Fresh from an extremely emotionally-charged victory over England, Greece return home on Sunday, when they take on the Republic of Ireland in their next UEFA Nations League showdown.
The Pirate Ship upset the odds to come away from Wembley with a 2-1 win on Thursday evening, while the Boys in Green were also successful on their travels, sinking Finland by the same scoreline in League B Group 2.
A mere 24 hours before kickoff on Thursday evening, news broke of the tragic death of former Greece international and Sheffield United right-back George Baldock, leading the 2004 European champions to request the postponement of their Nations League clash with England.
A second-half double from Vangelis Pavlidis either side of a Jude Bellingham leveller prolonged Greece's perfect start to the 2024-25 competition, and they now lead the way at the top of the rankings by three points, having also conquered Finland and Sunday's visitors last month.
In League B, only first place will do for automatic promotion to the top tier - where Greece are yet to compete - but the Pirate Ship have more than demonstrated their League A credentials, just a couple of years on from finally making it out of League C.
Including a friendly success over Malta in June, Sunday's hosts are now on a four-match winning streak in all tournaments - their last three of which have come under new boss Jovanovic, who extended his 100% record at the expense of Lee Carsley's in midweek.
Victory for Greece on Sunday would see the former continental champions win five games on the spin for the first time since 2016, but Ireland head to Piraeus with a spring in their step following their own triumphant travails on their travels on Thursday night.
The Boys in Green squared up to a Finland side who had also been beaten in both of their opening fixtures last month, and the Scandinavians were on course to make it third time lucky when Joel Pohjanpalo opened the scoring, only for Robbie Brady to inspire a second-half turnaround.
The Preston North End winger assisted Liam Scales's leveller before popping up with an 88th-minute winner, cementing Ireland's spot in third place in the League B Group 2 standings, which would see them contend a promotion/relegation playoff in early 2025.
The beating of Finland marked a maiden victory as Ireland head coach for Heimir Hallgrimsson, as well as a first-ever win away from home in the Nations League for the Boys in Green, but they have never achieved back-to-back triumphs in the competition.
Sunday's visitors were also outplayed by their hosts just over a month ago, falling to two second-half goals in a 2-0 loss to Greece in Dublin, which made it five defeats and one draw for Ireland in six previous meetings with Greece - they have only managed to score once against the Pirate Ship in that time too.
Greece head coach Jovanovic will be forced into a defensive switch for Sunday's contest, as centre-back Konstantinos Koulierakis - who set up Pavlidis's first against England - picked up his second booking of the tournament and must now serve a one-match ban.
Pantelis Hatzidiakos and Panagiotis Retsos will vie to replace their suspended teammate, and there is also a question mark over Liverpool left-back Kostas Tsimikas, who sat out the win on Thursday due to illness.
In an ideal world, Jovanovic would put out an identical XI to the one that stunned the Thrree Lions, although jellied legs could tempt the hosting manager into promoting Dimitrios Pelkas or Petros Mantalos to the forward line.
As for Ireland, Hallgrimsson lost Cardiff City defender Callum O'Dowda to injury before the win over Finland, but the Boys in Green are otherwise in good health for the long journey to Piraeus.
The visiting manager made four changes to the side that last lost against Greece for Thursday's game, one of which saw Brighton & Hove Albion hotshot Evan Ferguson introduced into the first XI as he bids to revive a recently stalled career.
Ferguson had an early goal disallowed but otherwise struggled to fashion any gilt-edged chances for himself, so Adam Idah and Troy Parrott are both alternative options for Sunday's match.
Greece possible starting lineup:
Vlachodimos; Rota, Mavropanos, Retsos, Giannoulis; Kourbelis, Siopis; Masouras, Bakasetas, Tzolis; Pavlidis
Republic of Ireland possible starting lineup:
Kelleher; O'Shea, Collins, Scales, Brady; Cullen, Knight; Ogbene, Azaz, Szmodics; Ferguson
As a result, we can only envisage Jovanovic's men making it four for four as they edge ever closer to a coveted spot in the top tier of the Nations League.For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Irish Manager's Eye on World Cup
Before training on Saturday morning at the Karaiskakis stadium in Piraeus, with temperatures already a searing 29 degrees, Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson cut through the language barrier.
“We could have a perfect game tomorrow and still lose to a team like Greece,” said the Icelander. “You need to be realistic.”
His overall vision is uncomplicated. Build a group of “13, 14, 15″ regulars who can spring a surprise as third seeds, if FIFA’s qualification draw in mid-December proves generous to Ireland.
“It was one of first things we spoke about in this camp, looking forward and trying to see what the future is; the draw, games next season and what it takes for us to qualify for the World Cup,” said Hallgrimsson, “which is the big goal of course.”
Beating Finland 2-1 in Helsinki last Thursday feels very far removed from Ireland returning to a major tournament, 20 months from now.
Despite the World Cup expansion from 32 to 48 countries, only 16 European teams will travel, the 12 group winners and four from the play-offs in March 2026.
“[Parrott] did well, he did what we expected of him [against Finland],” he said. “He’s a forward that really wants to get goals, he is willing to make the runs in behind, but he’s a little bit different to Evan in the way he plays.
“So, there will be moments when he will be needed. It’s always [about] who we are playing against and how we think the game will be played.”
“What he did was good, maybe a little bit over-ambitious at times but he came in with a lot of energy. When we put in substitutes we want them to change the game.
Could Ferguson and Parrott play off each other? “Sure, I can see that,” Hallgrímsson replied.
“If you look at the best teams, they’re pretty consistent; not [a starting] 11, but it’s 13,14,15. All coaches are constantly looking at having a settled team, so they can see the big picture.
“I will not give a date for when I expect to have stability in what we are doing. Time will just tell. The sooner the better. You are always looking for the someone who is better than the ones that are playing, you are always looking.”
Sunday’s game is overshadowed by the death of Greece international George Baldock (31), who was founded dead on Wednesday in the pool of his Athens home.
“I think it will increase their togetherness,” said Hallgrímsson.
“Greece are a really good team, hard to breakdown and hard to beat, as you would have seen in England.
“Moments like this just brings, not only them, but people together and makes you realise life is more than football.
“I am a little bit connected to this because [Baldock] played for my hometown club back in Iceland when he was 18.”
In 2012, Baldock made 16 appearances for ÍBV Vestmannaeyjar while on loan from MK Dons.
“We of course give condolences to his family and everyone around him,” he added. “I think they will be the same team, maybe more emotions. If that’s good or bad we will see.”
Ireland Aims for 'Warrior' Mentality
The 57-year took the job with an image of the stereotypical Irish player in his head, one who fights for every ball and is difficult to play against, and he is convinced he can coax that out of the men he currently has available.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s Nations League B2 clash with Greece in Athens, Hallgrimsson said he wanted opposition teams to “hate” playing against Ireland.
Asked if that is how he had view previous Irish teams, he said: “It was always in the memory, I didn’t see every Irish game in the past, but that’s how I see this nation, tough people, hard-working, really honest, willing to take the duel and go into the battle.
“That was my presumption coming in, that the Irish team was like that. Getting to know them as characters, there’s a lot of fighters, we just need to bring that confidence back so that will shine through every game and every duel we have on the pitch, to get this mentality to shine.”
Midfielder Josh Cullen is relishing the challenge of making life “horrible” for the players he comes up against.
Cullen said: “It’s something we need to develop. We need to make sure that every game we go into is horrible for our opposition.
“It’s something the manager has made clear that he wants us to be and it’s down to us as players to carry that out on the pitch.”
Hallgrimsson’s stated intention is to take Ireland to the 2026 World Cup finals having helped his native country make it to Euro 2016, where they famously beat England on their way to the quarter-finals.
Former Coventry and Cardiff midfielder Aron Gunnarsson, currently playing his football in Qatar with Al-Arabi, was a key member of that side and he is the type of character the Ireland head coach wants to find within the ranks.
He said: “I took Aron Gunnarsson, the captain of Iceland to Qatar. He is still in Qatar. He is the type of guy who steps up in all situations, a warrior.
“I would always use him as a role model, a player who was always important to the team, maybe not the best footballer, but he was always the most important to the team.
“I am looking for characters like that. Technical ability as well, but someone who steps up in times of trouble. You can look at him and he will rise and say, ‘Give it to me, I am not afraid.’
“In hard times, you need guys like this. We have a lot of those guys, we just need to bring their confidence up.”
Greece v Republic of Ireland: Karaiskakis Stadium, Athens – Sunday, 7.45pm. Live coverage on RTÉ2 from 7pm.
