Hearts ace forced to wait for international recognition

Hearts winger Alexandros Kyziridis will have to wait for his first taste of international football after he was an unused substitute for Greece on Thursday evening.

Kyziridis was given his maiden call-up into the senior Greece set-up by national team manager Ivan Jovanović last month on the back of an excellent season with Hearts.

Jovanović named Kyziridis as a substitute for the friendly against Sweden at the Strawberry Arena in Solna, but unfortunately for the 25-year-old, he was one of only two outfield Greek players who failed to make it on to the pitch.

Alexandros Kyziridis has been a form player for Hearts this season. | Getty Images

The match against the Swedes finished 2-2, with Georgios Masouras scoring an equaliser five minutes into stoppage time.

Kostas Tsimikas had given the visitors an early lead, but Sweden responded after the break and goals from Viktor Gyokeres and Gustaf Nilsson looked to have sealed victory until Masouras pounced.

Kyziridis could still make his international debut for Greece this month when they take on Italy on Monday evening at the Pankritio Stadium in Heraklion.

Speaking last November, Jovanović admitted that Kyziridis - who was not capped at youth level for Greece - had caught his eye. “I do watch Scottish football, actually,” the manager said. “Kyziridis is having a good season and we are watching him as we are watching Hearts and other teams in Scotland.

“It’s something that I’m looking at, expanding the pool of players available to us, especially with the Nations League coming up. We’ll need to have a look at more players and more options.

“I personally really like Scottish people and the Scots overall. My son, Nicolai, was in Edinburgh for a few years and I would visit him very regularly. He studied business management at Heriot Watt. As I say, I really like the Scottish people. They are a very warm group of people with a certain temperament that I really like.”

It has surprised many in Greece that it has taken until now for Kyziridis to be called into the national team set-up.

"I was quite surprised he didn't get called up, to be honest,” Greek football expert Stephen Kountourou told the BBC last November "He was one of the few players that wasn't given an opportunity this time round. I hope that Jovanovic does [call up Kyziridis].

"Hearts this season is a fantastic story and he's been brilliant for them. And just to have that option on the wing where we, even with really talented players who have a lot of potential, we still lack a lot of depth in that position.

"I would have loved Kyziridis to come for this international break to give him some really valuable experience.

"I can understand Jovanovic not wanting to kind of disrupt the team so much by bringing in loads of new players out of the blue and excluding players who have been there under him since he took charge.

"But yeah, he hasn't been called up this time and I really hope he does in the near future."

Kyzirdis arrived from Slovakian side Zemplin Michalovce last summer. He became an instant hit at Tynecastle, scoring six goals and providing 11 assists as Hearts finished second in the Premiership.

His team-mates Cammy Devlin (Australia) and Craig Gordon (Scotland) are preparing for the World Cup this summer and will be involved in friendlies against Switzerland and Bolivia respectively over the weekend.