Greece won 2-0
The (soccer) night of October 13, 2023 was a dream for the National team and, above all, anything but “gruesome”, as it fell on a Friday.
With a scenario that even Gustavo Poget could not have written better, the “blue and white” team passed victoriously from the “Aviva” stadium in Dublin, beating Ireland 2-0 (20′ Giakoumakis, 45’+4 Masouras) for the 7th matchday in his qualifiers EURO 2024while France were beating Amsterdam and the “Johan Cruyff Arena” 2-1 thanks to the class of Kylian Mbappe.
With a scenario that even Gustavo Poget could not have written better, the “blue and white” team passed victoriously from the “Aviva” stadium in Dublin, beating Ireland 2-0 (20′ Giakoumakis, 45’+4 Masouras) for the 7th matchday in the EURO 2024 qualifiers, as France cruised past Amsterdam and the Johan Cruyff Arena 2-1 thanks to the class of Kylian Mbappe.
The National team reached 12 points and remained alone second in Group B, leaving the “Oranie” third with 9, while the “Blues” of Didier Deschamps also mathematically qualified for the finals, reaching 18 points in six matches. Ronald Koeman’s team has one game less than Poget’s group, which they will face on Monday (16/10, 21:45) at the OPAP Arena in the “final” for second place and the ticket to EURO 2024 .
After the home team’s very strong start, which saw Smallbone’s effort stop at Vlahodemos (4′) and Ferguson’s shot touch the right post and go wide, the National team players controlled the pace after ten minutes, they held and circulated the ball properly and, as a product of time, began to make demands.
After in the 15th minute Nyberg let the phase pass without a whistle when Doherty obviously kept Giakoumakis in the area, Bakasetas “longed” for Bazounou in the 17th minute with a very nice shot that the Irish goalkeeper had a hard time saving.
Three minutes later, however, he collected the ball from his own net for the first time, when Tsimikas won the counterattack from Ogbene and with a cross-assist gave the opportunity to Giakoumakis to find the ball with excellent timing in the jump and with a dynamite header to open the score with a goal from a classic center forward position, which was so lacking in the previous games.
In the 33rd minute, a shot from outside the area by Bakaseta was blocked by Bazounou and four minutes later, Pelkas’ choice to shoot instead of passing to Masoura, who was alone with an almost empty net, deprived the Greek team of the second goal in a unique opportunity, with Irish goalkeeper saves a corner.
Stephen Kenny’s side looked a bit threatening for the first time after the 5th minute in the 45th minute, with Vlahodemos blocking Duffy’s header. The first half, however, had other emotions, as in the delays of the… delays and in an exemplary counter-attack that started with a deep ball from Mandalos to Giakoumakis, a turn from the left to Pelkas and another turn from him to Masouras, the forward of Olympiakos wrote 2-0 at 45΄+4.
It was the sixth goal of the Greek international in the last seven games of the national team, while with four goals so far, Masouras is the top scorer of the representative group in the qualifiers of the European Championship 2024.
In the second half, the National team chose to give the ball to the Irish and wait for them in the half field. In this way he controlled the game, since the home team did not have the player-leader or the personality to carry the team, it was described in APE BPE.
With loose possession, Keni’s players could not get into the Greek area, trapped in the blocking function of the Greeks who threatened with a third goal in the 74th minute, when Ioannidis headed the ball just over the crossbar from Hatzigiovanni’s cross.
The only time the National team felt pressure was in the two minutes from the 82nd to the 83rd minute, when Doherty with two headers first forced Masoura to clear just before the line and then Vlachodimos to intervene effectively, keeping the score in the final form of.
REFEREE: Glen Nyberg (Sweden)
YELLOW: Collins – Pelkas, Bouchalakis
THE COMPOSITIONS:
IRELAND (Steven Kenny): Bazunu, Doherty, Scales, Collins (46′ Manning), Duffy, Cullen, Brown (70′ Johnston), Ferguson, Smallbone (70′ Robinson), Knight, Ogbene (85′ Ida).
HELLAS (Gustavo Poget): Vlachodimos, Rota, Tsimikas, Mavropanos, Retsos, Kourbelis (64′ Bouchalakis), Mandalos, Pelkas (64′ Chatzigiovannis), Bakasetas (87′ Siopis), Masouras (87′ Koulierakis), Giakoumakis (70′ Ioannidis) ).
