Total-waterpolo-blog-logo-238×48Total-waterpolo-blog-logo-retina-104×96Total-waterpolo-blog-logo-238×48Total-waterpolo-blog-logo-238×48
  • News
  • CroMasters 2024
  • SHOP NOW
  • Livescore
    • Champions League
      • Champions League 2023/24
      • Women’s Champions League 2023/24
      • Champions League 2022/23
    • AUSTRIA 🇦🇹
      • Bundesliga Women
      • Bundesliga Men
      • Supercup
      • Cup
      • Regionalliga Ost
      • U-21 Women
      • U-19
      • U-17
      • U-15
      • U-13
      • U-12
      • U-11
    • SLOVENIA 🇸🇮
      • Slovenian championship 2022/23
      • Slovenian Cup 2022/23
    • Nordic League
      • Nordic league 2022/23
      • Nordic League 2021/22
      • Nordic Women’s League 2022
    • Alpe Waterpolo League
    • BWIPA
      • Next Generation 2023 – Men
      • Next Generation 2023 – Women
      • Barcelona Masters Cup
        • 30+ Women
        • 40+ Women
        • 30+ Men
        • 40+ Men
        • 50+ Men
      • HaBaWaBa Spain Plus
      • HaBaWaBa Easter U12
      • HaBaWaBa Easter U10
    • Tournaments
      • Herceg Novi Masters 2023 “30+”
      • Herceg Novi Masters 2023 “40+”
      • Budva Masters 2023
      • Duisburg 98 Cup 2023
      • Tintilinić 2023
      • Ruhr Games 2023
      • Sunčana Kapica 2023
      • Total Waterpolo Trophy U-15
      • Montenegro Cup 2022 (U16)
  • National
    • Hungarian League
    • French League
    • Spanish League
  • International
    • Tokyo 2020 Olympic Water Polo
    • World Championships
      • Fukuoka 2023
        • Fukuoka 2023 Men
        • Fukuoka 2023 Women
      • WC U20 Men 2023 – Romania
      • Budapest 2022 Men
      • Budapest 2022 Women
      • Gwangju 2019
      • Budapest 2017
    • European Championships
      • Split 2022 Men
      • Split 2022 Women
      • Budapest 2020
      • Barcelona 2018
    • Other
      • World Cup 2023
      • WL Belgrade 2019
      • World Cup – Berlin 2018
      • Junior WC Prague 2021
      • Junior EC Podgorica 2022
  • Total Player Award
    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
✕

Kammenou: Patience, hard work, and confidence will guide my young team

August 23, 2022

Photo: Orange Pictures

Greece have been regular attendees at the European Championships, competing in all but two of the tournaments since 1985. But despite being a regular feature at the Euros, they have, perhaps surprisingly, never won a gold medal. 

The Greeks have reached the final three times in the last six tournaments, losing on all of those occasions (2010, 2012 and 2018). It will be a tough ask for them to rectify that discomforting record in Split.

But while Greece will not be the immediate favourites for the title in Split, Alexia Kammenou, the Greek head coach, has every reason to be optimistic about the future of her national team: 

“We have a young and talented team. Step by step and game by game, we will try our best, and I believe we have a good opportunity to be in the top 4 teams. The ambition and target of our national team have to be at the top, but this will come only with patience, hard work and confidence that will come through good results. But let’s not forget that the majority of our players need to gain experience in the national team”

Kammenou, a former player and coach of NC Vouliagmeni, thinks that her team has put in a good effort prior to Split:

“The European Championship is a very important tournament for our team. It’s the second big event that we will participate in this year. Compared to the world championships, our team had more time for preparation, so after a long summer we are looking forward to participating in the games.”

And, following Greece’s bronze and silver medals at the U19 European Championships and the U18 World Championships, Kammenou hinted at infusing the team with youth: 

“Our junior teams had great results, and some of the players will participate in their first European tournament in Split.”

Never miss any of the action by heading over to our Total Arena Livescore pages for both the Men and Women’s tournaments.

Margarita Plevritou: Greece has the ability to compete against top teams 

Margarita Plevritou is one of three Plevritou sisters on the Greek national team heading to the European Championships in Split. The captain of her national team is extremely excited to play in what will be her fifth European championships:

“I’m so excited about the upcoming European Championships. I think all the games will be really interesting because the European teams are at their highest level and all the good teams are really close. I can’t wait to start the games.”

Greece have enjoyed an extended period of preparation over the last two months, including a tough set of games at the Sardinia Cup:

“The Sardinia Cup was a really strong tournament with all five good teams in Europe and Israel, which is at a lower level. We wanted to try a lot of things in these games, and we had a close score with all the strong teams . We saw what worked for us, and we will be more prepared for the European Championship.”

Only two of Greece’s last nine appearances in the quarterfinals of the European Championship have ended in victory, something Plevritou identifies as an area of improvement for her team: 

“In Budapest, we didn’t play as well as we wanted in the quarter-final against Netherlands. We didn’t have much time for our preparation, and I think that it was very important. We started with a really good performance in our group, especially against Spain, which is one of the best teams in the world for me. We finished first, but in the quarter finals the team was not on a good day.”

Nonetheless, Margarita, now 27, has fond memories of her time on the Greek national team which won a silver medal at the 2018 European Championships. 

“The European of 2018 in Barcelona has a bitter and sweet taste. Of course, silver is a really good and respectable result, but we knew we could do better and won the gold . But sport is like this. Throughout the tournament, we had excellent results against all of Europe’s top teams, particularly against Spain in the semi-finals, which was the team that everyone expected to win gold.”

Photo: Laszlo Balogh

Greek players are often criticised for failing to live up to expectations when representing their country, despite enjoying great success for their clubs. Margarita, a pivotal member of the Olympiacos quadruple winning team, has no concerns about this though: 

“The past two years were totally successful with Olympiacos, winning all the trophies in Europe and in Greece. With us winning the Euro League and Ethnikos the LEN Trophy, we have shown everyone that Greek water polo is at a high level, and of course, this helps the national team too. It doesn’t change anything for us. In the national team, we all come from different clubs, and we don’t have any problems with training all together. The national team is different from the clubs. We are all here to represent our country”

But whether it is for club or country, Margarita always relishes playing alongside her two sisters, Eleftheria, 25, and Vasiliki, 24: 

“It’s something really special and rare because we are 3 sisters, and you don’t see this often at a high level . It makes me really happy and proud of all the hard work we have done”

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Read more about the European Championships

Click here for more Exclusive Interviews

James Spencer-Boyce
James Spencer-Boyce

Related posts

Gergelyi Burian Photo by Laszlo Balogh/Total Waterpolo

September 28, 2023

Favorites earn away victories in Hungary


Read more

Denes Varga Photo by Dj. Kostic/VK Novi Beograd

September 27, 2023

Ferencvaros and Jadran Split collect points after late comebacks


Read more

Nikola Jaksic scored six goals today Photo by Slobodan Sandić

September 26, 2023

Two thrillers open new Champions League season; title holder and runner-up with no mercy


Read more

Featured Projects

01 - 06 July, 2024 - Limited Availability

Book NowLearn More

SUPPORT US ON PATREON

If you share our passion for water polo worldwide, consider becoming a cherished contributor to our cause, with as little as 5$/month.

SUPPORT US

Learn More

Custom Team Gear

LEARN MORE

Shop Now

Looking for something?

✕
  • Italian League 2023 – Women
    September 28, 2023
  • Italian League 2023 – Men
    September 28, 2023
  • 0
    Favorites earn away victories in Hungary
    September 28, 2023
  • Home
  • Water Polo News
  • WearWaterpolo Shop
  • Contact Us
  • Project Superstar – TW Camp
  • BIWPA
  • Custom Team Equipment
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
© 2021 Total Waterpolo. All Rights Reserved.
Total Waterpolo Arena

We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience and provide personalized content. By clicking "Accept All Cookies" or continuing to browse this website, you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT