Northern Ireland v Greece (02/06/2022)

DIMITRIOS KOURBELIS MIDFIELD PANATHINAIKOS AGE 29 CAPS 21 GOALS 1 Defensive midfielder who serves as the captain for Greek club Panathinaikos, whom he joined in 2016 after playing for Asteras Tripolis in the top flight. Kourbelis won his first international cap in 2017, but he has not appeared for his country since November 2020 after a lengthy injury lay-off. qualifies for Greece through his grandmother. Baldock has been a regular for the Blades since moving from MK Dons in 2017 and he made 70 Premier League appearances across Sheffield United’s two recent campaigns in the top flight. IONNAIS PAPANIKOLAOU MIDFIELD RAKOW CZESTOCHOWA AGE 23 CAPS 0 GOALS 0 The only uncapped outfield player in the group, Papanikolaou has been rewarded by head coach Gus Poyet for his good form in the Polish top flight. The winger has previously represented Greece at Under-21 level and featured for both Platanias and Panionios in the Greek top flight. EVANGELOS PAVLIDIS FORWARD AZ AGE 23 CAPS 23 GOALS 5 A prolific striker with Greece’s youth teams, Pavlidis has an impressive return at senior level, too. He plays his club football in the Netherlands and has scored 40 league goals across the past three seasons. Only Ajax’s Sebastien Haller and Vitesse’s Lois Openda netted more in the Eredivisie this season. GEORGE BALDOCK DEFENDER SHEFFIELD UNITED AGE 29 CAPS 0 GOALS 0 First call-up for Championship defender who was born in England but

MANOLIS SIOPIS MIDFIELD TRABZONSPOR AGE 28 CAPS 15 GOALS 0 Has spent the past three seasons in Turkey and this term helped Trabzonspor win the Turkish top flight for the first time in 38 years. Siopis, who previously played for Olympiacos and Aris in Greece, made his international debut in 2019 and appeared in six of his country’s eight World Cup 2022 qualifiers. PETROS MANTALOS MIDFIELD AEK ATHENS AGE 30 CAPS 43 GOALS 4 Captain at AEK Athens, whom he initially joined when they were in the second tier in 2014. Won his first international cap when playing in that division, too. Has racked up nearly 300 appearances for AEK, with whom he won the title in 2017-18. Came on during Greece’s previous visit to Belfast in 2015. GEORGIOS MASOURAS FORWARD OLYMPIACOS AGE 28 CAPS 23 GOALS 3 A striker who plays out wide, Masouras has scored 20 times in the Greek top flight across the past two seasons. Joined Olympiacos in 2019 and has won three titles since. Made his debut for Greece in November 2018. Each of his three Greece goals were the opening goals in games.

SOTIRIOS ALEXANDROPOULOS MIDFIELD PANATHINAIKOS AGE 20 CAPS 3 GOALS 0 Youngster who comes into this international window in good spirits after helping Panathinaikos win the Greek Milan, Alexandropoulos has already accumulated over 50 appearances for his club and came off the bench for Greece in both of March’s friendlies. 2021-22 season, having been a regular in his club’s 2020-21 Champions League campaign. Started all eight of Greece’s World Cup 2022 qualifiers. Cup last month. Linked with Italian giants AC ANDREAS BOUCHALAKIS MIDFIELD OLYMPIACOS AGE 29 CAPS 28 GOALS 1 Central midfielder who is in his second spell with Olympiacos after spending the 2017-18 season in the Championship with Nottingham Forest. Made eight appearances in the Europa League in the

ANASTASIOS BAKASETAS FORWARD TRABZONSPOR

AGE 28 CAPS 45 GOALS 5 Greece’s captain and one of the more experienced members of the squad. Having won the title in Greece with AEK Athens in 2017-18, Bakasetas helped Trabzonspor to win the championship in Turkey this past term. Three of his five international goals came in the World Cup 2022 qualifiers.

DIMITRIOS LIMNIOS FORWARD TWENTE

AGE 23 CAPS 20 GOALS 2 Limnios is coming off the back of a fine season in which he scored eight goals in the Eredivisie during a loan spell with Twente. Three of those came in his last two games. His parent club are Bundesliga outfit FC Koln. He joined them from PAOK, with whom he won the double.

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