 After getting his coaching diploma, in January 2005 he was appointed as the coach of the Greece national under-19 football team.He led the team to the 2005 U19 European Championship which took place in Northern Ireland, but failed to progress past the group stage, despite a victory against the hosts.This was due to two straight 3–0 defeats in the remaining games of the group, with Nioplias blaming the poor fitness of his players.