Makedonas

We had never been top 10 in our first 18 TISC participations, then for TISC Open 2022 we achieved our best ever result which was 5th place. Then for TISC Open 2023 we had another solid finishing, in 6th place. Now we are currently in 3rd place here We definitely need to figure out a better formula for TISC Annual, where we have still never been in the top 10 (best result was 12th).

I agree, she has better songs in my opinion!

Our best and most creative player (Fortounis) moved to Saudi Arabia this year and is turning 32 in a few days so he is probably done with the national team. I know Jovanovic was talking to him last month about him coming back but it didn't happen I guess. We can blame our previous manager Poyet for that, he kicked off our best player and probably sleeps very well at night knowing our federation paid him a nice salary of 700.000 euro per year when all he did was offer us false hope and cause significant damage to our team, but what does he care, he is not Greek and we paid him a lot of money for doing a poor job so he is probably laughing at us. Anyways we seem to be building a good team with depth now. GK we have Vlachodimos who is better than most European national team keepers, though I wish he stayed at Benfica because he doesn't play at Newcastle this season. He's 30 which isn't old for a keeper but we have two very good young players, Mandas and Tzolakis who are both already getting very good experience and only 21-22 years old. Our defense has always been very strong and still is, and we keep producing good young defenders so I don't think we will have to worry for many years. Offensive players were always our issue especially in the last 10 years, but we have so much quality now even without Fortounis. Pavlidis who scored 2 goals today, Tzolis, Konstantelias, Douvikas, Ioannidis, and now we have a 17 yo Mouzakitis from Olympiacos who is a big talent and already playing in important games for club.

Yes, in 2004 we were very strong honestly, for example we had Zikos who played the full 90 mins of the Champions League final that year and didn't even get called up for the tournament because we had other better players. Also, back then the Greek league was much stronger than it is now, we had 3 clubs in the Champions League group stages that year for example, in addition to many other players at top European clubs (Karagounis-Inter Milan, Nikolaidis-Atletico Madrid, Dellas-Roma, Fyssas-Benfica, etc). 2006 we had a tough group also (no massive teams but a lot of solid teams and depth) and just missed out on the World Cup. We had Ukraine, Denmark, Turkey, plus Albania who historically don't like us so they had extra motivation against us. 2008 to 2014 we were good and very consistent, we qualified for everything and almost always beat the teams we were supposed to beat, but rarely pulled off upset wins. After 2014 we were pretty much in shambles, for a number of reasons I won't get into, but some of our results did not make sense because we had many players at top European clubs who consistently did well on a club level but when they all came together for the national team, we were horrible. On paper we had arguably a much stronger team than 2008 to 2014 but just could not get results. For example Sokratis, Manolas, Mitroglou, Samaris, Holebas, Torosidis, and K. Papadopoulos and Karnezis to a lesser extent. We still almost qualified for the 2018 World Cup but otherwise our results were very poor. Now we seem to be doing well, even before Jovanovic we showed some good signs and came third in a very tough group for Euro 2024 qualifiers and had one bad game against Georgia (in which we still didn't concede any goals) which ruined our chances but after the first three Nations League games, I think it's time for us to finally believe in our national team again.

Not a surprise, she hasn't played a completed match since the Olympics and has been withdrawing from every tournament except the US Open where she was clearly injured and retired after one set. I think this drop in the rankings can be good for her and take off some pressure and that she will rise again once she is healthy! I also can't help but think what would've happened in Paris had she not been injured, she still almost beat Kostyuk (and probably should've won that match regardless, she was two points away in the second set) to make the quarterfinals, then would've had to play Vekic and Schmiedlova for a spot in the final...

We actually have a very good group of players on paper, of course not as good as England but we have underachieved a lot in the last decade (quite the opposite of the previous decade before that when many felt we overachieved). Jovanovic as our new manager has made a huge impact already, so nice to finally have someone who understands the Greek culture and language. Some of our previous failed managers in recent years who were not Greek seemed to only care about themselves and making a salary. On a more serious note, this match took place less than 24 hours after it was announced Greek-English RB George Baldock was found dead inside the pool at his house in Athens. I was surprised he has not been called up to our national team since March but apparently he had some injury problems and is just now coming back to club football and that's why he was left off the squad. He just played in the big Greek derby for Panathinaikos against Olympiacos on Sunday. Had he been called up to the national team like he usually is, he would still be alive... Kind of crazy that this happened the day before England vs Greece, the two countries he "belongs" to. He was born in England but has Greek ancestry and got Greek citizenship and started playing for our national team a couple years ago. They did a little tribute for him at the game which was nice. Some were complaining that the game should have been cancelled or postponed due to his death. He actually played his entire career in England and just joined Panathinaikos for this season and played in 3 games. I remember thinking how wonderful it would be for him to play for a Greek club now and have the chance to connect with his Greek roots and learn the language especially since he is now on our national team. What a tragic turn of events...

I mean a former European champion beat a team that never won the Euros so I don't really understand how people are surprised by this result?

Not sure where to post this, but Greece is rewarding all athletes who finished in the top 8 in Paris. 30.000 euros for gold medalists, 20.000 for silver, 15.000 for bronze, and 10.000 for athletes finishing 4th-8th. If you were part of a team, then you only get half the amount. So this means: 30.000-Apostolos Christou (20.000 + 10.000), Miltiadis Tentoglou 15.000-Emmanouil Karalis, Dauren Kurugliev, Eleftherios Petrounias, Theodoros Tselidis 10.000-Kristian Gkolomeev, Theodora Gkountoura, Emmanouela Katzouraki, Stefanos Ntouskos, Stefanos Tsitsipas 7.500-each member of Fitsiou/Kontou and Gkaidatzis/Papakonstantinou teams 5.000-each member of Anastasiadou/Bourmpou, Malkogeorgou/Platanioti, men's basketball, men's water polo, and women's water polo teams It's nothing extravagant like other countries do, but some nice bonuses for these athletes, except of course Tsitsipas and the men's basketball players which really don't need this money.

GREECE Odysseas (name of song) - Nama (name of artist) Taking a risk here but I've wanted to send this song for a few years now, so I hope you guys enjoy it!

2024 European Rowing U23 Championships Gold: Evangelia Anastasiadou and Dimitra Kontou (women's lightweight double sculls) Bronze: Zisis Boukouvalas and Apostolos Lykomitros (men's pair) Nikoleta Drogala and Nefeli Ntara (women's pair) Evangelia Fragkou (women's single sculls) Gavriela Lioliou and Varvara Lykomitrou (women's double sculls) Panagiotis Makrygiannis (men's single sculls)

Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou (pole vault, 38 yo) https://www.instagram.com/p/C_Z4beYMIKX/ Not at all a surprise, especially since she did not qualify for Paris which is where she likely wanted to end her career. Still, she went to 4 Olympics (best result being 8th in Tokyo), won bronze at the 2015 World Championships, also two medals at the European Championships plus another at the European Indoor Championships Had a baby in 2017, and then had probably the most memorable moment of her career in 2018, at the European Championships where she got silver behind Stefanidi in a historic Greek 1-2, while there were devastating wildfires in Greece and it became a big story how well we did at the European Athletics Championships during those dark days...

I also thought this would give Eleni Sotireli (26 yo) a solid spot in the team, as she is our third-best goalkeeper, but now she also announced her retirement!

First time since 2012 no medals for us. Unfortunately, a lot of our athletes got sick, there must be some illness going on in our team (or maybe other countries were affected too?) Men's hammer throw was also extremely disappointing especially with NM from Papanastasiou who was one of the favourites to win!

I'm in.

4th in the U19 Women's European Championships, a very good result for them @dcro @prso1000 @BruT06

Very happy to see Manthopoulou win a silver in 100m I had some expectations for her and was wondering why she disappeared, then I saw her name in the Paralympics and was very surprised, as I had not seen her name for quite some time Life sometimes can be brutal but she seems happy now and that she accepted her new life condition

Nikoleta Eleftheriadou (water polo, 26 yo) Chrysoula Diamantopoulou (water polo, 28 yo) A bit surprised by these as both just made their Olympic debuts. Eleftheriadou is in a long-term relationship with a famous basketball player (Vezenkov), so she probably is planning to start a family with him and is set financially. However, he just left the NBA to move back to Greece so I thought that was partially to be with her more, but now if she's retired from water polo it really doesn't matter. Diamantopoulou I guess isn't a huge loss because she split being the main goalkeeper with Stamatopoulou, so now I'm sure Stamatopoulou will be the main goalkeeper.

2024 World Rowing U19 Championships Gold: Nikolaos Cholopoulos and Konstantinos Giannoulis (men's double sculls) Gavriela Lioliou and Varvara Lykomitrou (women's double sculls) Panagiotis Makrygiannis (men's single sculls) Silver: Nefeli Ntara and Dimitra Papaioannou (women's pair)

They both won gold M2X basically dominated the whole race, and Cholopoulos ends his U19 career with his first world title, after getting bronze in M4X in 2022, silver in M2X in 2023, and finally gold in M2X in 2024 M1X was tricky, Makrygiannis after a disappointing silver last year was 3rd for most of the race, then put on an incredible sprint (he was 6.34 seconds behind the leader after 1500m) to win gold . He is young enough that he'll get the chance to defend his title next year as well Now we'll see who will win the U19 medal count. each with 3 golds. Greece and Italy each have 1 silver also, but Italy won one of their golds and their silver in a non-Olympic category. Romania also has a good chance to win another gold in W1X...

2024 World Rowing Championships Silver: Zoi Fitsiou (women's lightweight single sculls) Antonios Papakonstantinou (men's lightweight single sculls)

Good to see our two silvers yesterday in LW1X and LM1X. So, all 4 of our Paris Olympians who competed here ended up with medals . Just too bad the lightweight events won't be part of the Olympic programme anymore, but what a way for us to go out! U19 finals day today. We only sent 5 boats and they all made finals W2- won silver which I am quite happy with M2- got 5th which is disappointing after they were 1st in the heat. I wonder why they changed up this combo after we got silver at the European U19s earlier this year with Karagiannis/Koutras and then here sent Bourkas/Koutsogiannis instead... W2X just won gold with an amazing sprint finish. They were clearly 2nd the whole race, with GB being the clear 1st, and then at 1500m, GB led by 3.51 seconds and we ended up winning by 5.92 seconds after 2000m I'd be pretty surprised if we don't win medals in our remaining two finals, M2X and M1X. Honestly we are probably favourites to win gold in both events so hopefully there are no surprises

After Tokyo, I don't think anyone would've expected and to be anywhere near a podium in artistic swimming in Paris Also happy for our girls finishing 6th, our previous best-ever finishes were 8th in the duet in 2012 and also 8th in the team in 2004, so our best ever Olympic result in this sport 4th place for the Alexandri sisters, well it would've felt like a "lost medal" for us if they reached the podium so

2024 World Rowing U23 Championships Gold: Evangelia Anastasiadou and Dimitra Kontou (women's lightweight double sculls)

U23 Championships are already finished. Only 1 medal for us, but it was a gold in LW2X for Anastasiadou/Kontou, who defended their title from last year Also in the heat they broke their own U23 world best time by 8.65 seconds. Of course Kontou won bronze in LW2X at Paris 2024 and Anastasiadou was 6th in W2- there, I know she seemed bitter that she wasn't selected for LW2X where we would've probably had a stronger team and maybe pushed for another colour of medal (though very difficult because GB and Romania were so strong), but it's still very impressive and hopefully she can win a medal in LA 2028, obviously it won't be in the lightweight category. We only sent two other U23 boats, I guess that's what happens when the event is not held in Europe. Fragkou was 4th in W1X which is disappointing after she won medals in 2021 (bronze in W2X), 2022 (gold in W2-), 2023 (bronze in W1X). She will be back in 2025 and hopefully can get another medal and continue fighting for 2028, because to be honest she hasn't been making much progress anymore the last 1-2 years. Boukouvalas/Lykomitros were a disappointing 9th in M2-, which I didn't expect after they got off to a good start to the regatta by winning their first heat...