Greek football attack Vangelis Pavlidis was injured on Saturday during the match with Scotland, due to which his Croatian teammate should return to the starting line-up of the Portuguese club Benfica. Franjo Ivanović.
Pavlidis, captain of Greece in the 3-2 victory over Scotland, underwent a medical examination in Athens on Sunday, which revealed an injury to his left knee. Although it is not a wordč about a more serious injury, the Greek national team exempted him from the upcoming match with Belarus, since they lost the possibility of qualifying for the World Championship. Pavlidis traveled to Lisbon where he will continue his treatment. That’s why 22-year-old Ivanovi should return to the starting line-up.
The Croatian national team player played only one minute in Benfica’s last three games. Coach Jose Mourinho, who sat on the bench at the end of September, changed the formation so that in the attack there is only one attack behind which there are three midfielders. In such a system, he prefers the 26-year-old Pavlidis. Since joining the club a little more than two years ago, he has scored 44 goals in 79 games, and has also registered 16 assists.
This summer, Benfica brought Ivanovi for 22.8 million euros from the Belgian champion Royal Union Saint-Gilloise, which was the largest transfer of a Croatian footballer during the summer transfer window. Since then, the Croatian goalscorer has participated in 19 Benfica games and scored five goals, but most of the minutes he played were with his predecessor on the bench, Bruno Lage.
Pavlidis could recover by November 25, when Benfica plays Ajax in the Champions League, according to the Portuguese sports newspaper A Bola. Ivanović should play in the domestic Cup by then, and maybe also in Amsterdam. Croatian coach Zlatko Dalić did not introduce Ivanovic’s game in the 3-1 victory over the Faroe Islands, which secured Croatia’s place at the World Cup on Friday. Tonight, Croatia is visiting Montenegro in the last qualifying match.