Hellas Football

Growth Areas, and More Promising Signs By Christian Leggas It's fair to say that the remaining two matches to close out Greece's 2022/23 UEFA Nations League campaign didn't live up to supporters' expectations. The general school of thought was that we'd cruise past Cyprus and Northern Ireland, but that was far from the case. Both teams caused us headaches, and some headaches were also self-inflicted. Cyprus-away was this September's first assignment, and it was one where there was genuine cause for concern. Before the match, head coach Gus Poyet seemed to be short on answers as to how he and the boys were to combat a Cypriot side under the new guidance of Temur Ketsbaia, which is understandable given he only took that job in late June, but still disappointing.  Greece seemed to start this match in the "June fashion" by creating good chances and dominating the ball, but Ketsbaia's game-plan to unleash the likes of Grigoris Kastanos, Marinos Tzoinis,...

Greece finally sees out UNL group win By Greg Gavalas It’s taken a few attempts, but the Ethniki Omada is now official winners of their League C group in the UEFA Nations League under the guidance of Gus Poyet. Five wins and one defeat are decent reading given the struggles of before, with the last two games against Cyprus away and Northern Ireland in Athens leaving Poyet with plenty to consider. Squad selections done we saw a familiar backline in the Larnaka Arena with a midfield combination of Manolis Siopis, Dimitris Kourbelis and Tassos Bakasetas in front of them. The front three saw Tassos Douvikas up front with Yiannis Masouras on the right and Dimitris Pelkas on the left as we accommodate the loss of Dimitris Limnios at right wing who gives us a punch in attack we can’t seem to replace. The Ethniki started well and looked in complete control of the match, in fact Douvikas should have given Greece an early lead but his poor form with the Ethniki was there to see as he missed a he...

Everything You Need To Know About This Month’s Greek National Team Squad By Konstantinos Massaras Although the top spot in Group 2 was secured back in June, these are two very important matches for our Ethniki Omada. This month, Greece has a great opportunity to climb the UEFA rankings and make a final tournament bid much more probable. In this blog we look at each player in Gus Poyet’s squad and what they have done to earn a national team spot. GK: Odysseas Vlachodimos (S.L. Benfica) Vlachodimos has helped Benfica to a stunning 13 wins out of 13 matches to start the season, including a massive upset away to Juventus. Not missing a single minute of season, Vlachodimos has picked up eight clean sheets so far. He was heavily linked to join Manchester United in the summer but ended up staying in Lisbon.  GK: Vasilis Barkas (FC Utrecht) After picking up 24 caps at Celtic, Barkas was loaned out to Utrecht this summer where he joined Anastasios Douvikas. He certainly is not the worst bac...

The State of The Greek Second Division By Konstantinos Massaras The date is currently September 15th, 2022.  The Bundesliga is entering their seventh matchday. The Polish Second Division is entering their eleventh matchday. The Armenian Second Division is entering their 9th matchday.  We are still over one month away from the scheduled start of the Super League Greece 2.  This season is set to be the fourth year of the Super League 2 since the restructuring of the Greek football system in 2019. In all four seasons of the Super League 2, EPO has had a different relegation/promotion system in place. That’s right. They have changed how many teams get promoted and relegated and have not stuck with one system for even one season.  Can you remember the last time the English Championship changed the amount of teams going up and down? Sadly, this is one of the more minor problems we are dealing with. The league, along with the entire sport in the country, has become the la...

  Olympiakos Summer Transfers 2022/23 By Stephen Kountourou Aboubakar Kamara Striker  27 years old from Mauritania  From Aris for £4.50m The former Fulham forward was one of the first arrivals in Piraeus during the summer window after a solid season in Thessaloniki with Aris. Karmara made 14 goal contributions during the 2021/22 campaign as Aris finished 3rd.  The Mauritanian international's start at Olympiakos has been disrupted by injury, although Thrylos fans saw a glimpse of what he can offer to the team against Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League qualifiers. With so many changes to the squad since his arrival, including Carlos Corberan as the manager, it will be interesting to see how Kamara will be deployed as he can play on the wing as well as at striker.   Philip Zinckernagel Right Winger, Left Winger, Attacking Midfielder 27 Years old from Denmark From Watford FC for £1.80m The Danish midfielder joined the Greek champions from Watford after impres...