Fears of an expert Euro 2024 Qualifiers
Swansea Metropolis striker Wilfried Bony equalized for Ivory Coast in the 73rd minute. In the first minute of stoppage time, Ivory Coast striker Giovanni Sio obstructed a Samaras shot by clipping him from behind within the Ivorian penalty space, leading to a Greece penalty kick which Samaras converted with 30 seconds remaining in the sport, prompting wild celebrations in Greece. To stave off the risk of elimination, the Greece needed to earn no less than some extent in their second match with Japan, who sat alongside them at the bottom of Group C. The task grew more troublesome as soon as captain Kostas Katsouranis received two yellow playing cards, reducing Greece to 10 males within the 38th minute. The despondent Romanian side failed to attain on this match, with Florin Andone putting the post in the 76th minute. An early damage to midfielder Panagiotis Kone introduced on young Olympiacos midfielder Andreas Samaris, who would score his first worldwide purpose after intercepting a poor again-pass by an Ivorian defender. The final time the two sides met in late 2011, Romania came into Greece and dealt Fernando Santos his first defeat as Greece manager in his 18th recreation at the helm.
Greece’s qualification campaign for UEFA Euro 2020 commenced with the workforce being positioned in Group J. Attributable to disappointing results, John van ‘t Schip determined not to name-up among the leading members of the squad, similar to Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Kostas Manolas for their ultimate matches. Trailing 1-zero but handed a bonus by the dismissal of Costa Rican Óscar Duarte, Greece forced further time via a Sokratis Papastathopoulos equalizer ten seconds into stoppage time. Navas thwarted a number of alternatives for Greece all through the 30 minutes of additional time and saved Fanis Gekas’ penalty in the sport’s concluding penalty shootout. Trailing 2-zero in the 63rd minute, Fanis Gekas’ header from six yards struck the crossbar for Greece’s best likelihood of the match. A 2-1 residence win over Sweden saved the hopes for qualification alive, and was adopted by a 2-zero away win against Georgia. However after missing a number of possibilities, England discovered themselves behind after 20 minutes of play when Germany scored in their very first assault (Birgit Prinz), and immediately scored a second-a protracted-range shot from Melanie Behringer to go 2-zero up. As Group C runners-up Greece was paired in the spherical of sixteen with Group D shock winners Costa Rica, who won their first-ever World Cup group stage ahead of former world champions Uruguay, Italy and England.