After a series of negative results, the Greek Football Federation decided to part ways with German coach Michael Skibbe. In his place, former PAOK and Panathinaikos manager Angelos Anastasiadis has been called up to the task of guiding the Greek national team back to winning ways. And he doesn’t have much time to do so, as the appointment coincided with the team facing the challenge of its final two games in the Nations League. The Greeks faced Finland, who are currently occupying first place in the group, on Friday, while Estonia, currently ranking last, will be expecting them on Monday.

In his first appearance in front of the press as manager of Greece, Anastasiadis pointed out that he is honoured to be chosen for the position and that he carries a great responsibility to create a fertile ground for other Greek managers to be considered as his successors: “We need to convince the guys that this is their team,” he said. “When they come here, they have a serious responsibility to carry the weight of all Greek footballers and the National team. They need to convince everyone that they’re worth it. The national team is the identity of Greek football. That’s my ambition and my goal… I always believed that Greeks have great talent and quality. When I went to Panathinaikos, everyone was calling them losers. I told them that they can win the Champions League. I always told the boards of the teams to have faith in Greek youngsters. They have never let me down. We have no one to be afraid of. We have great faith in ourselves. We don’t like to talk big, but others need to show that they are better than us. And our job is to ruin their plans.”

For the role of assistant manager, Anastasiadis has chosen one of his former players during his tenure at Panathinaikos, European champion of 2004 Angelos Basinas. In his short opening statement, the former midfielder said that things will change and there will be a more unified effort within all Greek national football teams, from the youths all the way to the adult level. Within his first call-ups, Anastasiadis included Benfica goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos and Levante central defender Dimitris Siovas, while leaving out key figures such as Giorgos Tzavellas, Alexandros Tziolis, Lazaros Christodoulopoulos and Napoli goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis. The team gathered at the Agios Kosmas training centre where all players were made available for participation against Finland in Anastasiadis’ first game as manager of Greece.