Euro 2024 in Germany will be without Greece. Indeed, the Pirate Ship, as the selection is nicknamed, pitched before sinking Tuesday evening against Georgia, on the pitch of the Boris-Paichadze stadium in Tbilisi, in the final of the qualifying play-offs for the summer European championship next (June 14 – July 14). The Greeks have never been able to shake Giorgi Mamardashvili’s nets. After 120 minutes of a goalless score (0-0), Nika Kvekveskiri offered the ticket to Germany with the last shot on goal. Anastásios Bakasetas and Giórgos Giakoumákis missed their attempt, putting Greece in an unfortunate position. This elimination hurts Greek football and the selection led by Gustavo Poyet, who arrived on the bench in February 2022 and now sees his future in doubt. Asked about his future, he did not want to provide further clarification, first wanting to look back on the last months of his team and the difficult outcome to swallow.
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“It’s a huge regret. The players are devastated. We had no luck for two years. We weren’t lucky in the draws, we didn’t win a match by chance. The players did everything. We played two games, didn’t concede a goal and we won’t be at the Euro. We asked them to give everything and they did. We couldn’t make changes to help the team. There were yellows, injuries, cramps. All four changes were made due to injuries., lamented the coach, Gustavo Poyet. It is true that the last outings of the Greek selection were rather positive, at least bringing hope for the future. It has been a long time since Greece has been in such good form, including a draw against France, two solid victories against Ireland and a defeat, not without a struggle, against the Netherlands. But unfortunately for the 10.6 million Greek supporters, yesterday the mayonnaise did not take at all.
To read The eleven of the big absentees from Euro 2024
An elimination that goes badly…
Greece never knew how to find the fault against Willy Sagnol’s Georgia. An obvious disappointment for the Greek selection which was nevertheless coming off a large victory and an offensive festival against Kazakhstan (5-0) in the semi-final of the Euro 2024 play-offs. The offensive weapons were all present, the group Greek being in full force for this truce with Fotis Ioannidis, Vangelis Pavlidis, Dimitrios Pelkas, Georgios Masouras but also Anastásios Bakasetas. Gustavo Poyet’s management can nevertheless be called into question. “The enormous stakes in a dry match completely paralyzed Greece who, I think, were superior on paper. Very few actions, little offensive link, a low Georgian block impossible to break through or get around. Some questionable choices from Poyet like leaving Tzolis out of the group, leaving Bakasetas for 120 minutes when he achieved nothing…”, tells us Martial Debeaux, journalist specializing in Greek football in France. The Greek press was indeed talking about the “match of the decade” and the Greek Federation had called for people to rally behind the nation before the match. The whole country was at a standstill for this crucial meeting for a selection absent from the last two Euros and the last two World Cups.
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While Greece had performed well over the last few breaks, marked by this promotion to League B of the Nations League, what happened to cope with this new failure? Several culprits can be pointed out. “Overall, the leaders (Bakasetas and Tsimikas) did not respond to what was Greece’s biggest match since 2014. So there are many culprits, the federation included, but it is undoubtedly Poyet who will crystallize all the criticism given that he is at the end of his contract and was already in the hot seat before”continues Debeaux for Foot Market. The idea is therefore to find solutions to bounce back quickly. But at a time when Greek football is going through a sporting, economic and administrative crisis, it is difficult to see the future without fog. “It’s hard to say. No doubt I believe in the young people who are emerging but that requires finding a suitable coach and I don’t see who the federation can find.”, laments Martial Debeaux. The press in Greece is not kind and risks cutting heads this week.
The Greek press reacts!
If the journalists call for calm and mostly recall the last two promising years, they nevertheless took out their burning pen to draw a glaring observation. “The truth is this is a big missed opportunity. I’m right, this is a huge missed opportunity and there’s no doubt about it. This summer in Germany the final phase will take place and there will be not only Georgia, but also Slovenia, Hungary and Albania and Romania and Slovakia and Austria, groups of countries that are not in no case very far from ours or our football. The fact that the national team was excluded from the final tournament is certainly a subject of criticism. And this must be done harshly, but without cursing. And that should concern everyone.”drawn up in an editorial of La Gazzetta.Gr Greek journalist Michalis Tsochos. On social networks, journalists highlighted “the usual Greek cannibalism” and the short memory of some supporters.
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Even if the players are the first to be disappointed and devastated by this new failed act, the Greek media do not mince their words. It will be Georgia, a younger team celebrating their historic first qualification, who will be on the plane to Germany to face Portugal, the Czech Republic and Turkey. “Bitterness. There aren’t many words to describe the feelings after being knocked out by Georgia. Our national team will not be present at the big meeting in Germany and it is a failure. The result of this effort of the representative group cannot be characterized differently”, signs journalist Yiannis Sapundzakis, in a duplex in Tbilisi. Sadness, anger, disappointment… Greece cries after being so close to a dream awaited for 10 years.
Pub. 03/27/2024 6:00 p.m. Updated 03/27/2024 6:28 p.m.
2024-03-27 17:00:10
#terrible #fiasco #sets #Greece #fire
