Greece 5-1 Belarus: A clean slate

By Alec McQuarrie

These don’t come around that often. The last clean slate came against Gibraltar in March 2023, the start of a 10-match qualifying campaign that ultimately ended in heartbreak, in failure, in Tbilisi.

But it started with a 3-0 win in the Algarve against a team from a rock hanging off the Iberian peninsula.

Only three players survive from Greece’s last clean slate: Kostas Tsimikas, Konstantinos Mavropanos and captain Tasos Bakasetas.

That alone should demonstrate just how far the Ethniki have come in the last two and a half years. Back then, Christos Tzolis was warming the Norwich bench in the Championship, Christos Zafeiris was Norwegian and Kostas Karetsas was playing for Belgium’s U16s and the 17-year-old is making it really, really hard for those of us who are desperately trying not to get ahead of ourselves.

His mature, guided finish inside two and a half minutes was a statement: this is not the same Greece as two and a half years ago.

For one, Pavlidis is a completely different prospect. Not because he is a completely different player, but because he has a completely different mindset.

He is the man who tore England’s defence to shreds in their own backyard, he is the man who scored seven goals in his first-ever Champions League campaign, and he is Greece’s first-choice striker, no ifs, no buts.

He knows it, he believes it, and it shows.

Without the Benfica attacker the opener does not happen. While Belarus are fussing over his hypnotic shimmies and slides, the visitors completely take their eyes off the goalscorer. After all, he is a literal child; what is he going to do?

And Belarus do not learn their lesson. Both Koulierakis and Mavropanos should get themselves on the scoresheet before 10 minutes are up.

Even Tsimikas - who hasn’t scored a goal for club or country since 2018 – looks dangerous on the volley from distance.

But it’s Karetsas and Pavlidis who combine again to score a long-overdue - I’m deadly serious - second in the 17th minute. The build-up is patient, the cross wondrous and the header clinical.

Then up steps the skipper. Fucking hell.

Bakasetas hits the ball harder than you’ve ever seen a football hit in your life. Thank God Pavel Pavlyuchenko didn’t get a hand to it, otherwise it would have been shorn clean off.

By the way, if you don’t believe Bakasetas has a role to play in this World Cup qualifying campaign and beyond, I don’t know what to tell you.

The match is emphatically won by the 21st minute and guess what? The 3-0 scoreline flatters Belarus.

In fact, that cliché is wholly unsuitable to describe how unbelievably dominant the home side were in the first half. It was a massacre.

The captain is consummate from corners and Kourbelis’ header is deflected in for 4-0. It genuinely should have been 8-0.

By half-time, Greece had fired 22 shots towards poor Pavlyuchenko’s goal, 12 of which were on target.

Belarus? Two, both off target. I can’t remember either. I can’t even remember them crossing the halfway line. Kostas Tzolakis could have spent the first 45 doing pull ups.

Belarus actually improve after half-time, though it was almost unthinkable that they could get any worse. Tzolakis is called into action and stays strong.

But normal service is quickly resumed and the Olympiacos keeper goes back to hanging from the crossbar.

Tzolis gets the goal his performance deserves and Pavlidis gets his second assist of the night. But don’t forget that both directly benefitted from Bakasetas’ incessant closing down.

That is perhaps the most pleasing thing about the fifth goal – Greece are 4-0 up with 30 minutes to play and they are still intent on harrying dawdling defenders.

Then, out of nowhere, referee Jarred Gillett gives Belarus a penalty, presumably because he feels sorry for them.

I’m not exactly sure if Bakasetas can get his arms any further behind his back without cutting them off. He leans in? Don’t be ridiculous. That’s never been a penalty – they don’t even appeal.

How Tzolis doesn’t end up with a hat-trick, I’ll never know. He does everything right in the 80thminute to break clean away and round the keeper.

But by this point in the match, anything extra is only for decoration. Greece have done their job and then some.

Meanwhile, in Copenhagen, Scotland and Denmark can’t be separated in what I have to assume was a mind-numbingly tedious 0-0.

I haven’t seen a single minute of that match, but I can tell you that it isn’t worth anyone’s time. The two sides mustered three shots on target between them apparently. Greece managed to tally 15 on their own.

But tougher tests are undoubtedly on their way. In all honesty, it would be difficult to find any easier - Gibraltar perhaps.

Denmark next. The clean slate is still sparkling. Let’s keep it that way.

@A_McQuarrie

Hellas Football