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The Greek national team missed a great opportunity, but on the one hand they were not playing alone and on the other hand they found an opponent who was superior in quality from the start. Lambros Balafas writes.
We didn’t become Argentina when we won at Wembley, nor a team of the… series now that we were defeated in OAKA by England. Yes, we will all agree, we missed a great opportunity, but on the one hand we were not playing alone, on the other hand we found an opponent who was superior in quality from the start and that very element imposed itself on the pitch. And in the strength we tried to take it there and the Premier League players did not… chew, they have learned to function in such conditions, it is their second nature.
The goal we never got over
In football there are good nights that help a team that is behind another team to equalize. Yesterday was not what we wanted, things did not go as planned by Ivan Jovanovic. In their first moment the Carsley players hurt us, we never really got past the Watkins goal. Not that we didn’t try, nobody can blame the internationals in the slightest, but the English forced us into a secondary role, for the longest part of the match.
Pickford was there
We got a reaction halfway through the first half, Csimika’s big chance showed the vulnerabilities of the opposition defence. For a moment Madueke was forgotten and did not follow the Liverpool full-back, but Pickford did not let us turn the match around. Yes, maybes don’t change a result, but that moment could make the difference and make the Greek players believe more.
Another England in OAKA
Regularly, the “three lions” came much more… read in Greece, compared to the match in London, where we really surprised them. In possession, Lewis would leave the left edge of the defense, come to the center and create an outnumbered team, together with Jones and Gallagher against Siopis and Zafiris. Bellingham were also getting down low and helping to move the ball around, this game knows how to do it perfectly and that’s how we were forced to chase the ball, tire and fall behind in possession when we wanted the ball to create as we were back to the score.
Changes and hope
Jovanovic kept the shape of the first half for ten minutes in the replay, but he didn’t see the spark he wanted and in the 55th minute he changed 3 of the 4 who were playing in front of the midfielders. Pelkas asked for balls initially playing behind the forward, brought out aggression, Ioannidis equalized in the biggest phase we created, put his body perfectly, broke free from Walker’s marking, but Pickford was there for the second great Greek moment. This is the role of the goalkeeper in a top team, to clean up the laundry in the one, two, big chances that will come his way.
And finally submission
The final 20 minutes was a clear imposition of English superiority. We looked for an equaliser, our lines opened up, the distances grew and there the fresh players who came off the bench for England put an end to every Greek dream. Yes, with a bit of luck it was 2-0, the ball hit the back of Vlachodimos, but there was a third goal, which forced OAKA to applaud. England, many absent, threw Kane, Rodgers, Bowen and Gibbs-White into the fray in the final stretch of the game. Do you want me to tell you the market value of just these players? 212 million. 194.5 million is the value of the entire National Greece.
The… beast prevailed
Obviously we didn’t lose because of the changes, we explained where and how the match was lost, but this is also a sample to understand which team we had against us and what exactly we tried to achieve. England are bigger, they have lost two European finals in a row, they have tremendous talent, a roster with unimaginable depth and their FA have thrown millions of pounds at Tuchel’s feet to give them what they lack, trophies.
The next day
First place in the group was clearly lost, but if we look at things realistically, logic prevailed in the end. Greece looked for the breakthrough, it was chased by a bee all this way, and that’s where we have to invest.
I will say this at every opportunity, not because of patriotism, but because of what I see on the field from the current roster of our National Team. We have a lot to expect from both the players and Jovanovic. Conditions are ideal on and off the field.
Marinakis gives Olympiakos training clothes for training, Iliopoulos offers a premium of 300 thousand euros, PAOK, Panathinaikos are fellow travelers in the effort, since they are all together, FOR THE FIRST TIME, we have nothing to fear, only to wait. Joys…
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