It starts on June 14, 2024: the European Championship in Germany. But before it really gets started, the DFB team still has two test matches on the schedule. On June 3 (8:45 p.m.) the Germans will play against the Ukrainian national team, and on June 7 (8:45 p.m.) against Greece.
The DFB squad will also meet some familiar faces from the Bundesliga. Among them is the top scorer of the 2nd Bundesliga and Fortuna Düsseldorf player Christos Tzolis (22).
Fortuna Düsseldorf: Greece not participating in the European Championship
For the Greeks, however, it is more of a friendly than a test match, as the team of interim coach Nikos Papadopoulos (52) was eliminated in the playoffs for participation in the European Championship (26 March 2024) against Georgia. For the Georgians, it is their first ever participation in the European Championship.
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In the playoffs, Greece was coached by Gustavo Poyet (56). However, the Uruguayan-born player’s contract has expired and U21 coach Papadopoulos has taken over on an interim basis and will also coach the 2004 European champions in the two upcoming games against Germany and Malta (June 11, 6 p.m.).
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The career of Christos Tzolis in pictures
Meanwhile, Tzolis has more than recommended himself with his recent exceptional performances in the league. In the last game of the regular season against 1. FC Magdeburg (19 May, 3:2), he delighted Fortuna with three goals and thus secured himself – together with Hertha’s Haris Tabakovic (29) and Hamburg’s Robert Glatzel (30) – the title of top scorer in the 2nd Bundesliga with a total of 22 goals.
The youngster also performed similarly in the first leg of the relegation match (23 May, 3:0) at VfL Bochum. His corner made it 1:0, his cross made it 2:0 and his free kick made it 3:0. So once again he was involved in all three goals. For the Greek interim coach Papadopoulos, this recommendation should be enough to at least give Tzolis a serious thought about using him.
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In addition to Fortuna’s Tzolis, the German national team around national coach Julian Nagelsmann (36) will also face Hertha’s Andreas Bouchalakis (31) and Manolis Salikas (27) from FC St. Pauli. Tzolis clashed with the latter just a few months ago in the cup quarter-finals in Hamburg (January 30, 6:5 on penalties) – but the small dispute should now be settled.
Tzolis would definitely be happy about a starting eleven appearance, as he had already promised before the playoffs against the “Rheinische Post” clarified: “That was one of my big goals at the start of the season. I was really waiting for the call from our national coach, and when it came, I thought to myself: now is really your time. He told me that he was very happy about my performances with Fortuna. That was very nice to hear.” Whether he will actually be able to play this time will be seen on June 7th.
2024-05-26 08:44:33
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