New Zealand will kick off their European trip in Athens on Friday, when they meet Greece in an international friendly.

The visitors will play in a pair of friendlies this month, while their hosts are preparing for a crucial final Euro 2024 qualifying game next Tuesday.

Match preview

Greece will return to action in a friendly on Friday ahead of their final Euro 2024 qualifier next week, having enjoyed an impressive campaign thus far in their bid to reach the continental tournament.

In the previous round of fixtures in October, the Ethniki began with a 2-0 victory over Republic of Ireland in Dublin, thanks to goals from Giorgos Giakoumakis and Giorgos Masouras, to move onto 12 points from six outings, before meeting fellow group-stage-hopefuls Netherlands in a crucial contest most recently.

That game looked set to end goalless in the Greek capital - a result which would have seen Greece stay three points clear of their opponents in second spot, but they would be cruelly denied a share of the spoils in injury time as the Oranje won a penalty which Virgil van Dijk converted to snatch all three points.

Following that late heartbreak, Gus Poyet's men now sit outside of the automatic qualification spots based on their inferior head-to-head record against the Netherlands, while the second-placed nation have two games left to play compared to Greece's one - an unenviable meeting with group leaders France next week.

Nonetheless, the Ethniki will head into that test knowing that only a win will be enough to stand a chance of cracking the top two again and booking their place in next year's tournament, and they will firstly aim to build momentum on Friday with a home victory in their first-ever meeting with New Zealand.

Their visitors, meanwhile, have slightly less to look ahead to, with New Zealand instead ending their calendar year with a pair of international friendlies on European soil.

The All Whites were last in competitive action in June 2022, when they missed out on a place in last year's World Cup by the barest of margins, losing 1-0 to Costa Rica in an inter-confederation playoff, and they have struggled to put a run of results together in friendlies since, having won just one of their last seven fixtures following that heartbreak.

That lone victory came at home to China in March, as Matthew Garbett found the net alongside a Zhu Chenjie own goal, but they would then suffer a defeat to Sweden and play out a 1-1 draw with DR Congo before most recently meeting rivals Australia in London last month.

Darren Bazeley's side would fall short again in that meeting, though, as Harry Souttar and Jackson Irvine fired the Socceroos to a 2-0 victory, and not facing trips to Greece and Ireland to cap off a tough calendar year, they will aim to bounce back with a positive pair of results this international break.

Team News

In their bid to build momentum ahead of next week's final Euro 2024 qualifying game, Gus Poyet should field a full-strength Greece starting XI on Friday, with Sheffield United defender George Baldock likely to feature from the outset having returned to contention after an injury layoff.

Liverpool's Kostas Tsimikas will keep his place on the left-hand side, while Konstantinos Koulierakis, Panos Retsos and Konstantinos Mavropanos may again line up at the heart of a back five.

Anastasios Bakasetas led the line in their defeat to the Netherlands, but he may move back into an advanced midfield role, leaving room for Giorgos Giakoumakis to rejoin Fotis Ioannidis up front.

Darren Bazeley has called up an experienced New Zealand squad for their European trip, although centre-back Bill Tuiloma is not involved, meaning Nando Pijnaker should again join Michael Boxall at the heart of the defence.

Ahead of them, Matthew Garbett is a key man in the midfield and will likely be joined by Marko Stamenic and Callum McCowatt, although they do face competition from the likes of Joe Bell and Clayton Lewis.

The line will be led by Chris Wood, who leads the All Whites' all-time scoring charts with 34 goals in his 72 international caps, while Elijah Just and Alex Greive will hope to again get the nod on the wings with Plymouth Argyle's Ben Waine also fighting for a starting spot in attack.

Greece possible starting lineup:
Vlachodimos; Baldock, Koulierakis, Retsos, Mavropanos, Tsimikas; Masouras, Bakasetas, Mantalos; Giakoumakis, Ioannidis

New Zealand possible starting lineup:
Woud; Payne, Boxall, Pijnaker, Cacace; Stamenic, Garbett, McCowatt; Waine, Wood, Just

We say: Greece 2-1 New Zealand

With slightly more quality throughout their squad and their focus set on a crucial qualifying game next week, Greece should have enough to come out on top on home soil on Friday.


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