All Whites vs Greece 

Friday 17 November at 7pm [local] / Saturday 18 November at 6am [NZT]

Georgios Kamaras Stadium, Athens, Greece

The All Whites end 2023 with two games against highly ranked European sides, kicking off against Euro 2004 winners Greece in Athens this Saturday morning in NZ. 

Greece come into the fixture knowing they have a massive clash against France next week as part of their Euro 2024 qualifiers, where they currently sit third in their group behind Les Bleus and the Netherlands who they are on equal points with. 

Greece selected a large 31-person squad for this window giving them plenty of options across the two matches. 

The All Whites will be keen to close out the year with a strong performance ahead of a big 2024 with the start of FIFA World Cup 2024 qualifying. 


What head coach Darren Bazeley said about his team’s approach to the game: 

“These guys try and win every time they go training, let alone on the pitch, so we want to win. 

“We know it's not a qualifier, where if you don't win you get knocked out of anything, but I wouldn't sit here and say that we're not trying to win. We want to win every game that we play. 

“The rewards right now are probably ranking points and getting ourselves moving up the ladder in the ranking system, which is important. But like I say, there's also the building towards the actual FIFA World Cup qualifiers and then the FIFA World Cup 2026. So we are using these games as stepping stones to keep moving forward."

 

Likely Team:

In the pre-match press conference Bazeley confirmed that all players were available to play from his squad. 

After missing the last international window, experienced A-League Men players Clayton Lewis and Tim Payne are back, along with the uncapped Alex Paulsen and Finn Surman, so will be keen to get on the pitch after not taking part against DR Congo and Australia. 

Bazeley has confirmed the team will stick with the 4-3-3 formation used in recent games but hasn’t ruled out tweaking his approach to get the best from his side. 


Player to Watch: Tasos Bakasetas

The Greek captain is the top scorer and most capped player in head coach Gus Poyet’s squad with 12 goals and 61 caps for his country. 

The 30-year-old attacking midfielder is also in great form for Turkish side Trabzonspor with 3 goals in 10 Süper Lig appearances this campaign, after featuring in the 22/23 Turkish league team of the season. 


Where to Watch: 

The match will be available live and free on FIFA+ and TVNZ Duke / TVNZ+ from 6am [NZT] on Saturday 18 November.  

Article added: Friday 17 November 2023