He marched to France Hellas. Comfortable win with 2-0 for the national team behind closed doors in Rizoupoli against New Zealand before the difficult match against France at the OPAP Arena for the curtain call of the qualifying phase of Euro 2024.
THE Konstantelias combined his maiden participation in the main format with his first goal with the blue and whiteafter a cross-shot in the 10th minute, while the 2nd goal of our representative team was scored by Giakoumakis in the 29th minute. Bakasetas had a goal in the 6th minute with a free kick.
Poget’s team showed a good face for a half, which held on in the 2nd, with the Uruguayan coach trying things out in the last half hour.
In the coach’s mind
With 4-3-3 Gustavo Poget lined up the National Team. Vlachodimos was in goal, Mavropanos and Hatzidiakos the stoppers, with Baldok and Tsimika as the backs. The midfield trio was Kourbelis, Mandalos and Bakasetas, with the former having a “sweeper” role and the latter two having more creative duties. Masouras and Constantelias will be in the “wings”, while Giakoumakis was at the top of the attack.
The guests lined up with 3-5-2. Wind was in goal, Binton, Casas and Smith the back three, Singh and Bell manned the two flanks, with Stamenich, Payne, Garbett in midfield, while McCovat and Wood were in the forward line.
The match
The match was friendly, but the National Team had a very difficult match ahead of them and Gustavo Poget showed with the eleven he chose that the National Team treated the match as an official one. The visitors came into the match somewhat more focused and had the first dangerous visit shortly after the start of the match, with Payne’s cross ending up wide as he failed to find a team-mate.
The national team started to find a rhythm and in the 4th minute, from the ball of Kourbelis behind the defense for Masoura, he almost got a chance, with the opposing defense cutting at the last moment, before the ace of Olympiakos was in the shooting position. In the 6th minute, the blue and white team scored, with Bakaseta taking a free kick from the right just outside the area and the ball hitting Wind’s left post.
Two minutes later, Giakoumakis sent the ball just wide with a header following a Bakaseta corner. The National team found the goal in the 10th minute, with Constantelia making a cross-shot from the left, the ball popping in front of the opposing goalkeeper who was taken by surprise.
New Zealand tried to respond immediately, with Singh in a firing position on two occasions in a short space of time, but the Baldockhe stopped him inside the area at 12′, while a few seconds later the same player caught the shot, but Vlachodimos was ready.
In the 15th minute, Constantelias created again, with Giakoumakis making a projection that sent the ball wide. With our national team in complete control, the next good moment came in the 26th minute, but it was unreal. Giakoumakis sent the ball into the net with projection, after a turn by Constantelias (and the ball to counter), but he was exposed.
The 2-0 finally came in the 29th minute for the National Team, with Kourbelis making a nice header after a corner from Tsimikas, Wind making an excellent intervention and Giakoumakis sending the ball into the net with projection.
Three minutes later, the National team made it 3-0, with Constantelia carrying the ball and sharing the right moment with Giakoumakis, who dug the ball, sending it over the opponent’s goal. Singh’s tepid shot in the 34th minute sent the ball wide without troubling Vlachodemos.
The National Team had a good moment in the 35th minute as well, when Tsimikas entered the area and executed, but Wind moved away, saying “no” to him and then conceding a corner.
The second part did not flow at such a good pace and with such good moments. The national team had two incomplete attempts in the opening five minutes, with the visitors cutting through Bakaseta and Mandalo before becoming dangerous.
The first really good moment in the 2nd half belonged to New Zealand, with new signing Wayne weaving nicely into the area in the 63rd minute and Hadzidiakos countering with a corner. The static phase brought a misdirected header by Binton.
After the middle of the second half, the game broke down even more, with both coaches making several changes, wanting to try faces and things. In the final stretch, the two teams had one good moment each, with Champness being knocked down in the 76th minute, but with his turn he did not find a teammate, while in the 80th minute, Pelkas took a corner in a similar way. Pavlidis’ missed shot just before the end of the match was considered a non-starting phase, since Alkmaar’s forward was exposed.
The film of the match via sport-fm.gr
MVP: Rightfully the award goes to Constantia, who proved to be the man of the match. He opened the scoring in the 10th minute, scoring his first goal with the blue and white, in his maiden appearance as a starter for them. He was also very active in the first half, which was the good of the national team, being present in almost all the good moments of the blue and white. Giakoumakis also had a very good presence, who was the tip of the spear in most phases of Greece. Overall a good presence, looking very hot, despite not playing for Trabzonspor was Kourbelis.
Whistle: The Swiss referee went unnoticed. In any case, we cannot stand in the refereeing of such a match.
Greece (Gustavo Poget): Vlachodimos – Baldok, Mavropanos, Hatzidiakos, Tsimikas – Kourbelis (70′ Bouchalakis), Mandalos (90′ Tzavellas), Bakasetas (70′ Galanopoulos) – Masouras (58′ Pelkas), Constantelias (58′ Fountas), Giakoumakis (58′ Pavlidis )
Left on the bench were: Paschalakis, Athanasiadis, Ioannidis, Retsos, Hatzigiovannis, Alexandropoulos, Giannoulis, Koulierakis, Saliakas
New Zealand (Darren Buzzeley): Wind – Binton (83′ Sherman), Casas, Smith – Singh (63′ Just), Stamenic, Payne, Garbett (70′ Champness), Bell (70′ Lewis) – McCovat (83′ Mata), Wood (46′ Wayne )
Left on the bench were: Paulsen, Crocombe, Wilkins, Pynaker, Boxall, Grave
Referee: Luca Sibelli
Assistants: Matias Sbrissa, Jan Kobeli
4th: Stefanos Koumbarakis
Source: Sport Fm
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