A hungry England team was pitted against a ferocious Greek team looking to head towards the top spot to secure their promotion to the A League for the next edition of the competition. The game kicked off and England instantly began attacking in hopes of trying to get an early goal, with shots from LOSC Lille’s Angel Gomes and Bukayo Saka looking to set the pace for the game as early as the 15th minute. However, after weathering the English attacks, the Greeks managed to flip the game on its head and dominated the rest of the first half where they found success in Evangelos Pavlidis who gave the Greek side a 1-0 lead heading into the break.
It appeared that interim England boss Lee Carsley had some strong words for his team during the break where he immediately began a tactical breakdown and offered some insight into how to break the Greek team down effectively for the second half. England managed to correct their early mistakes and managed to regain some of their early momentum with the introductions of Tottenham’s Dominic Solanke and Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins. England managed to fight back but found little to no success in breaking the excellent defensive display from Greece. Once England reached the dying moments of the full 90, it appeared there was little hope until a thunderous strike from Jude Bellingham helped to propel them with momentum into extra time. Despite the efforts, a swift transition forming a counterattack from Greece set Pavlidis loose where during the last seconds he managed to convert his chance and allowed the Greeks to steal all 3 points.
It was clear to see how high the emotions were during the triumphant celebrations as the Greek team came together to display a heartfelt tribute to their teammate George Baldock, who was tragically found dead a few days prior to the match.
Carsley when speaking to the media after the match said that he felt the team were never really in the game until the second half, ultimately causing Greece to control the game for such a long period that their momentum couldn’t be shifted. He also stated that the Greek defensive setup was very complex compared to analysts predictions meaning their preparation was quite poor for the match.
England’s next match against Finland at the Helsinki stadium showed a different England team that were better prepared for the occasion, with three goals from Declan Rice, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jack Grealish England obtained a confident 3-1 win over the Fins and kept England in the hunt for first place and a spot in Group A for the next Nations League edition. England’s reverse fixture with Greece on the 14th of November will seemingly prove pivotal in their promotion hopes, as anything but a win will all but spoil their hopes of reaching the top again.
