Two very complicated transfers, two victories and first place in the Nations League group: within a few days Greece defeated Serbia and Germany, starting its first experience in League A in the best way. The impression is that something has changed in Greek football and that the National Team is ready to experience its golden generation, which could take it very far, even though the first objective is the European Championships to be held in 2028.
Greece's growth has been underway for several years now, with careful work with young players, which has created the players who are today the pillars of the team. Many of them have also managed to establish themselves abroad at good levels, and the Federation is trying to use this particularly favorable moment to do something complex, namely to transform a golden generation into a system capable of producing others, so that it does not remain just a beautiful fairy tale like the one that wrote history by winning the 2004 European Championship.
Kourbelis' match-winning goal for Greece against Germany, with Greek commentary
by u/KoupDetat in soccer
The new generation that has changed Greece
The victory against Serbia might have seemed like a fluke, but the one against Germany showed that Greece has truly become a solid and strong team. The first signs date back to a year ago: the Greeks had lost 1-0 at home in the play-off match against Scotland to advance to League A of the Nations League. In the return match in Glasgow, they completely overturned the situation, winning 3-0 with goals from the young Konstantelias, Karetsas and Tzolis, who are now the symbols of this national team. With that victory, the Greeks were promoted to the top league for the first time, where they debuted with two prestigious victories.
The secret lies in the golden generation established under the guidance of coach Ivan Jovanovic, who has at his disposal an extraordinary offensive talent: Karetsas is 18 years old, Kostoulas and Mouakitis 19, Tzimas 20, Tzolis 24; all young and very young who are building something important.
Many of the national team's talents have grown up at Olympiakos, which won the Youth League in 2024 by defeating Milan in the final, a historic achievement for a Greek club, but all clubs have made huge investments in their academies to promote players to the first team and then sell them to big European clubs. For example, this season alone Karetsas plays for Dortmund alongside Konstantelias, who is injured, Kostoulas for Brighton alongside Tzimas, also currently injured, while Tzolis moved to Arsenal for €40m after putting in some very good performances for Bruges.
Plan to focus on youth
The youth sectors of Greek teams have taken a clear direction to develop all the talent they have in their hands, but the Federation has launched a project to ensure that this generation does not remain an isolated case: the program is called Anagennisi, which means "rebirth", a weighty name for a movement that has experienced some disappointments in recent years, and includes children from 6 to 14 years old.
The start is made from the smallest categories, from two against two and three against three, gradually increasing the number of players, until reaching eleven against eleven only from the Under 14 age group and above, so that each child has the opportunity to improve the basics, the touches of the ball, the decisions to be made during the matches and also the creativity. It is a process that will bear its fruits in a few years, but in the meantime Greece is convinced that it has taken the right direction: victories against Serbia and Germany would have been unimaginable just a short time ago, while today they are a brilliant reality that can lead Greece towards winning the group, moving on to the next stage and the concrete goal of qualifying for the European Championship, where it has been missing since 2012.
