Mandalos on bwinSPORT FM: “We will give everything we have and don’t have to go to the Euro”

Participation in Euro 2024 gives a huge motivation to all the players of the National team and the Petros Mandalos could not be an exception. Her average AEK talk to News Bulletin 247 and the Sotiris Tabako conveying the determination of all team members to achieve the goal. At the same time, he referred to the game against France, which is anything but… indifferent, while he described the good atmosphere in the National team as its great weapon and his presence in it as his greatest achievement.

Interview with Sotiris Tabakos

Is the team’s goal to win even in friendlies?

“All games are the same for us. Be it friendly or official, we always want to win. In the friendly against New Zealand, we want to play a good game and win so the team learns to win. A very difficult game awaits us with France. It’s the last of the group, the chances are slim, but we want to play a good game.”

What conclusions do you draw from the qualifying process and ahead of the playoffs in March?

“If we go further back, at the time of the draw, I think that few believed that the National team could do something good and go to the Euro in Germany from the qualifying process. It was positive for us that until the penultimate game we were in second place, we had enough chances to get direct qualification to the finals. It does not leave us satisfied, because in essence we did not achieve anything. We will give everything we have and don’t have so that we can be on the pitches of Germany, even from the playoffs in March.”

What can the National Team take from the match against France and if they can gain more confidence ahead of the sequel?

“The answer is in the question. If you manage to win or get a positive result with a team that we saw, we experienced in the first game, I think it gives you something more than psychology for the very important matches that are coming in March.”

What should the National team change against France, since in order to reach a qualification you have to get a result from the “big ones”.

“It goes without saying that we have to get results from the big guys, since we’ve been saying for so long that our goal is to be in the Euros. If you find yourself in the final phase, you will definitely have games like this. We must pay attention to details. Especially in the second game against the Netherlands, the result was decided in the details. We will have to be a little better in everything, if we want to be at the Euros, to have a good image and not just a participation”.

What is the good element of the team in the last two years, the big card of the team and what needs improvement in view of the playoffs?

“The atmosphere in the team, between the players and the staff is very good. This is our guide. Along the way we brought people to the stadium, it was very positive. He helped us in the victories we did and we are now here to talk about a possible qualification to the Euro finals. What we need to improve, as I said before, is the details. These are the ones that will take us to the Euro in Germany”.

Can’t wait for the playoffs in March?

“Especially after the match against Holland, everyone’s mind is on the matches in March. In the last two years, we have shown that with teams, which are within our means – against which we used to have difficulty and did not win – we have found a way, either with good football or with “half-nil”, to win them. So we have to win by any means. It doesn’t matter how we end up in the Euros, but to be there.”

Do you expect the support of the world in the game against France?

“The people have shown that they give us their love and I think they will do it again, especially with this team that we will face. He will come and support us.”

What does the National team mean to you Petro?

“I think that for every footballer it is true that if you don’t wear the national emblem, you feel that you are missing something. In recent years, thank God, I have been in the national team and this is my greatest achievement.”