Greece Beats Finland 2-0, But England Deprives Them of First Place

Greece beat Finland 2-0 in Helsinki, but England deprived the Blue and White of first place in Group B, as they thrashed Ireland 5-0 at Wembley on Sunday night.

The Greek national team had hoped to close the UEFA Nations League tournament stage victoriously in Helsinki in the wild hope that they would finish first in the group.

Greece and England were at the top of the group with 12 points each, but the English team is ahead since it has scored more goals. At the same time, England was expecting Ireland at Wembley, so they were the clear favorite.

In Helsinki for the Finland-Greece match, the Blue and White started as favorites after an easy win 3-0 against the Finnish on September 7th.

For the Finland-Greece game, the national team coach, Ivan Jovanovic, chose the following 11: Vlachodimos, Rota, Koulierakis, Mavropanos, Tsimikas, Mandalos, Kourbelis, Bakasetas, Masouras, Tzolis, Pavlidis.

On the bench were: Tzolakis, Mandas, Vagiannidis, Retsos, Doi, Douvikas, Pelkas, Hatzidiakos, Constantelias, Giannoulis, Siopis, Mouzakitis.

Finland started with: Joronen, Alho, Hoskonen, Ivanov, Pikkrainen, Hakans, Lod, Kamara, Kairinen, Kailman, Pohjanpalo.

In the eighth minute, a corner shot by Bakasetas found the head of stopper Mavropanos who sent the ball over the crossbar. In the fifteenth minute, Bakasetas, again, found the head of Mavropanos who missed again.

In the thirty-ninth minute, Pavlidis dribbled in the Finland box, but Pikkarainen managed to sent the ball out, allowing Greece yet another corner kick that bore no fruit.

Half time found Finland and Greece at 0-0. The Greek team had possession of the ball throughout but did not manage to breach the Finnish defense.

Second half is the charm

In the second half Greece found their winning pace and put Finland in the box. Six minutes in, Koulierakis with a precise pass cut the opponent’s defense in half and found Bokasetas who kicked the ball in the net.

Only five minutes later, Finnish goalie Joronen left his post to kick the ball away, but he found Tzolis. The Greek forward had an easy job sending the ball to the empty post, sealing the win for the blue and white.

Greece tried to score more goals for the remaining of the game but with little effort.

The highlight of the second half was the debut of 17-year-old Christos Mouzakitis. The wonder kid of Greek soccer who played three games in the Europa League with Olympiacos only played for five minute at stoppage time, getting a taste of playing for the men’s national team. He now holds the record of the youngest player to debut in the men’s national team.

Yet, while Greece had a slim chance of finishing first in the group by beating Finland, England had it easy with Ireland at Wembley at the same time. The Three Lions beat the Irish national team 5-0, depriving Greece of the chance to finish first in Group B.

This means that the Greeks will have to be in the playoffs in March 2025 to advance to League A of the Nations League.