What injured Arsenal star Christos Tzolis said to Greece manager during substitution row
Arsenal winger Christos Tzolis is set to return to the club after picking up a hamstring injury while away with Greece
Greece boss Ivan Jovanovic has revealed Christos Tzolis told him he was not coming off before the Arsenal winger was eventually substituted due to injury.
Just minutes after his opening goal was ruled out for offside, the 24-year-old pulled up and felt tightness in the back of his right hamstring.
However, Tzolis was eager to continue playing and while he initially moved off the pitch with his head in his hands, he attempted to battle on.
But head coach Jovanovic took that decision out of his hands, interjecting to preserve the player's condition.
Tzolis, a £34million summer signing from Club Brugge, is set to undergo tests in his homeland today and is then expected to return to Arsenal to begin his recovery.
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It means he will miss this Sunday's Group B encounter against Germany having assisted Dimitrios Kourbelis' 74th-minute winner which downed Jurgen Klopp's side in Augsburg last weekend.
Jovanovic said during his press conference when asked to clarify the substitution debacle (quotes via sport24 ): "How do I handle it? You tell me? I'm his coach, I tell him to go out and he says 'I'm not going out'.
"How do I handle it? So, this is something that I characterise as the Greek mentality and all these kids who come to play in the national team regardless of age. I think it was a scene that everyone saw, those who were close.
"I told him to get out, because I suspected that he wouldn't have done that if he hadn't felt something. We don't know how big the damage is today, but I hoped it was just a twitch, something temporary.
"I didn't have any reason to be honest, because these aren't qualifiers, they're the Nations League. First and foremost I wanted to protect the player.
"He didn't want to stay near me to go out; instead, he went to defend the corner. And then he went out. These are our players."
Ivan Jovanovic decided to bring Christos Tzolis off for his own good in Greece's 2-2 draw with Holland
After the match, Tzolis was feeling fit enough to sign autographs for Greek supporters outside of the stadium and he also swapped shirts and posed for a picture with Arsenal team-mate Jurrien Timber.
Jovanovic also insists the decision to sub Tzolis was taken in consultation with his medical staff, explaining: "We have doctors, and very good ones at that. So when a doctor considers that this thing, as he and Christos understand it, is something that is not for the player to continue playing.
"Certainly first as a coach I have to take the decision to replace the player, because it was a muscular issue. It wasn’t a problem, like an ankle or something else.
"But when it’s muscular issues, that, along with the doctors, with the immediate information I have, was the reason I asked for it to come out immediately."
The relationship between the pair is thought to be strong, so while Tzolis was keen to continue, he is likely to understand that Jovanovic was merely protecting him.
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