Giannis Mystakidis earned his first cap with Greece U21s and was in the starting line-up, as the youngsters defeated Liechtenstein on their opening encounter for the European Championship qualifiers. Mystakidis returned to PAOK trainings and spoke exclusively to paokfc.gr for his international experience and the rest of the season at PAOK.

Congratulations for your debut…

”It was a very important moment for me. I felt particularly proud to wear Greece’s crest and represent my country. I was expecting the call after playing well for PAOK in Greece and Europe and I am overjoyed that it came at the right time».

Your first cap was accompanied by victory…

”We kicked off our qualifying campaign against a weak opponent, who were defending in numbers throughout the match. It was initially tough to get through that wall but we took the lead in the 40th minute. We secured victory in the second half. It was very important to start well in the qualifiers and we hope that we will continue in the same fashion».

Your personal aspirations this season?

”First of all, I hope I will keep healthy and continue hard work in order to improve. I hope we will have an excellent season at PAOK, both in Greece and in Europe. I also hope to be included in the next calls of Greece U21s as well and manage to establish myself».

Back to club football, with a very tough schedule awaiting. How are PAOK preparing to face the upcoming non-stop encounters?

”We kicked off our engagements very early, did excellent preseason work with our coaching staff and were joined by many good players lately, who will help us in these back-to-back matches. We work hard in trainings, we are all equal and can help the team at any point, so I don’t foresee a problem for the upcoming games. If we all give it 100%, we will be successful».