Greece’s Under-19 Soccer Team Makes is to the Euro Final!

TALLINN, ESTONIA – Greece’s national under-19 football (soccer) team made it to the final of the European championship after defeating England 2-1 in extra time. It was the second time a Greek team has made it that far. The team will play either France or Spain for the championship. At the beginning of the tournament, Greece had lost to Spain and had to win against England to advance, after defeating Portugal, the group leader, 3-2 earlier, eliminating the Portuguese.
The disqualification of Greek goalie Kapino at 44 minutes led to a penalty shot which a new goaltender, Dioudis blocked. The English tried early on to gain control but failed as the Greek team swirled in defense and then counter-attacked and scored on a shot by Bougaidis, who headed the ball through the heart of the defense after Stafylidis put the ball into play from the corner.

Panyiotis Ballas led Greece in the first half with stalwart play. The Greeks played a stifling defense before rushing out with speedsters Lykogiannis and Gianniotas, who bedeviled the Brits. At the end of the half, Kapino fell on Beraino’s legs to take the ball away but the referee called a penalty on the play and expelled the Greek goalkeeper. Without being able to warm up, Dioudis came into the game and guessed which way the penalty kick was going, keeping the score 1-0 for Greece.
At the beginning of the second half, the Greek team was pressed hard by the English, who tied the game at 56 minutes on a goal by Afombe after a center by Hall on the back of Kourbeli. The English squandered many more chances, uplifting the Greeks. With the score tied, the game went into extra time and the British played defense, hoping for an opening. The Greek team, a man down with only 10 players, pressed hard. Lykogiannis exploited a mistake by the British defense and passed through them over Johnston and scored the winner.