Schedule of PAOK’s international players
Eight players of PAOK senior squad and several PAOK Academy members have been called to their national squads. Fernando Varela will miss Cape Verde’s engagements through injury. Here are the calls and fixtures of the “Double-Headed Eagle” internationals, with the 2018 World Cup qualifiers reaching a crucial stage and therefore stealing the show.
Róbert Mak returned to PAOK just recently, but never left the national team of Slovakia, being a regular and irreplaceable member of the squad in recent years. PAOK’s midfielder has been called by Ján Kozák to the Slovakia team, as they are gearing up for two crucial encounters against Slovenia in Trnava and against England in London for the 2018 World Cup qualifying stage. England lead the group standings with 14 points, Slovakia trail with 12, while Slovenia have 11 points.
Aleksandar Prijović has been included in Serbia’s team for the encounters against Moldova and the Republic of Ireland in Belgrade and Dublin respectively. He made his international debut in June and helped his team reach climb at the top of their group with 12 points, level with the Irish. His aim is to contribute further, help his side qualify to the World Cup finals and book a place in the 23-man squad of Serbia next summer.
Yevhen Shakhov has been called by Ukraine national coach Andriy Shevchenko for their upcoming matches against Turkey (home) and Iceland (away) for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. Their group is fiercely contested, as Croatia and Iceland have 13 points, while Ukraine and Turkey have 11, with just four matchdays remaining.
Gojko Cimirot is part of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national squad for their trips to Cyprus and Gibraltar. After conceding a draw to Greece in June, the Bosnians fell to third place and have no luxury of dropping more points.
Efthymis Koulouris, Panagiotis Deligiannidis and Dimitris Limnios have all been called to Greece U21 team for their first games in the 2019 U21 Euro qualifying stage. They start their campaign in Borisov on Friday against Belarus and then play host to Moldova in Peristeri next Monday. Greece will aim for top spot that offers direct qualifying to the Italy finals in 2019 or content themselves with a second-place finish and play-off participation. Their group also includes Croatia, Czech Republic and San Marino.
Greece U19 are preparing for their friendly encounters against Latvia in Agrinio ground. Kostas Dimitriou, Kostas Chatzidimpas and Giorgos Tzovaras have been included in the squad. As for Meletis Mišković, he will participate with Serbia U19s in the Stevan Ćele Vilotić tournament, to be held in Subotica.
