Numbers display sharp Ethniki decline since 2014
Ever since reaching the Last 16 of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the Greek national team has endured a huge slump on the international stage, failing to qualify for tournaments and dropping a large number of defeats.
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UEFA Euro 2004 and the 2014 FIFA World Cup, tournaments which provided some of the best moments in Greek football history, both seem a rather distant memory. Angelos Charisteas’ heroics in Portugal, Georgios Samaras’ last gasp penalty to take Greece through to the knockout stages of the World Cup...the glory days. Unfortunately, after Theofanis Gekas’ penalty struck the post in the heartbreaking shootout defeat against Costa Rica in Brazil, it’s only been doom and gloom. A miserable qualifying campaign for UEFA Euro 2016 was embarrassing to watch, and while the team did save face with a decent (albeit ultimately unsuccessful) attempt to make the 2018 World Cup in Russia, there have been very few pleasant moments associated with the Ethniki Omada. Various coaching changes and dreadful management from the Hellenic Football Federation haven’t helped.
This year, the Ethniki sunk to a new low. Placed in the third tier of the newly created UEFA Nations League, Greece were given a tasty looking group with Hungary, Finland and Estonia, but the team contrived to lose three out of six matches to finish in a thoroughly disappointing third place. Unpopular German boss Michael Skibbe was given the boot in favour of 65-year old Angelos Anastasiadis with two games remaining.
The numbers back up the downhearted mood which is present among Greek fans. Between 2001 and 2014 (up until the conclusion of the World Cup), the national side competed in 157 matches (90 official, 67 friendly), tallying 78 wins (51 official, 27 friendly), 45 draws (18-27) and 37 defeats (23-14). However, from 2014 (after the conclusion of the World Cup) to 2018, Greece played 41 games (28 official, 13 friendly), registering 13 wins (9-4), nine draws (8-1) and a large 19 losses (11-8).
Let’s take a close look at the results per year:
2001-2014
2001: 10 matches, 2 wins, 4 draws, 4 defeats
2002: 10 matches, 5 wins, 3 draws, 2 defeats
2003: 11 matches, 8 wins, 3 draws, 0 defeats
2004: 14 matches, 6 wins, 4 draws, 4 defeats
2005: 13 matches, 6 wins, 2 draws, 5 defeats
2006: 10 matches, 5 wins, 2 draws, 3 defeats
2007: 11 matches, 7 wins, 1 draw, 3 defeats
2008: 15 matches, 8 wins, 2 draws, 5 defeats
2009: 10 matches, 5 wins, 4 draws, 1 defeat
2010: 12 matches, 5 wins, 4 draws, 3 defeats
2011: 12 matches, 6 wins, 5 draws, 1 defeat
2012: 13 matches, 7 wins, 4 draws, 2 defeats
2013: 10 matches, 7 wins, 2 draws, 1 defeat
2014: 8 matches, 2 wins, 4 draws, 2 defeats
2014-2018
2014: 5 matches, 0 wins, 1 draw, 4 defeats
2015: 9 matches, 1 win, 3 draws, 5 defeats
2016: 10 matches, 6 wins, 1 draw, 3 defeats
2017: 8 matches, 2 wins, 4 draws, 2 defeats
2018: 9 matches, 4 wins, 0 draws, 5 defeats
The percentages display the decline even better:
2001-2014: 48.75% of matches were wins, 28.13% draws, 23.13% defeats
2014-2018: 31.71% of matches were wins, 21.95% draws, 46.34% defeats
Previously, Greece won practically half of their matches, but now the players are losing that same amount. For anyone connected with Hellenic sport, these figures are hugely concerning, especially given that talented players such as Kostas Manolas, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Konstantinos Fortounis and Konstantinos Mitroglou are supposedly in the prime of their careers.
Anastasiadis’ promise to introduce youngsters Konstantinos Tsimikas, Konstantinos Galanopoulos, Anastasios Chatzigiovannis and Efthymis Koulouris into the Ethniki Omada set-up has raised hopes that better times could be around the corner. The short term goal is to qualify for UEFA Euro 2020, and missing out on a third consecutive major tournament would be deemed a travesty. It surely can’t get any worse, can it?
