Papanikolaou: “Let us and the rest of the Greeks be proud of our effort”

A national team that will be proud of its effort and will have made its audience feel the same feeling wants to see the Kostas Papanikolaou.

In detail what he said ahead of the start of Greece’s World Cup commitments:

Regarding the presence of the National Team at the World Cup: “It is very important that we are in such a big event. We are consistent on these big dates. Now we have a team with quite a few new executives, but everyone has shown their mentality. We should when the time comes to do our best for our country».

About what would make him satisfied: “When you’re competitive, you can’t talk about what will satisfy you before you begin your endeavor. We want to be proud of our effort, just like the Greeks who will be watching us. We know it’s just a sport, but here you have the chance to represent your country».

For thoughts ahead of the match against Jordan: “The biggest risk is to win some games and think you’ve climbed the mountain. We have to stay grounded, with our minds in place and prepare for each game individually. Whether we’re playing Jordan, USA or New Zealand. We will have to fight, starting with Saturday’s match».

For the tragic images with the fires: “We should provide support to people who are fighting to save lives and the livelihood of an entire life. Unfortunately, I am disturbed by all that we are used to, the brutality of this situation. Something must finally be done, the relevant bodies must act, so that we don’t see mothers crying for their children because a plane crashed or grandmothers being evicted. We are all good at words, it’s all about doing. Prevention is necessary».

On whether the national team was affected by the results in the friendlies: “I can’t say that our confidence was affected by the results in the friendlies. We knew what we wanted from these friendlies. We had specific goals, small goals, through these friendlies that we used to get better by keeping the positives and throwing away the bad. We are not at 100%, we couldn’t do it with twenty training sessions, but I think we are at a good level and our effort will be to get better day by day and game by game».

For the protagonists of the national team: “In a team effort you have to respect those around you. The biggest blessing for this team will be to have a different star player in each team. We’re not the team that has that one star that’s going to consistently put up 20 points and get the team going when it’s stuck. We should operate as a well-worked machine and exploit the smallest detail to our advantage.”

On the birth of his estranged new daughter: “I am very lucky to live in this era and have daily communication with my family. It may sound cliché to some, but for me the National team is indeed an honor and I’m not saying it just to say it. When your man supports what you have in mind, you can enter this process more easily. It’s definitely not easy to leave your wife in the maternity ward, but I was mentally prepared. Everyone here in the team helped me a lot and psychologically, with their words, gifts, surprises. This helps you fight the battle properly, right. If fate wants to make an exception and I have a success like Spanoulis every time he became a father, I will accept it with great joy».

For mutual assistance within the National Team: “There is so much togetherness in this group, at least so far. There will certainly be tensions, but there is a feeling of helping each other, of giving the other a piece of advice. And all children have this. There are times when both Thanasis and Ioannis will catch someone saying something to them. The most important thing is that everyone accepts the advice and understands that it is for the good of the team, without taking it as an insult.”