Hadzidiakos: “There was a call from AEK, I had already decided to go to Cagliari”

THE Pantelis Hatzidiakos spoke to ERA SPORT and mentioned, among other things, the national team and its course in qualifying for the 2024 European Championship.

At the same time, he mentioned that he received a call from AEK asking him to return to Greece, but he chose to continue his career in Italy and Cagliari, while Leeds also expressed interest in taking him over.

In detail, what Pantelis Hatzidiakos said to ERA SPORT: Whether it was Ranieri’s decision to go to Cagliari: “He is a great personality, we spoke on the phone before I made my decision and he helped me a lot in the decision to be in Cagliari. The team’s goal is to save this year and I hope to change his memories of the Greeks.

On his decision to leave Alkmaar: “At first I would definitely be disappointed if I left, then you would have to get back into the rhythm of scoring goals, it would be a nice incentive to end my contract with Alkmaar and leave on a free transfer in the summer.

Alkmaar is a family for me, they also helped me a lot with this transfer because they know that I had a difficult time with injuries and I was also waiting to leave on August 31st to help the team in Europe . As life would have it, I also scored a very important goal before I left.

On the question of whether he would stay in Greece: “IIf I played in Lamia, I might never play football because unfortunately the academies in Greece are not supported like they are abroad and unfortunately the chances of becoming a football player would be lower.”

On his racing style: “I have fought on the pitch several times, if I have to fight I will fight, for me Italy is a challenge, it is a different football than what I played in Italy.

Fighting is a bit old-fashioned, for example Varane and Van Dijk. I don’t see them fighting, what was there before is gone because there are cameras now.

On the question of whether he was close to a Greek team: “I didn’t have anything concrete from Greece, there was a phone call with AEK in the last few days, but I had made my decision for Cagliari, there was also Leeds, but I didn’t want to risk it, for me Cagliari was a… “A good opportunity with a good coach and I think Italian football suits me.”

About Cagliari and what it is like at the moment: “They kept players from last year to keep the team together, they took me and two or three other players with them and I hope we will do very well. We have a pretty difficult schedule with Milan and Atalanta, now we play away against Udinese, the schedule is pretty difficult.”

On the EPO’s mistake with international penalties: “I found out, I can’t say anything…”

Whether the national team can win and qualify: “We can and above all we really want to, unfortunately we didn’t get the result we wanted so much in the game against the Netherlands. We learned a lesson that will help us in the next games, which for us are three ‘finals’.”

For Vangelis Pavlidis: “I wish he would become the Netherlands’ top scorer and have a good run in Europe.