adminWest Ham United’s Konstantinos Mavropanos kicked off his and Greece’s Nations League campaign on Thursday.
The 28-year-old was selected by Ivan Jovanovic for Greece’s Nations League internationals.
Greece opened their Nations League A Group 2 campaign with a difficult away fixture against Serbia.
Serbia went ahead after only four minutes, creating what appeared to be a challenging night for Mavropanos and his teammates.
However, Greece responded strongly after the break, drawing level in the 74th minute before securing the winning goal deep into stoppage time.
Mavropanos started the match before being substituted in the 91st minute, and his performance received plenty of praise from the media.
How was Konstantinos Mavropanos’ Greece display vs Serbia summarised?
It was FIFA’s 40th-ranked side in the world, Serbia, against number 46, Greece, in Belgrade.
The Greeks arrived for the match on a five-game winless streak across all competitions, with their previous victory coming against Scotland in November last year.
Consequently, Thursday’s victory represented a significant statement from Greece against a difficult Serbian team.
Hellas Football was full of praise for the West Ham defender and highlighted several important qualities in his display that Irons supporters will recognise.
“Was aggressive when he needed to be and comfortable on the ball, a very steady evening for the West Ham man. Seven,” they wrote.
SportsDunia, meanwhile, awarded him a 7.1/10 rating, again indicating that the Hammers defender enjoyed an impressive outing.
But how impressive were his underlying statistics from the match, and why will West Ham be hoping Greece handles him with care now?
Mavropanos demonstrated why he’s not a Championship-standard defender in Greece victory
West Ham supporters will be thankful that the club managed to keep Mavropanos at the club this summer.
There had been plenty of expectation that he could depart following relegation, particularly after being one of the side’s standout performers last season.
Instead, the powerful Greek defender remained, and his statistics against Serbia underline why he belongs on the biggest stages.
According to FotMob, he completed 96 per cent of his 73 attempted passes, registered two shots on target, completed two dribbles and made four passes into the final third.
Mavropanos also recorded three clearances, two interceptions and two recoveries, won two ground duels and completed two accurate long passes.
Greece’s next fixture comes against Germany on Sunday, and another performance of a similar standard against Jurgen Klopp’s team could further enhance his transfer profile.
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