EPO lining up replacements for beleaguered Anastasiadis
Following the shock defeat to Armenia on Tuesday, many reports are suggesting Greek national team head coach Angelos Anastasiadis will suffer the sack despite having only received the job last November.
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The Greek national team is once again in a crisis. Yesterday, the Ethniki Omada hit a new low, conceding three goals against a seemingly weak Armenian side to drop a hugely damaging 2:3 defeat at the Olympic Stadium. Greece find themselves a large five points behind second-placed Finland in Group J of UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying.
In a live interview after the game, centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos revealed that he’s willing to step down from international duty for the better of the team, with Anastasiadis subsequently stating that he doesn’t want players in his side who don’t believe the country will qualify for the European Championship.
As previously reported on AGONAsport, Papastathopoulos and fellow defender Kostas Manolas reportedly spoke to Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) president Evangelos Grammenos last night, revealing that they won’t play for Greece again until Anastasiadis is sacked.
Right-back Vasilis Torosidis was left out of the squad by Anastasiadis after a reported disagreement between the pair.
The current state of affairs is making it extremely difficult for Anastasiadis to remain in his post. If reports are to believed, the EPO is already lining up replacements, with former Panathinaikos and AEK boss Marinos Ouzounidis the favourite for the job. Ouzounidis handed in his resignation with AEK in February after a poor run of form.
There’s also talk of the EPO gathering as many 2004 European champions as they can and forming a coaching staff out of them. Former centre-back Traianos Dellas, the scorer of the winning goal against the Czech Republic in the memorable semi-final, left his post with Panetolikos after the 2018/2019 season ended.
At the moment, Grammenos isn’t prepared to make a rash decision based upon hot emotions, but many expect him to sack Anastasiadis in the coming days when the dust has fully settled. Greece next play in the 2020 European Qualifiers in September.
