A Knee away from the 1998 World Cup

A Knee away from the 1998 World Cup

By Greg Gavalas

Coming of what would have been for the Ethniki in World Cup Qualifications, Mexico 70 was close with a very good team, and as mentioned in that part, until 1994, Greece had seldom even got close to World Cup Qualification however the next opportunity to reach the grandest stage would happen in just the next campaign which was for the 1998 World Cup to be held in France.

Coming off the 1994 World Cup itself, Greece would form a new face under coach Kostas Polychroniou, the vast majority of the team was also new with younger and very skilful players who would also go through their first full qualifying campaign for Euro 96 previously.

After a bright start to that campaign, the Ethniki would fall short of qualification to Russia and Scotland, however the team played nice football and were a totally different squad to that of Alketas Panagoulias in 93/94, even scoring 23 goals for the 96 campaign vs 10 for the 94 campaign.

Kostas Polychroniou and USA 94 coach, Alketas Panagoulias

Group Draw

In December 1995 the group draw for the qualification stage would take place, Greece was in pot 2 still at this stage and drew; Denmark from pot 1, Croatia from pot 3, Slovenia from pot 4 and Bosnia & Herzegovina from pot 6.

With only the top team facing qualification and all but one second placed team falling in playoffs, it was going to be a tough campaign with Denmark and Croatia whilst Bosnia was never expected to be an easy affair also.

Game 1 – A good start

Greece’s first match was a must win, at home to Slovenia in Athens at the OAKA.

Greece dominated but with the score 0-0 at half time, Plychroniou added Alekos Alexandris at the expense of Kostas Konstantinidis for more attack.

The move would pay off after just 10 minutes when an Alexandris cross would find Daniel Batista who would volley home in style to open the scoring.

Alexandris would get another assist, this time setting up Demis Nikolaidis who had subbed in at the hour mark, the AEK striker would do well to hold off the defender and score what would be the final 2-0.

                                               https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebJpiQlZT38

Game 2 – First of many games with Bosina

Game two was September of 96, the match would be played at the Messiniako Stadium in Kalamata, something we don’t see now days, but the locals made a nice atmosphere in the small stadium.

The Ethniki was sluggish in the first half hour and so bad was the lack of connection that Polychroniou acted early and subbed off Zizis Vryzas after just 35 minutes with Batista taking his place next to Nikolaidis up front in the hope to get Stratos Apostolakis and Giorgios Donis in the game also.

The move would prove a master stroke as Greece would change face completely, start to dominate the game and in the 41st minute, off a Vasilis Tsiartas fee kick, Marinos Ouzounidis would open the scoring for Greece and his international career.  

In the second half the Ethniki was firing on all cylinders, goals from Apostolakis and Nikolaidis would setting the 3-0 final score-line.

This match would be the first of many qualification campaigns between the two nations in the future.

On the same day, Denmark were 2-0 winners away from home over Slovenia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfT2TVvdNn8

Game 3 – Unlucky defeat to the Danes in Copenhagen 

The match away to Denmark in October was the first of the critical matches in the group and the match quality of this game was of World Cup quality, despite that, two errors cost the Ethniki the ultimate penalty.

The home team opened the scoring when a Danish cross from the right caught out Theodoris Zagorakis who, with momentum, accidently lobbed Ilias Atmantzidis in goals and opened the scoring for Denmark.

Greece would bounce back though and just 10 minutes later, a well worked free kick would see Donis score a nice shot past Peter Schmeichel from outside the box.

A piece of Brian Laudrup brilliance would decide the match, after picking up a loose pass close to half way, the Rangers forward would evade all defensive attempts for the ball and place his shot past Atmantzidis.

The match would end 2-1 and not long afterwards, Croatia would start their campaign with a 4-1 away win over Bosnia.

Vasilis Tsiartas in training with Kostas Frantzeskos as Startos Apostolakis looks on

Game 4 – Star filled Croatia

Unlike the last two campaigns, the Ethniki found themselves with two tough away games early in the campaign, and whilst Russia and Denmark before them were hard tests, Croatia filled a team full of international fire power.

On a cold night in the Zagreb Autumn, Hellas took on a Croatia team full of stars from the big leagues, including Davor Suker from Real Madrid, Robert Jarni from Real Betis, Slaven Bilic from Derby County, Zvonimir Boban from AC Milan and Alen Boksic who was with Juventus, to name just a few.

In contrast, Greece had just two players who were playing abroad, Donis and Tsiartas who was now at Sevilla in Spain.

Despite the contrast, Greece started well and the class of Tsiartas set up Nikolaidis with a trademark long ball from close to half way, found his former team mate perfectly, the AEK striker then chested down the ball and was able to place his shot past Drazen Ladic and put Greece 1-0 up after just 9 minutes.

Suker would put pay to the Croatian pressure just before half time with an equalizer from close range but a stubborn Greek defence with a dangerous counterattack was strong enough to see the game out, and the Ethniki came away with an important point away from home and from the Croats.

                                              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBF1ZgS8Cv0

Game 5 – Big win in very wet Sarajevo

The New Year saw the Ethniki start with 3 friendlies, they had two draws, away to Israel first and at home with Portugal second, before beating Cyprus 4-0 in Paralimni. 

In April the team travelled to Sarajevo to take on Bosnia & Herzegovina in a match that needed to be won.

The weather did the team no favours, it was pouring rain and the Bosnias packed the Stadion Kosevo. 

The heavy pitch made it difficult for both team to assert their authority and as such not many chances were created, the game had a goalless draw written all over it however, in the 72nd minute, PAOK midfielder and free kick specialist, Kostas Frantzeskos would score an unexpected goal, his free kick which was on the side of the goals found the inside post and Greece was able to hold on for a well-earned 3 points.

To make the win even more memorable, Croatia would draw 3-3 with Slovenia in Split, after having drawn at home with Denmark a month earlier.

Celebrations after Frantzeskos’s goal

The Greekline up for the Bosnia match in Sarejevo

                                             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y65819uhuM8

Half Way Table

Greece – 10 pts (5 games)

Denmark – 7 pts (3 games)

Croatia – 6 pts (4 games)

Bosnia – 3 pts (4 games)

Slovenia – 1 pt (4 games)

Qualification was now in Greece’s hands but the top 3 needed to play each other once and for the Ethniki that meant both games were to be played in Greece.

Game 6 – Critical home loss to Croats

The match with Croatia was a huge match, equivalent to the Russia matches of 1993 and 1995, a win would mean Greece had secured qualification for the World Cup in France next year. 

In preparation for this match, Polychroniou wanted the match to be played at the OAKA in Athens given the occasion and was weary of Thessaloniki as Aris had just been relegated to the second division and there was unrest with that, the Ethniki did not had a good record at the Kaftanzoglio in recent years also, so what did EPO do – they played the game at the Kaftanzoglio.

Polychroniou even recalls the day before the match, Aris fans went anti Ethniki and went to the hotel the team stayed at to give the players a hard time – unbelievable yet Greek truths.

Croatia was better in the first half however the Ethniki could have scored in just the 7th minute, a Frantzeskos corner to the far post went towards two Greek players only for both Nikolaidis and Nikos Dabizas to get in each other’s way!

Croatia would go close to scoring at the half hour mark when a trio of corners eventually led to a Boban shot that Atmantzidis would do well to save.

Suker would miss a big chance just before half time when though on goal but his placed shot went over by centimetres.

As we had seen under Polychroniou, the team came out better in the second half and pressed the Croatians a lot more.

The Greek pressure would see a huge chance in the 70th minute, a nice ball from Frantzeskos found Nikos Machlas, the then Vitesse striker did well to draw the defenders to him and put Donis through on goal, remarkably the Blackburn player would not shot first time having just Ladic to beat in goal but would make a dribble and try to back heel past the Croatian keeper. This really was the opportunity for the World Cup ticket that gets overlooked, he could have even squared it to Elias Poursanidis who would have had a tap in to open the scoring.

Minutes later Boban’s chip over Atmantzidis would find the woodwork but just three minutes later in the 74th minute, Suker would silence the stadium with a goal that put Croatia 1-0 up.

The Ethniki had no option but to attack in the hope for an equalizer to remain in the box seat for qualification and like earlier in the game, a huge chance would be wasted in the 90th minute when a cross from Donis found two Greek players in Alexandris and Konstatinidis but the firsts diving header would put the latter off in what could have been a tap in goal.

The loss was costly, Denmark was now on 10 points with Greece but with 2 games less and Croatia was now one point behind Greece but with 1 game less.

Machlas Croatia

                                                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqvXltaPNfc

The Ethniki now had to win their remaining two matches with Slovenia and Denmark.

Game 7 – Good away win sets up showdown

The penultimate game saw the Ethniki travel to Ljubljana to take on the struggling Slovenians. Since the loss to Croatia, Denmark and Bosnia had faced off twice, whilst the Danes beat the Bosnians at home, the Bosnians were able to beat the favourites in Sarajevo 3-0, a results that put Greece in contention for first place and automatic qualification but first they had to beat Slovenia.

As usual, an ordinary first half was followed by a great performance in the second half, goals from Alexandris, Konstantinidis and Machlas set up a showdown with Denmark in Athens.

Before that though, Denmark had to play Croatia in Copenhagen, the Danes would win 3-1, this secured their top 2 finish but for Greece and Croatia the last match day meant everything.

Frantzeskos

Theo Zagorakis and Nikos Machlas celebrate the win over Slovenia

                                             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ3AanQS3kA

Game 8 – The must win ticket that Schmeichel denied

Saturday 11th of October, 1997 – the stage was set in Athens, with Croatia away to Slovenia and only one point behind the Ethniki in points (13-12), it was expected for the Croats to win and as such Greece had to win this match for qualification.

Oaka Denmark

A match many remember, the general memory is how many chances the Ethniki missed, having relived it, my observations are as follows and I will expand on these.

Donis’s injury would be a big loss for the team who, of all the games we played, we had poor coverage on the right midfield which could have been a difference.

Greece had many chances in this game but ultimately didn’t really test Schmeichel and the Machlas-Nikolaidis combo never connected.

Greece would start strong and put Denmark on their heels with attacking raids from the get go, despite the pressure, the first real shot at goal would not come until the 22nd minute when Nikolaidis would let fly but his shot was straight to the Manchester United keeper.

Grigoris Georgatos started this game and his best contribution would be a freekick in the 25th minute but his attempt at goal would also be straight at Schmeichel.

Denmark’s first chance came in the 37th minute when Marc Rieper’s header would go just wide of goal and two minutes later, Laudrup would spectacularly set up Allan Nielsen for a volley on the penalty spot but the Tottenham midfielder would volley well over.

The half time break came and Polychroniou knew he needed to change things, he correctly subbed off Georgatos for Frantzeskos and Giorgos Georgiadis was also subbed off for Kostas Konstatinidis.

The moves would pay off as Hellas was much more dangerous in the second half, despite that, Denmark were always dangerous on the counter attack and in the 48th minute, Morten Wieghorst would header just over the Atmanzidis goal.

A minute later, Frantzeskos would attempt his trademark free kick but it would sail just wide.

Greece would get as close as they could in the 56th minute when a Frantzeskos freekick found Dabizas, the then Olympiacos defender’s header would find the woodwork and as such the 0-0 remained.

On the hour mark a flowing move between Machlas and Nikolaidis would find Frantzeskos but his shot would go straight to Schmeichel.

Nikolaidis Denmark

Right after that, Laudrup, not the first time, would get the better of Dabizas, he would then set up Miklos Molnar who would shoot well to the corner but Atmantzidis did well to save.

Shots from Frantzeskos and Nikolaidis would lead to nothing later on before the fans started to throw flares all over the stadium.

The game would be stopped for 5 minutes due to this and the scenes were unbelievable, it would be similar to the scenes with Russia in 1993 only there was not goal yet for the Ethniki.

After the restart, and now in the 83rd minute as a result of the stoppage, Machlas would go as close as he had all night with a good header at goal but it would end up just wide.

In the 86th minute a Frantzeskos free kick would be an easy save for Schmeichel which summed up the night.

Come the 90th minute and with hope starting to fall as the Greek team wasn’t penetrating the defence, Apostolakis would put a long ball into the box, the Danish defender, under pressure from Nikolaidis, would  header down and this would rebound to Alexandris who would find himself one on one with the great Dane, of course Schmeichel would spread himself so well, and Alekos’s shot would find the outstretched knee and fly well over goals for a corner, it would be the chance that breaks Greek hearts and be replayed many times even till this day.

The moment Schmeichel saved the Alexandris shot

A minute later Dabizas would header on goal but Schmeichel saved and Greece’s last chance would come in the 95th minute, from a Frantzeskos free kick, Yiannis Kalitzakis would rise above all, his strong header would end up just wide and moments later the full time whilst came, with the news that Croatia had beaten Slovenia 3-1 and as such, and in Polychronious words, “the dream did not become reality”

On his game in Athens, Peter Schmiechel saved everything that came his way

                                              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxJwNtiXVnk

Conclusion

This team was filled with very talented footballers who had matured a fair bit after the Euro 96 campaign and their connection with Polychroniou was strong.

Polychriniou himself was a good coach who had a great eye for a plan B when things were not going to plan and we saw this in many games.

Ultimately though, we didn’t get the win over Croatia or Denmark in all four games, where they dropped points with Bosnia and Slovenia they had wins and draws over the Ethniki.

For me, Greece’s defence paid heavily away in Denmark when an unfortunate own goal and Brian Laudrup brilliance proved the difference, it’s a goal though that should have been defended.

 The game with Croatia at Thessaloniki was a missed opportunity, and as big as the Denmark game in Athens.

Firstly, can’t ignore that Polychroniou wanted the game in Athens given what was happening with Aris’s relegation, a point Apostolakis also achnowledges but more to the point, whilst we didn’t test Schmeichel much, Greek players had good chances to score vs Croatia.

Donis’s chance after being set up by Machlas was in fact the chance we overlook to the Alexandris chance, Donis could have shot first time or even after his second touch, even after that, had he squared the ball to Poursanidis (had he seen him), the then Olympiacos midfielder, would have had an open net to score at with the score at 0-0.

Late in that game, a cross would find Konstatinidis free at the far post but Alexandris’s diving header put the PAO player off.

In the Denmark game I was surprised in digging back in to see that Georgatos and Georgiadis start the match as neither had started a qualifier before then, at first I thought ok, we did dominate that game so how much did that come into effect but truth is, it costed, as we did not really create shots at goal in the first half and Georgatos in particularly had a poor game.

Polychroniou, to his credit made the change right away with Frantzeskos, who came on and improved the Ethniki considerably.

At the time it was a no brainer to start Machlas and Nikolaidis who were in hot club form with Vitesse and AEK respectively but the pair did not combine well and in retrospect it may have been a better plan to add another attacking midfielder in.

Machlas Denmark 

I have mentioned this before but I remain surprised that Christos Kostis was not utilized much, this campaign was just before his serious injury at AEK and his games to goals ratio was good, I feel he would have been a good alternative to the injuries of Donis and Tsiartas at the time which was also a big loss for Greece as such we didn’t have good wide players in this game.

Theodoris Zagorakis would have a good campaign in the holding midfield role, it is no surprise he would be English Premier League bound to Leicester City in the summer of 98 right after the World Cup given his form at club & country, likewise Nikos Dabizas would join him in England signing with Newcastle United and Machlas would win the golden boot that season at Vitesse.

 Despite the heart break, Croatia and Denmark would go onto have a fantastic World Cup campaign in France, with Denmark making the Quarter Finals only to be defeated by Brazil 3-2 and Croatia made a historic appearance managing to finish 3rd overall for their best performance ever, not only that Davor Suker would be the tournament’s top scorer with 6 goals.

As for the Ethniki, after some dark years for Euro 2000 and the World Cup 2002, most of these players would combine for the Euro 2004 qualification campaign and go onto do something special at in Portugal which we will never forget.

Hellas Football

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