Hellas Football

An Early Preview of  All Greek Clubs in Europe By Stephen Kountourou   Even in the off-season, the narrative never stops in Greek football. This is mainly thanks to clubs who qualified for Europe last season being on the verge of competing in the qualifiers of all three of UEFA’s major competitions. The Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League. For many it is imperative that Greece has as many teams qualify for the European group stages as possible, to help improve the nations diminishing UEFA Coefficient ranking. Here is who each Greek club the qualifiers could or will be facing this summer.  AEK Athens The reigning Super League champions, AEK have the least clear potential opponent of all the Greek clubs in Europe this season. Being in the Champions League 3rd round qualifiers they will not be finding out how they will face until the draw on the 24th of July. Potential opponents include Slovan Bratislava, FC Copenhagen, Ferencvaros, Galatasaray, Dina...

The Ethniki in June: The Takeaways By Christian Leggas  If you weren't impressed by what the team and Gus Poyet dished up this month, then you're an extremely hard person to please.  Some "You shall not pass"-esc defensive schemes coupled with some excellent attacking play should be enough cause for optimism for us as fans as the Ethniki look to cement their spot at UEFA Euro 2024.  So what did we learn this month? Let's find out: Gus Poyet Vindicated on Tactics:  The match against the Republic of Ireland saw an equal mix of defensive stubbornness and complete domination in the way of consistently creating clear-cut goal-scoring opportunities. Poyet's most well-balanced midfield trio did the solidity and clinically attacking job superbly, his two wingers (one  way more noticeably than the other, mind you) worked hard both ways, and his choices up top were  fantastic at bringing his teammates into the play. Poyet's challenge for September...

 Who is Diego Martinez? By Stephen Kountourou After over a month of speculation and a very long list of potential candidates, Spanish manager Diego Martinez has officially taken over the helm of Olympiakos. Sports Director Antonio Cordon returned from Spain with the man who he believes can take Thrylos back to the top of Greek football as well as compete on the European stage.  The two have worked together previously hence Martinez's willingness to come to Piraeus, not only for a new chapter and challenge in his managerial career but also for the chance to work with Cordon again. But who is Diego Martinez? After a short-lived playing career, Martinez retired at the age of 20 to go into management. He managed a mixture of lower-league and youth sides including Arenas Armilla, Motril and Savilla C where he developed his style of play. He was then promoted to assistant at Sevilla where he was part of the coaching staff that helped win the club's 3rd Europa League title.  He ...

Greece vs France Recap | Game Summary and Individual Player Performances Well, That Was Something By Konstantinos Massaras Greece came into this match unbeaten in Group B coming off of a solid 2-1 victory at home against Ireland. Now they were to take on France at the Stade de France in front of over 76,000 people. The expectations coming in were understandably low, considering they were taking on the World Cup Finalists. The fans did however expect this team to give them, at the very least, a competitive match. And they did. But the way the match unfolded left us feeling like more could have been taken, which is of course a good sign. In the first half, Greece did not create much in terms of real opportunities but did manage to keep the French off the scoresheet. Vlachodimos had the biggest moment of the half when he stopped a Jules Kounde volley from point-blank range, keeping the match level. Besides a few French penalty cries, it felt like 0-0 was the deserved scoreline headin...

Greece vs Ireland Recap | Game Summary and Individual Player Performances  The dream is alive and well.  By Konstantinos Massaras By the time Euro 2024 kicks off almost exactly one year from today, it will have been ten years since our Ethniki Omada has competed in a major tournament. Finally, it seems we have constructed a squad that has the talent to, at the very least, qualify for one.  Now whether it will be through this group of death, or a subsequent playoff, had a lot to do with this match against Ireland. It was Greece’s first competitive match at the Agia Sofia stadium, and they played it in front of a respectable 17,500 fans, who all created an excellent atmosphere.  Greece came out strong in the first 10 minutes, notably with Irish goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu barely denying an acrobatic Mavropanos effort off of a corner in the fifth minute. Bakasetas also had a few looks at goal but was also denied by Bazunu. In the 11th minute, Kourbelis played an excellent b...