Post USA 94 – Euro 96 Qualifying Part 2

Post USA 94 – Euro 96 Qualifying Part 2

By Greg Gavalas Game 6 – How things can change

As we can appreciate today in 2020, Helsinki has never been a kind destination for the Ethniki, till this day, we have never won a game there and on June 11 1995 the Greek team travelled there for an important match with the home team who had improved by leaps and bounds since new manager, Jukka Ikalainen had taken over.

With Russia and Scotland expected to win their respective matches, the new Greek team needed to play well and leave with points.

The Piratiko would get off to a great start, great play from Kasapis on the left created a good cross for Demis Nikolaidis to score his first goal for Greece after just 6 minutes.

The Ethniki was playing well but a Finish corner towards the end of half time was not dealt with well, from the scramble to clear the ball in front of goal, Tsalouhidis would foul the Finland player and a penalty was awarded. Ajax Amsterdam star, Jari Litmanen would have no problems scoring past Nikos Mihopoulos who started over the injured Atmantzidis.

Finland would score the winner in the 54th minute, very poor marking would allow Ari Hjelm to get behind the defence and score a header past Mihopoulos.

The loss would see the Ethniki drop from first to fourth and Finland would amazingly go first after a horror start to the campaign, Russia was now second and two points clear of Greece while Scotland lay in 3rd but with a game in hand.

Game 7 – What could have been to Greek Tragedy

August 16 would be a big day for the Ethniki as they travelled to Glasgow to take on Scotland in a do or die match.

Polychroniou would start with Batista and Vryzas up front in somewhat of a surprise with Tsiartas behind them.

The match overall was of real good quality and a classic European Qualifier, the first half would see Scotland get the better overall run with Greece reduced to long range shots that were well off target.

In the second half Greece would come out firing, by the 50th minute both Vryzas and Batista would be subbed off for Machlas and Alexandris respectively but this wasn’t such a bad thing as both subs would play well.

Greece would dominate the first part of the half and Alexandris would have a shot and header that required great saves from Scottish goalkeeper Jim Leighton. The Greeks kept pressuring and Machlas would have a header deflected out that looked certain to go in.

In the 72nd minute, Ally McCoist would break millions of Greek hearts when his glancing header would open the scoring against the run of play, Greece would try to find an equaliser but to no avail and the saves from Leighton would prove the difference.

To rub salt into the wound, Russia would beat Finland 6-0 in Helsinki at the same time, as such Greece was virtually eliminated from qualification and was now 5 points behind Scotland and Russia.

Game 8 – Convincing win in San Marino

By Matchday 8 Greece needed Finland to do them a favour against Scotland and at the same time play San Marino in Serravalle.

Greece would play well and win 4-0, goals from Tsalouhidis, Giorgos Georgiadis, a screamer from Alexandris and a nice goal from Donis made it a nice night to return to winning ways but sadly Finland couldn’t steal points from Scotland who won 1-0 and effectively killed all Greek hopes.

Game 9 – Valiant effort and test vs Russia

In October the Ethniki travelled to Moscow to take on the red hot Russians who had scored 29 goals in 8 matches.

With qualification over and the memories of the last scenes at this stadium in 1993, people wanted to see a strong performance.

Greece would play well, especially compared to the game in Thessaloniki but bad luck would strike again, in the 36th minute Marinos Ouzounidis would deflect a cross into his own net to open the scoring for Russia.

In the second half, like in Glasgow, Greece came out firing but would be rewarded for their efforts, excellent play from Donis on the right saw the Panathinaikos midfielder put a great cross to Tsalouhidis and the, then PAOK player headed past Kharin to equalize.

Poor goalkeeping from Mihopoulos would allow Russia to score a winner in the 70th minute through Victor Onopko.

The Ethniki would try to get a deserved equaliser but it wasn’t to be.

Game 10 – Football celebration in Crete

The last game of the campaign in 1995, and whilst Greece was out of contention it is great to see the support of the Cretan fans to the Ethniki who packed the Theodoros Vardinogiannis Stadium and created an amazing atmosphere for the team who would put on an excellent display against the Faroe Islands.

Donis, Machlas and Tsiartas would have exceptional matches, Donis would score a trademark goal with a great run and finish in the box that showcased why Blackburn Rovers bought him in 1996.

Alexandris, Nikolaidis, Machlas and Tsiartas would score the other goals, Tsiartas also hit the post two times prior to his goal.

FINAL STANDINGS

Conclusion

The next generation of players may not have made the Euro 96 tournament but it was a big stepping stone to the future.

The team was scoring more and played a nice brand of football, the area Greece needed development on was defence and finishing their chances, especially in the big matches, one can only wonder what could have been if more of these players had been given more opportunity at a World Cup.

My one surprise was the lack of play from Christos Kostis who was in his prime in these years, otherwise we saw the value of many notable names that would make a big name in Greek Football in years to come, including Zagorakis, Nikolaidis, Donis, Vryzas, Alexandris, Dabizas, Marinos Ouzounidis, and Grigoris Georgatos also had some caps in this campaign.

Final Scoring Tally

Alexandris – 4

Machlas – 4

Tsalouhidis – 4

Donis – 2

Nikolaidis – 2

Apostolakis – 1

Batista – 1

Frantzeskos – 1

Georgiadis – 1

Markos – 1

Saravakos – 1

Tsiartas - 1

Hellas Football

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