Hellas Football

Effective Player Rating Greece v Slovenia UNL Qualifier By Greg Gavalas Greece's much anticipated encounter with Slovenia for top spot of the League C group had much following and anticipation with promotion to League B on the line and a possible World Cup Qualifying life line if Qualification does not go to plan. Sadly the Ethniki, lead by Dutch coach, John Van't Ship, was not able to score the goal that would have landed an important win and promotion, instead the team, whilst dominating most of the game, like we did in the first game with Slovenia, came away with another 0-0 draw which keeps Greece in League C of the UEFA Nations League. One positive to come away from the draw was that Greece is now in pot 3 for the UEFA 2022 World Cup Qualification draw instead of pot 4. Greece's achilles heel continues to be goal scoring, whilst never the teams strong point, 6 goals in as many games, and all against Kosovo and Moldova in 3 games is not great and we couldn't score o...

Effort was There, but Unfortunately, that was Not Enough. By Christian Leggas  In their final match of this season's UEFA Nations League, Greece was unfortunately unable to secure the needed victory to obtain top spot and promotion to League B. With Slovenia holding them to a scoreless draw.   The first chance of the game occurred after three minutes, as Greek captain Anastasios Bakasetas' fierce-curling effort went narrowly wide of the post via a slight deflection. The shot certainly had Jan Oblak in the Slovenia goal worried.   Two minutes later, it was Dimitris Limnios' turn to test Jan Oblak. Limnios' shot, however, went straight into his chest of Oblak.   Greece was in the mood to score early. As eleven minutes ticked over, a Giorgos Giakoumakis header went just over the bar via a deflection after he was found beautifully by Kostas Tsimikas' cross from the left-hand side.   Just after twenty-six minutes, Slovenia had their first chance of the game, which fe...

Effective Player Rating - Moldova v Greece ENL Qualifier   By Greg Gavalas Greece secured a good 2-0 win away from home and this now sets up a "grand final" with Slovenia for top spot in the group. Greece was in control of the match from kick off and we would have really scored more than 2 goals which again, shows we need improvement with our finishing and final product in attack. It was good to see the wing backs be effective and a master showing from one, Kostas Fortounis Effective player ratings as per below: K Fortounis  65 minutes - 4 points - An excellent game by Fortounis who showed his class with a wonder goal that will make many highlight reels, a must start with Slovenia, great to see him starting A Bakasetas  90 minutes - 3.5 points - A slow start from the captain but his combinations with Fortounis really paid off and that was capitalized with his second international goal, big improvement from the Cyprus game K Tsimikas  62 minutes - 2.5 points  ...

The Bakasetas-Fortounis Show! By Christian Leggas  Greece was able to secure an all-important win in Chișinău to the tune of two goals to nil against Moldova. With those goals coming from joint-men-of-the-match in Kostas Fortounis and Anastasios Bakasetas   Ten minutes into the game, and the theme was quite evident. As Greece controlled most of the possession, looking for the right key to unlock the Moldova defence. The first chance did come ten minutes into the game, and it fell to Greek attacker Kostas Fortounis, but his shot found the arm of Moldovan goalkeeper Stanislav Namașco instead of the back of the net.   Four minutes later, Greek captain Anastasios Bakasetas dragged a side-footed effort wide of the target. Choosing to shoot was perhaps the wrong option, as Kostas Fortounis could have been played through into space to his right-hand-side perhaps quite easily.   Moldova had their first chance three minutes later, as Moldovan attacker Dan Spătaru cut inside n...

Cyprus vs Luxembourg Analysis and Ratings By Steve Kountourou After an encouraging 2nd half performance against Greece midweek, Cyprus had a point to prove going into this game back in Nicosia, vs a Luxemburg side that defeated them last time out away 2-0. It was also an opportunity to put their scoring demons behind them and give themselves the best possible chance of not getting relegated to League D of the Nations League. In the first 5 minutes however, after Cyprus failed to clear the ball from their box Luxmeburg fired themselves in front in the first minute to make it 0-1 and put the home side on the back foot almost immediately. It was eventually given as an own goal to Kousoulos. Cyprus tried to find some momentum after the conceded goal, but after losing possession via a number of fouls, It was Luxemburg that looked the better side in the first 15 minutes, with shades of the previous encounter very prevalent in this current match. 10 minutes till half time, Cyprus fortunes wer...

Effective Player Rating - Greece vs Cyprus Friendly By Greg Gavalas   Greece had a good hit out against our friendly cousins at Rizoupoli. It was match that for the most part saw two different line ups in each half. The line up used in the first half was impressive on paper but more importantly impressive on the field. The line up in the second half, for me epitomized where we struggle, much field possession but a poor final pass or finish and a nervous ending. Needless to say, we saw many positives and areas the team/players and coach can work on for the near future. The Effective player rating is a system used primarily in Italian football that I have used in various different publications before and the first for Hellas Football.  It’s based on players effective plays in attack or defense during a game. A score or +4 is a good score +5 is exceptional to play just one half, and score 2 or more is good. This is how the Ethniki players scored in the Cyprus game: G Giakoumakis ...

Greece vs Cyprus, The Derby of Eternal Frenemies! By Steve Kountourou With the final round of international fixtures for this year about to commence, one that will catch the eye for many Greeks all around the world especially is the novel bout between Greece and sister country Cyprus in a Friendly fixture. The Ethniki return to action after a hugely disappointing 0-0 draw with Kosovo in the last round of Nations League fixtures, and looked to assert their dominance other their much smaller neighbors before two must win games vs the mighty defensive power house, as Greece manager John Van’t Schip described them, and a top of the table clash with Slovenia to see who will finish top of their group.  Cyprus on the other hand, who have had a very torrid time in their group, are yet to score this season, although their 0-0 draw away to Azerbaijan was highlighted by an incredible goalkeeping performance from Apollon Limassol Keeper Demitris Demitriou. Greece were on the hunt for a much ne...