If you separate Gustavo Poget’s first assignment as national team coach for the friendlies against Romania (25/3) and Montenegro (28/3), there are automatically two unequal strands. One consists of the 25 dating back to John Van Seep’s time in the representative band, as at that stage Manolas, Papastathopoulos and Siovas were preferred to be left out. The second includes Christos Kourfalidis.

The Uruguayan caused the surprise by sending an invitation to the 19-year-old central midfielder (1.78), who made his first appearance with the Cagliari first-team just three months ago. On 15 December, the Thessaloniki youngster stayed on the field for almost an hour in the 3-1 Cup win against Citadella and since then Walter Maccari has given him three more appearances.

Two of them as changes in Serie A, in the games against Fiorentina (23/1, 1-1) and Atalanta (6/2, 2-1). In fact, he almost had to be anointed as the top scorer against the Bergamanen, even though he came on the field just before the end.

The young midfielder had previously impressed the Italian coach with his performances at the Italian club’s youth club (Primavera) (2 goals and 4 assists in 41 games), prompting him to be promoted to the men’s squad. while the team from Sardinia fights to save the class.

According to Matsari, the Greek is a modern midfielder who combines sporting ability with technical training and maturity while spreading his leadership qualities on the pitch, with no hesitation in either falling or attacking by force when necessary. Elements that prompted Cagliari to prematurely extend his contract, which expired in the summer of 2023, until June 2026.

Kourfalidis was born on November 11, 2002 and is now well into his 20s. He joined Cagliari in October 2018 when Makedonikos Litis issued the solemn announcement of his concession. He had already been called up to the Greek national team K17 and was champion with the youth team of EPS Macedonia. He then played on loan in Foggia (24 appearances).

(With Greek roots) Ricardo Gufandi, a member of Cagliari’s scouting department, had spoken about it when he spotted Kourfalidis on a trip to Greece. “We arrived on the outskirts of Thessaloniki. The field was bare, more brown than green. There were children from various amateur clubs in the area. One that seemed to have a different spirit. Dynamic, good qualifications and great will to stand out.

I got information and learned that he came to the camp by bus to give the gift after borrowing the ticket money from a friend. He’s hungry, determined and deserves a chance. I took him to Italy and recommended him to a few teams, but none took the risk. Signed from Cagliari in June, I chose this young Greek boy as the first signing of the youth team“.

Gustavo Poget found out about the little one and decided to once join him in the representative band.