Greece gunning for potentially important win
Greece gunning for potentially important win
UEFA EURO 2020 QUALIFYING - GROUP J (MATCHDAY 10)
AGONAsport previews the concluding UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier between Greece and Finland at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.
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It’s certainly been an eventful qualifying campaign. The dramatic comeback in Bosnia, home setbacks against Armenia and Liechtenstein, the sacking of Angelos Anastasiadis, the superb recent performances…
Greece really have picked up since John van ‘t Schip became head coach. However, it’s a case of too little, too late for the Greeks, who cannot mathematically qualify for the European Championship as they sit in third place of Group J. Italy and Finland are already guaranteed to compete at the tournament next summer.
However, while this match won’t help Greece qualify for Euro 2020, it could give the team an easier route to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Although it has not been confirmed by FIFA or UEFA, the FIFA World Rankings are expected to be the criteria in seeding nations for the World Cup qualifying draw. As it stands now, Greece are ranked 31st among UEFA nations in the FIFA Rankings while Finland are ranked 30th, with just a few points separating the two countries.
If Greece defeat Finland on Monday at the OAKA, they will leapfrog the Finns in the World Rankings and be ranked 30th among UEFA nations. What does this mean for the national team? If the FIFA Rankings are used to seed teams in the World Cup qualifying draw, Greece will be seeded in Pot 3 as opposed to Pot 4. In other words, Greece will have theoretically two higher-ranked opponents in their World Cup qualifying group as opposed to three higher-ranked opponents.
Interestingly, Van ‘t Schip’s first match at the Ethniki Omada helm was against Finland, as the team conceded a 1-0 defeat in Tampere with Teemu Pukki scoring. That loss practically ended all Greek hopes of reaching Euro 2020.
Greece have been preparing for this game with plenty of confidence. On Friday, the team produced another impressive performance under the guidance of Van ‘t Schip, defeating Armenia 1-0 on the road with Dimitris Limnios scoring the only goal. The Greeks have now won two successive games in Group J after the memorable 2-1 home triumph over Bosnia in October.
Finland, for their part, officially booked their ticket for Euro 2020 with a routine 3-0 victory against Liechtenstein in Helsinki. The Finns had never before qualified for a major competition.
Current Group J standings after nine rounds:
Italy, 27 points
Finland, 18 points
Greece, 11 points
Armenia, 10 points
Bosnia, 10 points
Liechtenstein, 2 points
TEAM NEWS: GREECE
Van ‘t Schip has noted his desire to create a base for the national team. In his press-conference, he did point out the need to use fresh players, so it will be interesting to see whether many changes are made to the line-up in comparison to the match in Armenia. Fans are eager to see what midfielder Sebastian Vasiliadis is capable of.
Possible line-up: Vlachodimos, Giannoulis, Stafylidis, Siovas, Bakakis, Galanopoulos, Vasiliadis, Mantalos, Limnios, Bakasetas, Pavlidis.
TEAM NEWS: FINLAND
It’s unknown whether Finland will make changes to their team taking into account that they’re already certain to be playing at Euro 2020. Teemu Pukki, who scored against Liechtenstein and has registered six goals in the English Premier League, will be the main threat to the Greek defence at the OAKA.
Possible line-up: Hradecky, Pirinen, Arajuuri, Toivio, Raitala, Kamara, Sparv, Soiri, Lod, Tuominen, Pukki.
REFEREE: ALEKSEI ESKOV (RUS)
Russian referee Aleksei Eskov will take charge of proceedings in Athens.
In the past, the experienced 41-year-old has been the referee for Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, APOEL, Asteras Tripolis and Xanthi matches in European tournaments. He has worked over three UEFA Europa League games this season, dishing out a grand total of 11 yellow cards and two red cards.
Assistant referees: Dmitry Mosyakin (RUS), Valeri Danchenko (RUS)
Fourth official: Vladislav Bezborodov (RUS)
by Shaun Nicolaides
sportfm.gr
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