In Eindhoven and Philips Stadium, the Netherlands hosts the national team (21:45, bwinSPOR FM 94.6 sport-fm.gr), aiming to return to Hellas with the positive result and get a points advantage, as it is already +3 from the “Oranie” in the 2nd group of the Euro 2024 qualifiers, having one more game.
Gustavo Poget will have all the footballers at his disposal, without having opened his… cards for the starting eleven. As for the replacement of Dinos Mavropanos, the favorite for the stoppers seems to be Panagiotis Retsos, while on the right end he will compete rota, because of the bruise sustained by George Baldock.
Beyond that, there is a dilemma as to whether there will be two players in the midfielders, such as Kourbelis and Siopis, while for the center of the attack it is most likely that the Pavlidis, instead of Giakoumakis who was key against the French. In the extreme positions, o Petros Mandalos is the favorite for left wing.
“It will be a key game. The end will not come if we do not get a positive result. But if we succeed it will have a big and positive impact.
The answer depends on one small thing. A potential injury that might make us think about it. Depending on how the team will be set up. We will be under a lot of pressure, especially at the beginning. We must be men and brave. You will understand when we can say more.
When I was at the draw and saw the situation I was not so optimistic. But looking at it now, if we manage to get a positive result it will be a huge step forward for the team.” were some of his words Gustavo Poget.
On Wednesday (6/9), our representative group had its last training session at the stadium where the match will be held. In fact, she will have 1000 fans on her side, while it will be the last time that the blue-and-white lighthouse will make an organized appearance.
On the other hand, the Dutch will not have at their disposal Grafenberg, who did not want to be in the national team after his transfer to Liverpool, while there will be quite a few new faces, with Verbugen (Brighton), Hartmann (Feyenoord), Matchen (Chelsea), Van de Fenn (Tottenham) and Raiders (Milan) called up for the first time by Ronald Koeman.
On the contrary, several footballers have been left out, such as Wijnaldum, Botman, Timber, Depay and Bergwein.
“Greece is really a team in every sense of the word. They can defend well. They have a lot of edge speed. With a great “ten”, their leader, with an excellent left foot. France is France. The Greeks did not press high and waited for the opponent to make mistakes. Thus Greece managed to stay in the game, even with ten players. That says a lot.” were some of his words Koeman, who went on to say:
“We have to press the opponent better. A number of the principles of the game will need to be improved when we build from the back. In the Nations League we tried to play with one defender in defence, so you have to play with four in midfield. We strive to grow and improve through training. The players had a heavy schedule. We have to reduce the goals we concede and have a better communication.”
Possible lineups:
Netherlands: Flecken, Dumfries, Van Dijk, De Ligt, Ake, De Jong, De Ron, Berghaus, Mullen, Hakpo, Weghorst.
Hellas: Vlachodimos, Rota, Retsos, Hatzidiakos, Tsimikas, Kourbelis, Siopis, Bakasetas, Mandalos, Masouras, Pavlidis.
Referee: Michael Oliver (England)
Source: Sport Fm
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