Greece welcome Finland to the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus on Saturday on matchday one of the new UEFA Nations League campaign.
This will be the host's first-ever match in League B, after finally winning promotion from the third tier in its last iteration in 2022.
Match preview
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A new cycle begins for Greece after yet another huge disappointment in Euro 2024 qualifying, where they were beaten by a Georgia side who had never reached a major tournament before in the playoffs.
New manager Ivan Jovanovic has replaced Gus Poyet looking to end their string of failed qualifications which dates back to 2014.
Their fall from grace is illustrated by this being the first time they have competed in the second tier since the inception of the Nations League, needing three attempts to get out of League C.
In 2018, the Greeks finished below Finland and Hungary, then missed out behind Slovenia in 2020, before finally topping a section including Kosovo, Northern Ireland and Cyprus last time around.
There are shades of the early 2000s with the current state of the Greek national side, just as Otto Rehhagel took over a complete mess in 2001 and made them European champions three years later.
While any repeat of that appears near-impossible, Olympiacos' success in the Conference League should rejuvenate football in the country, and the national side need to take inspiration, with a few members from the club in the setup currently.
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With England also being drawn in this group, it leaves the others with little chance of promotion, should the Three Lions take it more seriously than the last edition.
After finishing above Greece in 2018 to win promotion to League B, Finland have remained at this level, slightly punching above their weight, and that could well be their aim again.
Markku Kanerva's side earned a Euro 2024 playoff place thanks to their performance in the previous Nations League, but the dream was quickly dashed with a 4-1 thrashing in Cardiff against Wales, missing the opportunity to reach back-to-back Euros.
Despite that defeat though, the visitors have won seven of their last 13 away competitive games, keeping five clean sheets in the process, but their gameplan was anything but pragmatic in June, as a 4-2 defeat in Portugal was followed up by a 2-2 draw away to Scotland.
Team News
![Greece's Odysseas Vlachodimos reacts on June 7, 2024 [IMAGO]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/27/odysseas-vlachodimos.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Greece's Odysseas Vlachodimos reacts on June 7, 2024 [IMAGO]")
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Konstantinos Tzolakis could be set to take over from Odysseas Vlachodimos as Greece's number one, with the latter not getting a look-in at Newcastle United since his summer switch from Nottingham Forest.
Midfielder Dimitris Kourbelis has been dropped from the squad after making a move to Saudi Arabia late in the summer transfer window, but Vangelis Pavlidis's transfer to Benfica could have the opposite effect and lead to his big breakout after many successful seasons at AZ Alkmaar.
Right-back George Baldock has been left out once again, along with Panagiotis Retsos and Giorgos Kyriakopoulos - two of the back four that started their previous game against Malta.
Finland will be without Daniel Hakans for this international break, and the Lech Poznan attacker will be a big miss, having scored four goals in his seven competitive appearances with the national side, all coming in the recent Euro 2024 qualifiers.
Middlesbrough striker Marcus Forss is still on the long road to recovery having been out since March, so the vastly experienced Teemu Pukki is set to start up front to make his 123rd cap.
Robert Taylor refused to accept a call up for both the March and June squads, prioritising representing his club Inter Miami instead, but the midfielder has now been snubbed while his club does not play this weekend.
Greece possible starting lineup:
Tzolakis; Rota, Mavropanos, Koulierakis, Tsimikas; Mantalos, Pelkas, Bakasetas; Masouras, Pavlidis, Tzolis
Finland possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Alho, Tenho, Ivanov, Uronen; Kamara, Schuller; Lod, Pohjanpalo, Antman; Pukki
We say: Greece 1-1 Finland
Both nations had garnered reputations of being quite defensively-minded in recent years, but Finland's results so far in 2024 suggest otherwise and Greece are now under new management.
National team attendances have not been fantastic for Greece of late, as less than 200 saw them beat New Zealand last November, so the notorious rapturous atmosphere may not be present to give the hosts an advantage in Jovanovic's first game in charge.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
