifying campaign where the Ethniki got knocked out in the qualification playoffs to eventual finalists Croatia, Greek fans will be hoping their team returns to European football’s biggest stage in 2020.   Four Months Under Anastasiadis The new head coach responsible for guiding the Ethniki back amongst Europe’s elite is the experienced Aggelos Anastasiadis, who abruptly took over after Michael Skibbe was fired in the middle of the last year’s inaugural UFEA Nations League campaign.  Anastasiadis was tasked with implementing his tactics and squad selection on a shor...

With the Greek team Euro qualifying matches starting in a few weeks It's a good time to check on who's playing & who's in form ahead of two incredibly important matches coming up against Liechtenstein and Bosnia. England: Sokratis   Papastathopoulos   /  Arsenal  MOTM for Arsenal in their draw against huge rival Tottenham, he was everywhere, closed off any dangerous chances Spurs had, lead the back four and had a huge tackle to cover for Koscielny at one point (also one mistake that Leno did well to save), simply he’s in form & at his best lately. Mavropanos  didn’t make the bench this week but has been playing really well with the academy team recently. Spain: Dimitris Siovas / Leganes Another solid game for Siovas helping Leganes keep a clean sheet in Monday nights match. He was his usual self, good in the air, good positions Germany: Kostas Stafylidis / Augsburg Started and played really well in a 2-1 won Vs Borussia D...