As Greece’s FIFA Ranking plummets, Van’t Schip to lay out plans
Greece’s FIFA Ranking recently hit its lowest point ever as the team plummeted to 60th in the world governing body’s monthly ranking system.
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This month, the Greek national team competed in their first two matches under the guidance of newly-appointed head coach John van ‘t Schip, contriving to concede a 1-0 defeat to Finland on the road before drawing 1-1 with lowly Liechtenstein at the Olympic Stadium. Greece have lost four of their last five matches in what has been a terrible year for the Ethniki Omada.
In the FIFA World Rankings, the Ethniki now trail the likes of Congo DR, Mali, and Slovenia. Burkina Faso, Bulgaria, Qatar, and Albania aren’t far behind the Greeks either.
The Greek women’s national team are only five places behind the men in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings. This is remarkable when considering the little financial support women’s football receives throughout Greece.
A meeting between van’t Schip and Greek Football Federation President Vangelis Grammenos is set to take place in the coming days. The new Greek coach is set to unveil his plan for the team going forward. Reports suggest the Ethniki boss will discuss his outlook for the next year, with the focus being on building a side capable of challenging for qualification to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. It is also expected that van’t Schip will detail his proposed changes to the national team structure, specifically looking at the younger national teams.
In other news, van’t Schip appears to be set in bringing in new faces to the national team set-up including defenders Konstantinos Triantafyllopoulos and Pantelis Hatzidiakos. With some surprise announcements in the squad for next month’s qualifiers, van’t Schip has also indicated he may take a look at Greeks abroad who qualify for the national team. 21-year-old Greek-born Dutch striker Kaj Sierhaus is rumored to be in the manager’s plans. The Ajax attacker (on-loan to Groningen) has featured for the Dutch youth national teams and would reportedly consider an offer to play for Greece.
