Greece stood tall and showed their worth against footballing heavyweights France, securing a draw to end the group stage of the Euros qualifiers on a massive high.
The “Ethniki” rallied together to seal an impressive 2-2 stalemate with the group winners, showing no signs of complacency in what was a dead rubber match that ultimately had no impact on the group’s final placements.
The French side took the lead 42 minutes in after forward Randal Kolo Muani released a powerful strike from a tight angle to soar past goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos’ near post.
Greece managed to bring it level soon after the break, thanks to a beautiful volley from captain Anasatasios Bakasetas into the bottom left side of the goal (56’).
Remarkably, they then went ahead themselves five minutes later after left back Dimitris Giannoulis drove successfully into the box and passed to Fotis Ioannidis, with the striker tapping the ball in to bag his maiden goal for the national team.
The “Ethniki” were brought back to reality in the 74th minute as midfielder Youssouf Fofana hit the ball from distance with incredible speed and accuracy that was too difficult for Vlachodimos to keep out.
France pushed for the third and nearly broke through twice in the latter stages, first in the 89th minute when a Kingsley Coman ball across the box deflected off a Greek defender and just stayed outside of the goal line.
Superstar Kylian Mbappe then also came within inches of a goal as his long-range effort was tipped onto the crossbar by Vlachodimos in the last minute of the game (90+5’).
The Greek fans notably started singing the national anthem in the dying moments of the match, showing a display of pride in the team’s mighty performance.
The result means that Greece was the only side to make France drop points in these qualifiers, though they still finished comfortably in first with a tally of 22.
Meanwhile, the “Ethniki” wrapped up the group stage in third position with 13 points from their eight matches, a respectable total given they had to compete with France and the Netherlands.
The match will no doubt fill the side with confidence as they now mentally prepare for the challenge of the Euros qualifying play-offs in March.
Greece is confirmed to face Kazakhstan in a knockout semi-final and, pending victory in that contest, challenge either Georgia or Luxembourg for a spot at next year’s tournament in Germany.
