Empty OAKA takes its toll on national team

Playing at the large Olympic Stadium worked against Greece in UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying, with the national team only winning two out of five home matches.

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Does anyone actually enjoying playing at the OAKA? Empty stands, no atmosphere; it’s a poor excuse of a home stadium. While the likes of England and Spain consistently play in front of packed stadiums, the Greeks have to be content with around 4,000 fans inside an arena which is capable of holding over 70,000. Something which has taken its toll on the national team ever since the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) decided to leave the atmospheric Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus.

You could almost say it’s a disadvantage for Greece when the national team play at home. Pitiful attendances have been witnessed at the OAKA in the last couple of years, with the Athenian public refusing to show any love to the Ethniki Omada. Yes, the level of marketing and advertising displayed by the EPO is ridiculously low, but there is very little support for the national team in the capital. Dreadful results over the course of the past few years haven’t helped, of course. And not forgetting that so many members of the population struggle financially.

“It doesn’t take too much intelligence to understand that the national team should play at a different stadium,” noted Tasos Bakasetas. An opinion shared by whole of the Ethniki set-up.

Everybody bar the EPO itself.

At the start of the year, the EPO revealed that the Pankritio Stadium in Heraklion, Crete was to become the new home stadium of the national team. However, Greece are still yet to play at the arena. Initially, there was hope that Greece would only play the first two home Euro 2020 qualifiers at the OAKA, but it was later confirmed that the national team would remain in Athens for the entire qualifying campaign. Required improvements to the Pankritio, which took longer to complete than expected, prevented Greece from playing in Heraklion.

“We will see what happens, it’s too early to tell yet,” stated EPO supremo, Evangelos Grammenos, when quizzed about the situation. Many are now starting to doubt whether Greece will ever play at the Pankritio at all.

The statistics are damning. In the UEFA Nations League, Greece conceded a decisive defeat to Estonia at the OAKA, before the national team then lost against Italy and Armenia in Euro 2020 qualifying while also drawing with Liechtenstein. In stark comparison, second-placed Finland won four out of their five home matches, only suffering the one loss against the Italians. The Finns finished four points ahead of Greece in Group J.

Statistics of Greece’s home UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers at the OAKA:

Wins: 2

Draws: 1

Defeats: 2

Goals scored: 7

Goals conceded: 9

Action has to be taken before the 2020 Nations League and 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers begin. In interviews with the media, players and coaches alike have both spoken of their desire to bring the supporters back to the arena, but first of all the EPO surely needs to ensure that the team plays at a different stadium. There is enough time to make the right calls before the Nations League starts next September.

by Shaun Nicolaides

Image Source: media.real.gr

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