Match Preview | Greece v Republic of Ireland
Stephen Kenny's Ireland side started their qualification campaign with a narrow 1-0 defeat against World Cup finalists France at the Aviva Stadium in March having deserved at least a point with a spirited performance.
Ireland will be looking to bring the positives from that performance into the match against Greece tomorrow night in a key match in their UEFA EURO 2024 qualification campaign.
Match Details
Fixture: Greece v Republic of Ireland
Competition: UEFA EURO 2024 Qualifying
Date: Friday, June 16
Kick-off: 7.45pm (9.45pm local time)
Venue: Opap Arena, Athens
TV: RTE
Match Officials
Referee: Harald Lechner (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Maximilian Kolbitsch (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Andreas Staudinger (AUT)
Fourth Official: Markus Hameter (AUT)
Video Assistant Referee: Christian Dingert (GER)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Christian-Petru Ciochirca (AUT)
Team News
Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny confirmed that he has a fully fit squad to choose from for the UEFA EURO 2024 qualifier against Greece.
Alan Browne has recovered from his injury which ruled him out of the Bristol training camp with every other player fit.
What he said - Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny
“We’re looking forward to the game, it’s the first competitive game in the new stadium, you want to be involved in that, we want that historic away win.
"Greece have a very good home record and have been in good form over the past year, we have got to respect that, nothing will be easy, we are going to have to fight for everything, it’s only the second game in the group, nothing will be decided so early. It’s certainly an important game for both teams.
"One of main objectives coming into the week, the training camp we had prior to here, it’s always a concern with a six-week gap and some players who hadn’t been playing there is a temptation to do much, we have to get balance right, one of our objectives was to get everyone fit here tonight, so credit to the backroom team that this is the case, everyone is available, we’re very pleased about that.”
What he said - Republic of Ireland captain John Egan
"A lot of preparation has gone into preparing for this game, we had a really important training camp which was needed to make sure everyone got back up to a level.
"It's been great to get everyone together to hone in on what we do as a group and really concentrate our efforts. The staff have been brilliant and we've had a really good training camp in Turkey and we're raring to go tomorrow night.
"George Baldock is a close friend of mine and he has been a good addition to the Greece set-up but there isn't much more I can say until after tomorrow night for sure."
WATCH THE FULL PRESS CONFERENCE ON FAI TV HERE
Opta Facts - Greece v Republic of Ireland
- This is the first meeting between Greece and the Republic of Ireland since November 2012 in a friendly, a 1-0 win for the Greeks, who are unbeaten in all three meetings with Eire (W2 D1).
- Republic of Ireland have failed to score in all three of their games against Greece (D1 L2), with all three coming in friendlies in 2000, 2002 and 2012.
- Greece have won each of their last four European Championship qualifiers, winning three in October/November 2019 and their opening qualifier of this campaign against Gibraltar. Before this, they’d only won two of their previous 17 (D5 L10).
- Republic of Ireland lost their opening European Championship qualifier of this campaign against France, last suffering defeat in their opening two games of a campaign in Euro 2008 qualifying, losing to Germany and Cyprus.
- Greece have won six of their last seven competitive international matches (L1), with five of those wins coming in the UEFA Nations League and one in this European Championship qualifying campaign.
- Republic of Ireland have won three of their last six away games in all competitions (D1 L2), as many as they’d won in their previous 22 away matches (W3 D9 L10).
- Greece striker Vangelis Pavlidis was involved in 36 goals in 40 appearances for club side AZ in the 2022-23 campaign in all competitions (22 goals, 14 assists). Pavlidis, however, only has one goal in his last 12 appearances for his national side.
- Republic of Ireland striker Michael Obafemi has been involved in four goals in just five starts for the Boys of Green, scoring twice and assisting twice.
Republic of Ireland Squad - Greece & Gibraltar
Goalkeepers: Gavin Bazunu (Southampton), Caoimhin Kelleher (Liverpool), Mark Travers (AFC Bournemouth).
Defenders: Matt Doherty (Atlético Madrid), Mark Sykes (Bristol City), Callum O'Dowda (Cardiff City), James McClean (Wigan Athletic), Nathan Collins (Wolverhampton Wanderers), John Egan (Sheffield United), Dara O'Shea (West Bromwich Albion), Darragh Lenihan (Middlesbrough), Liam Scales (Celtic).
Midfielders: Josh Cullen (Burnley), Jayson Molumby (West Bromwich Albion), Jeff Hendrick (Newcastle United), Alan Browne (Preston North End), Will Smallbone (Southampton), Jason Knight (Derby County), Jamie McGrath (Wigan Athletic), Jack Taylor (Peterborough United).
Forwards: Adam Idah (Norwich City), Michael Obafemi (Burnley), Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion), Troy Parrott (Tottenham Hotspur), Mikey Johnston (Vitória de Guimarães, on loan from Celtic).
UEFA EURO 2024 Qualifying - June Fixtures
16/06 - Greece v Ireland, OPAP Arena, 7.45pm (21.45pm local time)
19/06 - Ireland v Gibraltar, Aviva Stadium, 7.45pm