Ireland team to play Greece facing fresh challenge in post Gus Poyet era
Ireland lost to Greece home and away in the Euro 2024 qualifiers but both teams have new managers for Tuesday's game
New Greece manager Ivan Jovanovic wants to pick up where Gus Poyet left off - by inflicting even more pain on Ireland.
Poyet’s team became a real thorn in the side of former Irish boss Stephen Kenny last year, winning both their Euro 2024 qualifiers.
Ireland and Greece had never met in a competitive game up to that point, with just three friendlies.
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But Poyet’s side were comfortable 2-1 winners in Athens last June to effectively kill off Ireland’s hopes of qualifying.
And any slim chance was snuffed out once and for all in October when Poyet’s charges won 2-0 in Dublin - after which he publicly pitched for the Ireland job.
But Greece missed out on the Euro 2024 finalis after losing an agonising playoff penalty shootout to Georgia.
Poyet’s time was up and the Greek FA moved for Jovanovic, a Serb but who has extensive experience in Greek football.
The 62-year-old played in Greece for a decade and then managed four different Greek clubs, including Panathinaikos.
He is a popular choice as manager and while Heimir Hallgrimsson was losing his first match in charge on Saturday, Jovanovic was winning his.
Greece beat Finland 3-0 in Athens and ahead of tomorrow’s game in Dublin, Jovanovic said: “It's a good result to start the campaign.
“We didn’t start the way we wanted, with or without the ball. We weren’t as organised as we wanted to be.
“But that’s perfectly normal as we only had a few days together. We like to take risks and the players try to live up to that.
“The main goal was victory. We have a lot to fix. We don't have time to practice, but we do have time to talk.”
And setting his sights on Ireland under new boss Hallgrimsson, Jovanovic said: “It's an important game for sure.
“There are three teams at a very good level and Ireland are a good team. We respect the opponent, but our goal is to win.”
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