'Great pleasure': Greece boss Ivan Jovanovic directly addresses Scotland with heartfelt 73-word sign-off

Greece head coach Ivan Jovanovic thanked Scotland and their fans for their warm hospitality during their stay and said he was looking forward to returning for the World Cup qualifiers later this year after vanquishing the hosts 3-0 at Hampden.

The Greeks overturned a 1-0 deficit from the Nations League A relegation play-off first leg in Piraeus with an excellent performance in Glasgow to condemn Scotland to demotion into League B. Goals from Giannis Konstantelias, Konstantinos Karetsas and Christos Tzolis gave Jovanovic’s team a deserved win and top-tier football to look forward to when the competition resumes after the World Cup in the summer of 2026.

Greece head coach Ivan Jovanovic praised the welcome from Scottish football. | Getty Images

Before that, Scotland and Greece will resume hostilities in the autumn when they both try to progress from Group C of the World Cup qualification pools alongside either Portugal or Denmark and Belarus. Greece are due back at Hampden on October 9 before the campaign ends in Piraeus on November 15.

Jovanovic was delighted with the upwardly mobile Greeks’ display and ended his long post-match press conference by addressing the Scottish football public.

“On a personal note, I would like to thank the Scottish federation, the association, for the welcome we’ve had,” said Jovanovic. “And also the fans in the stadium. It was a great pleasure to be here. We really enjoyed it. We look forward to playing here again in a few months and it’s something I really liked, playing in the stadium - both from the fans and the federation over the past few days.”