Poget: “I sweated the shirt, but I have… another shirt for the game against France”

He was in a mood (and) to joke Gustavo Poget after the victory (2-1) of National of Greece on her Ireland.

The Federal coach, called to answer for the “run” he made during the match, answered that he had sweated his jersey, but he has… another shirt for the upcoming match with France (6/19).

He also explained how the National Team reached the “three points” by disabling the “weapons” of Ireland, while he also spoke about the rest part referring to the difficult match with the “blues”.

In detail, Gustavo Poget spoke about:

– the victory of the national team against Ireland: “It was a game that went very well for Greece. We came in strong, created chances, wanted to score. The two goals were judged by VAR. About the penalty I’m not sure because I haven’t seen it, but I’m 100% sure about the Irish goal, I had no doubt that there was nothing to dispute. We tried after the goal to keep believing, not to give up, we calmed down at half time, we tried to create chances from the right. There was a lot of pressure especially in the final minutes because Ireland were a very tough opponent. We were disappointed with the goal that came from stoppage time, however at the end of the night we are very happy with the result».

– that Greece managed to face Ireland’s strong “weapon” which is the strong duels all over the field: “We worked very hard on these points. We knew that maybe at certain points we would have to stop and defend. We tried to press high, we knew we might have to adjust because of the strength of the Irish players. But in modern football you have to know how to go back and defend. We were waiting for the Irish game, however we managed to play our game always holding our defence. It was a very difficult game, a very strong opponent. However, we were a little bit better, as long as it took for the win».

-how Greece was able to trap Ireland’s midfielders and for “running” a lot on the bench: “I played a little too, I sweated the jersey. I have another shirt for the France game in Paris. Regarding your question, there was a compromise by everyone in the sense that Masouras, who was excellent, was also coming back, so the three you mentioned (s.s. Kourbelis, Mandalos and Bakasetas) could stay in the center . At some point we saw Kourbelis fall down, finally he said “ok, I’m continuing”, Petros too. We must at any time have the margin to be able to make the changes we wanted. It wasn’t necessary with the three, but with those three players that we said, we know they can play the football we want and so we were able to release the players behind them and that overall helped them to be able to contain the rest of the center. We will see if those three will be ready for Monday, they should recover».

– the first official match played by Greece at the OPAP Arena and whether its players will be able to rest ahead of the difficult match against France of the big stars: “We continue to improve game by game, to develop the team. This contact with the world had been lost in the last eight years, it was difficult but we have succeeded and the fans are coming back to the stadium. We need to keep having games like this. So the win was important. We want to see the stadium full, not to have an empty seat. Now as far as Monday’s match is concerned it is a completely different game. It will be based on control, control and being able to manage the individual characteristics of the France players who are also a strong team. It will depend on how the players recover by Monday».