Hatzidakis: “My presence in the national team is a justification, I am looking forward to the historic season with AEK”

For his presence with her Greek national team at the World Cup he spoke Manos Hatzidakis on his “Live Replay” show EOK WebRadio.

The international center talked about justification, while he said he was impatient for the new historic season with AEK (which completes a century of life next April).

It is recalled that Hatzidakis suffered a severe sprain in the national team’s match against Montenegro and will be absent for four to six weeks.

In detail, Manos Hatzidakis spoke about:

– the course of the National Team in the World Cup: “When we all started together around July 20-25 the goal was to become a good whole, a team, fighting for each other and trying to represent our country in the best possible way. We didn’t set goals, we said that every game is a final and that we look at it game by game. The first goal was to get to the last 16 and enter the pre-Olympic tournament, which we achieved with a very big win against New Zealand. Not only did we want, but we really believed that we could beat Lithuania and we showed it in the 1st half. In the 2nd half they were very good, they took advantage of some mistakes we made and everything happened. It sure tastes bittersweet, but that’s the way the World is».

-how he felt to be in the final 12 of the National Team: “For me, everything that has happened this year is a great justification, because 3 summers ago I was starting for the A2 championship then with Marousi. After 3 years here I am and having played in a “window” and a World Cup. It’s a great pleasure for me and it gives me a lot of motivation to keep working. I’m glad that some people have seen my development and I’m at this level now, something that 3 years ago I couldn’t believe. I believed in myself from the beginning in the preparation and the coach gave me the opportunities. I am very honored to be in the team. I am very happy to have had this experience and may God grant me good health, may I continue to improve and may I have more such joys in the future».

– the loss of Dinos Mitoglou: “There are many “ifs” this year, not only Dinos, the “ifs” started in July. We went on August 20th to the Philippines and 2 days before we started this happened with Dino, who was one of the most essential pieces of the team. A kid who played at least 25 minutes, helped a lot in scoring and rebounding, a very important pillar for us. Either way, it was a shock to lose such a player. Still, you move on, you can’t do anything. We agreed from the beginning with that, we saw who we have against us and we said we will fight until the end. If we need to go with Papanikolaou to “5”, as happened with New Zealand a few times, that will happen too. Who we are will fight and give it our all».

-the team he considers favorites for gold at the World Cup: “I tend not to make predictions. I think Latvia is the biggest surprise so far. Certainly one of the favorites is Serbia, where after their defeat in the second phase many underestimated them a bit, but they are a very big team. USA and Canada are two very strong teams and favorites to medal. Of course, when the other teams are Germany and Doncic’s Slovenia, you can’t make a prediction. Right now, Germany seems to be on very good momentum».

-the goal of qualifying for the Paris Olympic Games (2024): “All athletes have the Olympic Games in their minds as the biggest event that can take place. For us there is a great incentive to get ready. I hope that everyone is healthy, that the team is complete, that we send as strong a team as possible to the pre-Olympic tournament and claim our place in the Olympic games. It will be a great honor».

-if he is looking forward to the start of the new season with the AEK jersey: “I’m definitely looking forward to it a lot, but I was sad with my injury, because I will definitely miss training. For me it is a new chapter. I come with a lot of experience from the summer and I really have a lot of appetite to work more this year and keep improving. I hope we have a good course with the team, because some very good moves have been made, while it is also a historic season, something we all felt from the beginning in the team. Above all, let’s be healthy and I believe that with work we will achieve our goals».