Internationals’ report – Part I
Greece’s downfall didn’t stop at Belfast, as they were defeated 3-1 by Northern Ireland. Albania and Slovakia shot themselves on the foot, while Sweden are back in contention. Here is how PAOK internationals fared on matchday 9 of the Euro 2016 qualifiers.
Dimitris Pelkas’s senior international debut was recorded on a day that they lost 3-1 away to Northern Ireland – yet another defeat in their pitiful Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
Alexandros Tziolis played for the whole 90 minutes and tried in vain to tidy up Greece’s midfield, as the home side were better and hugely motivated, in comparison with their visitors. Pelkas was introduced on the pitch in the 70th minute, while Stefanos Athanasiadis came off the bench six minutes later, while the Northern-Irish were already leading 3-0. In the 82nd minute, the skipper of PAOK lost a good chance to score and four minutes later Christos Aravidis netted Greece’s consolation goal, teed up by Torosidis. Stelios Kitsiou was an unused sub.
Against indifferent Belarus, Slovakia were looking for a win that would hand them automatic qualification to the Euro 2016 finals. They bumped into Drahun however… The Belorussian player saved off the line Róbert Mak’s shot and then scored the opener with a header in the 34th minute. Despite being in numerical advantage for the last 25 minutes of the encounter, whatever the Slovaks did, it was to no avail as Atromitos’ goalkeeper Andrei Gorbunov was excellent. They couldn’t avoid defeat, but this setback could prove just a minor glitch, if they defeat Luxembourg on matchday 10. Erik Sabo didn’t get to play.
It was dubbed as the “match of the century” for the Albania national team. Bad blood among them and the Serbians and the incidents in the Belgrade match a year ago were enough to create a hot atmosphere at Elbasan. Εrgys Kace was introduced in the second half and his side continued pushing for the winner. But they left themselves open at the back, resulting to two late goals in stoppage time by Kolarov and Ljajic earning Serbia an important prestige victory.
Robin Olsen didn’t get to play in Sweden’s away 2-0 victory over Liechtenstein. The Scandinavians have secured at least third place in their section after Montenegro’s loss to Austria. On the last matchday, they hope for a Russian defeat in Moscow by indifferent Montenegro that, combined with a victory of their own against Moldova, will see them climb to second place and avoid play-offs.
Greece U19s prevailed 2-1 over Russia in a friendly encounter held in Patras. Patralis came off the bench in minute 70, Topalidis remained an unused sub, while Bataev was introduced on the pitch for the Russians eleven minutes from time.
Upcoming fixtures:
10.10
16:00 Greece U19 – Russia U19
11.10
19:00 Greece – Hungary
19:00 Armenia – Albania
12.10
19:00 Sweden – Moldova
21:45 Luxembourg – Slovakia
13.10
18:30 Greece U21 – Portugal U21
