The Opposition Danger-Men. Slovenia and Kosovo

The Opposition Danger-Men. Slovenia and Kosovo

By Christian Leggas

We are now less than a week away from seeing our beloved Ethniki take to the pitch competitively once again in the second season of the UEFA Nations League. 

Our opponents this time are promotion winners from last season’s League D in Moldova and Kosovo as well as Slovenia.

Now, you might be thinking, who are the blokes that are going to cause John van’t Schip and his men all sorts of headaches? Well, if that’s going through your mind, let me take you through two players from these two nations, who Greece must put time into stopping.

Kosovo:

Arbër Zeneli 

Four of his seven international goals occurred in the inaugural Nations League season, all of which came from playing in the left-wing position. Potentially, Ethniki Squad-Debutant Lazaros Rota and the experienced Michalis Bakakis will have their hands full when opposed to him, as they’re both right-backs. 

So, they’ll both have to be on their A-game to stop Zeneli should they come up against him, as he knows how to do damage to his opponents in this competition.

Mërgim Vojvoda

During Kosovo’s successful promotion campaign from League D last time out, this man was an integral part of a very solid defence that only conceded two goals from their six matches. 

On top of that, his impressive performances with Belgian club Standard Liège has paved the way for a move to Italian Serie A side Torino. 

So, Vojvoda, like Kosovo will be very high on confidence for multiple reasons, and rightly so. It’ll be potentially up to the likes of Petros Mantalos, Kostas Fortounis, Giorgos Masouras, and maybe even another Ethniki Squad-Debutant Christos Tzolis to use their left-wing know-how to crush Vojvoda’s presumably high self-belief.

Slovenia:

Andraz Sporar 

This man’s 2019/20 season domestically was nothing short of phenomenal. 

In forty-three matches this season across multiple leagues and teams, Sporar mustered a sensational tally of twenty-seven goals and seven assists. Now his performances historically for his nation aren’t as impressive, with just two goals from nineteen caps. 

However, he’ll be so high in confidence from his elite performances for both Slovan Bratislava and then Sporting Lisbon, and by extension, his confidence could very well hold him in good stead when facing anyone at the moment let alone Greece.

Miha Zajc 

This man seems to be a bit of a Mr. Fix-it for Slovenia, as he can play in most positions in the final third. 

Whether that’s at attacking midfield, the left-wing, the right-wing, or up-front as a Striker, he’s contributed an impressive five goals and eight assists from nineteen caps. 

So, Zajc has undoubtedly been a good contributor for Slovenia in the past two calendar years, in a team that has arguably struggled for consistent results in that particular time-frame.

 

If Greece can significantly nullify the influence of these four players, then these acts will go a long way towards the Ethniki claiming six points from match-day one. 

Stay tuned for my blog before when Moldova comes to Athens on match-day two, as I'll take you through who could potentially get under the skin of our beloved National Team when that encounter arrives.

Hellas Football

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