Van’t Schip latest Greek boss to debut versus Finland
John Van’t Schip took his place on the Greek national team bench for the first time on Thursday in a 1-0 defeat to Finland.
Watch LIVE GREEK TV including full GREEK SPORTS coverage with Go Greek TV!
The loss all but ended Greek hopes of qualification for EURO 2020. However, Van’t Schip did continue a unique tradition of Ethniki coaches debuting against Finland. The Dutch manager became the fourth coach for Greece to start their spell with the Galanolefki against Finland.
The results have been mixed. Van’t Schip’s predecessor, Angelos Anastasiadis had a decent start to his ill-fated spell by defeating the Finns 1-0 last November at home in UEFA Nations’ League play.
Before him came Otto Rehhagel’s memorable opening match for Greece. That came back in September 2001 and saw Greece suffer a humiliating 5-1 destruction in Helsinki. Luckily for Rehhagel and Greece, the aftermath saw vast improvement and eventually the momentous achievement of being crowned European champions just a few years later.
The first manager for the national team to debut against Finland was back in 1966 as Panos Markovic led Greece for the first time in a 2-1 victory over the Scandinavians in Thessaloniki as part of qualification for the European Championship.
Also of note is the fact that the last four times Greece have played Finland, they have done so with a different manager at the helm. Finland meanwhile have had the same one. Markku Kanerva has been with the Finnish national team since 2016. In the four matches between the sides since then, Greece have been led by a different manager every time with the revolving door featuring Costas Tsanas, Michael Skibbe, Anastasiadis, and now Van’t Schip. In those encounters, Finland have won three and Greece just one.
