Greece is not at the European Championship! The 2004 European champions conceded a 2:4 defeat on penalties in Georgia – without a former Bochum player.

Vangelis Pavlidis is currently the most prolific striker in the Eredivisie. In 26 league games, he has scored an impressive 23 goals for AZ Alkmaar. This puts him ahead of former Mönchengladbach player Luuk de Jong (22 goals, PSV Eindhoven) at the top of the scoring charts. In total, Pavlidis was directly involved in 47 (!) percent of AZ’s goals in the Dutch first division.

It’s no wonder that the 25-year-old’s performances and goals have aroused desire. He is now one of the most sought-after goalscorers in Europe. According to media reports, there is also interest from the Bundesliga. His contract in Alkmaar runs until 2025.

However, Pavlidis has not been so successful in the national team jersey. Although the top scorer was nominated by Greece coach Gustavo Poyet for the play-off matches for the European Championship qualifiers, he experienced his first disappointment last Thursday:

In the 5:0 semi-final victory against Kazakhstan, the 1.86-meter striker was not in the starting eleven and was not substituted. Instead, Fotis Ioannidis from Panathinaikos Athens was preferred and justified the trust placed in him with a brace.

Greece fail without Pavlidis in Georgia

Five days after the match, the next setback for Pavlidis followed: the 23-goal man also had to sit on the bench for the final match of the European Championship qualifiers in Georgia – in the most important match for Greece in years. Once again, the currently best striker in the Eredivisie was left out completely, although Poyet made six changes during the 120 minutes.

In the end, Greece lost 2:4 on penalties and will therefore not take part in the European Championship in Germany – another major setback for Pavlidis, who will not be able to present himself on the big stage in the summer. Especially as the striker is no unknown quantity in Germany either.

Pavlidis joined VfL Bochum’s youth team in 2015 and played for all teams from the U17s to the professionals. The Greek was a great talent and was offered a professional contract.

Pavlidis made his second league debut in 2016 at the age of 17, but failed to make the breakthrough at Castroper Straße. He was sold to Willem II for 250,000 euros in 2019 and is now worth 22 million euros (Transfermarkt.de), which is more than all of Bochum’s current attacking players combined.