International call-ups and fixtures
The first goal of getting three points from the opening match of the Play Offs was achieved and now the attention turns to national teams with a series of qualifying matches, as well as friendlies. PAOK then, will part ways temporarily with some of their players for international duty, with Giannis Konstantelias now added to the list of those getting the call.
Greece boss Gustavo Poyet included both Konstantinos Koulierakis and Giannis Konstantelias for the match in Gibraltar (Euro 2024 qualifiers) on 24.03 (19:45), but also for the friendly game against Lithuania, which will be held on 27.03 at the OPAP Arena (19: 00).
Andrija Živković has two matches ahead of him in the European Championship qualifiers, the home match for Serbia against Lithuania on 24.03 (21:45) and the away match against Montenegro on 27.03 (21:45).
Suriname’s Diego Biseswar is included in his country’s game against Mexico in the Concacaf Nations League, which will be held on 24.03 (02:00).
For Portugal Under-21s, there’s a place for Thiago Dantas as usual for the warm-up games against Romania in Bucharest on 24.03 (19:00), as well as for the home match against Norway on 28.03 (21:00).
And Dominik Kotarski is in in Croatia’s Under-21 squad for the friendlies with Israel on 23.03 (18:00) and with England in London on 28.03 (21:45).
Konstantinos Balomenos and Panagiotis Panagiotou were called up to the Greece Under-21 squad for the friendly game against Hungary (24.03 17:00 «Georgios Kamaras»), and for the premiere of the 2025 European Championship qualifiers against Belarus (28.03.2023, 17:00 «Apostolos Nikolaidis»).
As for our «little ones» of the Greece Under-19 setup to play in the Elite Round in Ireland, the coaches called up 10 PAOK players to help their effort to qualify for the final phase of the European Youth Championship 2023. The players included are: Dimitris Monastirlis, Nikos Deligiannis, Zisis Tsikos, Dimitris Kottas, Haris Georgiadis, Konstantinos Goumas, Lambros Smyrlis, Lefteris Tasiouras, Nikos Spirakos and Stefanos Tzimas (born in 2004 and 2005, while Tzimas was born in 2006). The squad departs on the 19th and returns on the 29th of March.
We remind you that Greece’s Under-19s won the first place in the first qualifying phase in Switzerland and in the Elite Round phase they are aiming for first place in Group 5, which also provides qualification to the final phase. The fixture schedule is as follows:
22.03 Estonia – Greece 21:30
25.03 Greece – Slovakia 21:30
28:03 Greece – Ireland 21:30
Also, Max Scznauczner in included in the Polish Under-17 squad for the Elite Round games in Portugal, in a group which also includes the Czech Republic, Portugal and Slovakia.
*Jasmin Kurtic was included in the Slovenia squad in order to be examined by the team doctors, while Ingi Ingason was in the Iceland national team squad, but after the injury problem he faced, he decided to withdraw and stay in Thessaloniki.
