EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS - 2016/18 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis - Piraeus Thursday 31 August 2017 Greece 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Estonia Group H - Matchday 7 Last updated 31/08/2017 11:07CET EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS OFFICIAL SPONSORS Previous meetings 2 Squad list 3 Head coach 5 Match officials 6 Competition facts 7 Match-by-match lineups 8 Legend 10 1 Greece - Estonia Thursday 31 August 2017 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis, Piraeus Previous meetings Head to Head FIFA World Cup Stage Date Match Result Venue Goalscorers reached Torosidis 2, Stafylidis 10/10/2016 QR (GS) Estonia - Greece 0-2 Tallinn 60 Final Qualifying Total tournament Home Away Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA Total Greece - - - - 1 1 0 0 - - - - 3 2 1 0 8 4 Estonia 1 0 0 1 - - - - - - - - 3 0 1 2 4 8 2 Greece - Estonia Thursday 31 August 2017 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis, Piraeus Squad list Greece Current season Qual. FT No. Player DoB Age Club D Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers - Orestis Karnezis 11/07/1985 32 Udinese - 5 0 0 0 - Dimitrios Kiriakidis 24/09/1986 30 Panetolikos - 0 0 0 0 - Giannis Anestis 09/03/1991 26 AEK - 0 0 0 0 Defenders - Giorgos Tzavellas 26/11/1987 29 Alanyaspor * 4 1 0 0 - Giannis Maniatis 12/10/1986 30 Alanyaspor - 5 0 0 0 - Kyriakos Papadopoulos 23/02/1992 25 Hamburg - 3 0 0 0 - Kostas Manolas 14/06/1991 26 Roma * 5 0 0 0 - Charalambos Lykogiannis 22/10/1993 23 Sturm - 0 0 0 0 - Kostas Stafylidis 02/12/1993 23 Augsburg * 5 1 0 0 - Panagiotis Retsos 09/08/1998 19 Olympiacos - 0 0 0 0 Midfielders - Alexandros Tziolis 13/02/1985 32 Al-Fayha FC - 4 0 0 0 - Andreas Samaris 13/06/1989 28 Benfica - 3 0 0 0 - Panagiotis Tachtsidis 15/02/1991 26 Olympiacos - 2 0 0 0 - Petros Mantalos 31/08/1991 26 AEK - 6 1 0 0 - Yannis Gianniotas 29/04/1993 24 Valladolid - 2 0 0 0 - Kostas Fortounis 16/10/1992 24 Olympiacos - 5 1 0 0 - Manolis Siopis 14/05/1994 23 Olympiacos - 0 0 0 0 - Andreas Bouchalakis 05/04/1993 24 Nottm Forest - 0 0 0 0 - Zeca 29/08/1988 29 Panathinaikos - 2 0 0 0 Forwards - Dimitris Diamantakos 05/03/1993 24 Bochum - 0 0 0 0 - Apostolos Vellios 08/01/1992 25 Nottm Forest - 2 0 0 0 - Tasos Bakasetas 28/06/1993 24 AEK - 4 0 0 0 - Anastasios Donis 29/08/1996 21 Stuttgart * 1 0 0 0 Coach - Michael Skibbe 04/08/1965 52 - 6 0 0 0 3 Greece - Estonia Thursday 31 August 2017 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis, Piraeus Estonia Current season Qual. FT No. Player DoB Age Club D Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers - Mihkel Aksalu 07/11/1984 32 SJK - 6 0 0 0 - Mait Toom 07/05/1990 27 Flora - 0 0 0 0 - Marko Meerits 26/04/1992 25 VPS - 0 0 0 0 Defenders - Enar Jääger 18/11/1984 32 Vålerenga - 0 0 0 0 - Ragnar Klavan 30/10/1985 31 Liverpool * 6 0 0 0 - Dmitri Kruglov 24/05/1984 33 FCI - 3 0 0 0 - Ken Kallaste 31/08/1988 29 Korona - 4 0 0 0 - Nikita Baranov 19/08/1992 25 Kristiansund * 6 0 0 0 - Karl Mööl 04/03/1992 25 Kalju - 0 0 0 0 - Joonas Tamm 02/02/1992 25 Flora - 0 0 0 0 Midfielders - Aleksandr Dmitrijev 18/02/1982 35 Hønefoss * 3 0 0 0 - Konstantin Vassiljev 16/08/1984 33 Piast * 6 1 0 0 - Taijo Teniste 31/01/1988 29 Sogndal - 6 0 0 0 Bohemians - Siim Luts 12/03/1989 28 - 5 0 0 0 1905 Rudar - Ilja Antonov 05/12/1992 24 - 1 0 0 0 Velenje - Rauno Sappinen 23/01/1996 21 Flora - 1 0 0 0 - Brent Lepistu 26/03/1993 24 Flora - 1 0 0 0 - Mattias Käit 29/06/1998 19 Fulham - 3 2 0 0 - Martin Miller 25/09/1997 19 Flora - 0 0 0 0 Forwards - Ats Purje 03/08/1985 32 KuPS - 1 0 0 0 - Sergei Zenjov 20/04/1989 28 Cracovia - 5 0 0 0 - Henri Anier 17/12/1990 26 Lahti - 5 1 0 0 Coach - Martin Reim 14/05/1971 46 - 5 0 0 0 4 Greece - Estonia Thursday 31 August 2017 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis, Piraeus Head coach Michael Skibbe Date of birth: 4 August 1965 Nationality: German Playing career: FC Schalke 04 Coaching career: Borussia Dortmund, Germany (assistant), Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Galatasaray AŞ, Eintracht Frankfurt, Eskişehirspor (twice), Hertha BSC Berlin, Kardemir Karabükspor, Grasshopper Club, Greece • Michael Skibbe started out as a midfielder at home-town club Schalke; however, the former youth international made just 15 first-team appearances before a series of cruciate injuries forced him to abandon his playing career in his early 20s. • Impressing as a youth coach at Schalke and Dortmund, Skibbe became the youngest boss in Bundesliga history when he was given the senior job at Dortmund aged 32 in July 1998. • Worked in tandem with Rudi Völler during the latter's time as Germany coach, reaching the 2002 FIFA World Cup final but the pair resigning after the national team's early exit from UEFA EURO 2004. Skibbe returned to club football, coaching Leverkusen from 2005–08. • First ventured abroad to coach Galatasaray from 2008–09. Went back to Turkey three more times, twice leading Eskişehirspor and briefly taking charge of Karabükspor. Had a longer stint in Switzerland with Grasshoppers. • Hired as Greece coach in late October 2015, tasked with directing their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying attempt after failure to reach UEFA EURO 2016. Martin Reim Date of birth: 14 May 1971 Nationality: Estonian Playing career: FC Tallinna Lõvid, SK Tallinna Sport, FC Norma Tallinn, FC Flora Tallinn (twice), Lelle SK, Kotkan TP, JK Tervis Pärnu, Viimsi JK Coaching career: FC Flora Tallinn, Estonia U18, Estonia U21, Estonia U23, Estonia • Reim was a defensive midfielder whose international career spanned 17 years after his debut for the newly- independent nation in June 1992 against Slovenia, a 1-1 draw. He won his 157th cap (a European record since surpassed by Latvia's Vitālijs Astafjevs) in June 2009, six months after ending club career. • Took first steps in the game alongside goalkeeper Mart Poom. Began career in Soviet Estonia's top division aged 16, finishing top scorer in 1990 while playing for Norma. • Spent bulk of his club career (a combined 16 years) in two stints at Flora, retiring with seven titles and three Estonian Cups to his name. He also reached the Finnish Cup final during his only overseas spell, 18 months at Kotkan. • Returned to Flora as head coach in December 2009, having served as assistant to Janno Kivisild in the latter part of his playing career; won the Estonian title in 2010 and 2011. Lifted the Estonian Cup in 2012, but left a few months later and established a football academy in Tallinn. • Has since coached Estonia at various levels – youth, U21s and U23s – with some success. Was named successor to Magnus Pehrsson as senior Estonia coach on 14 September 2016 in the wake of a 5-0 defeat away to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the first match of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying. 5 Greece - Estonia Thursday 31 August 2017 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis, Piraeus Match officials Referee Liran Liany (ISR) Assistant referees David Elias Biton (ISR) , Dvir Shimon (ISR) Fourth official Roi Reinshreiber (ISR) FIFA Match Commissioner Alvaro Albino (POR) Referee observer Salustia Chato Cipres (AND) Referee Name Date of birth UEFA matches Liran Liany 24/05/1977 4 51 FIFA Wold Cup matches involving teams from the two countries involved in this match Stage Date Competition Home Away Result Venue reached 12/10/2012 WC QR Estonia Hungary 0-1 Tallinn Other matches involving teams from either of the two countries involved in this match Stage Date Competition Home Away Result Venue reached 12/10/2012 WC QR Estonia Hungary 0-1 Tallinn 10/12/2015 UEL GS Asteras Tripolis FC FC Schalke 04 0-4 Tripoli Arkadia 18/08/2016 UEL PO FC Dinamo Tbilisi PAOK FC 0-3 Tbilisi 6 Greece - Estonia Thursday 31 August 2017 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis, Piraeus Competition facts The Week of Football concept enables fans around the world to enjoy the very best action from the European Qualifiers – which will determine UEFA's representatives at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup comprises nine groups of six teams, with matches played on a home-and- away basis. Qualifying takes place under the 'Week of Football' concept, introduced ahead of the UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying campaign, in which games are spread out from Thursday to Tuesday, shining the spotlight on more teams on the road to the finals in Russia. Moreover, thanks to the Week of Football, at least 43% of matches will be played on weekends, giving fans a better chance to follow the action on television, in the stadiums and on UEFA.com. Kick-off times will be set mainly at 18:00CET and 20:45CET on Saturdays and Sundays and at 20:45CET for Thursdays, Fridays, Mondays and Tuesdays.