Shortly before half-time at Wembley on Thursday night Giorgos Masouras burst on to the ball in the Greece half and was suddenly skipping swiftly towards the halfway line. Greece had already been lively on the break and here was another dangerous looking counterattack.
England were flustered. Lee Carsley’s false nine Plan A was not working, and you could feel the beginnings of that old Wembley sense of doom descending.
It must have felt that way at ground level as well because Bukayo Saka – yes, Bukayo Saka – grabbed the running Masouras by the shoulder and brought him down. For this Saka was booked.
He may have questioned why he wasn’t facing the other direction. But then these left-footed right-wingers do tend to turn back. It’s a system issue and England’s failure to stretch Greece, even though they had Saka and Anthony Gordon on the wings was all part of a puzzling performance.
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Saka’s foul on Masouras was not the night’s most significant moment yet it said a lot about the state of the game – and the state of Greece. England were rattled – Carsley’s players were not delivering on the teamsheet promise – but it was not just because of England’s failings. Greece rattled them.
Organised, individually and collectively robust, sharp in their passing – the Greek players impressed in every outfield position. Given the Greek FA asked Uefa for the game to be postponed following the tragic death of George Baldock in Athens on Wednesday, the squad could have been destabilised. Instead the players channelled an emotional surge into an historic victory.
Greece had never beaten England. They had never scored at Wembley. They had not beaten a nation ranked in Fifa’s top five for 20 years. Theirs was a hat-trick display – three goals disallowed for offside too – and for all the hand-wringing in England about Carsley’s shaky scheme, Greece won the game as much as England lost it.
For Irish eyes this is not a new picture, of course. It is less than five weeks since Greece travelled to Dublin and won 2-0. It was Greece’s third win in 15 months against Ireland and the visitors were, and may remain, presented as a bogey team. They are a bit more than that.
Talkative Gus Poyet has gone and Ivan Jovanovic has arrived – Ian Wright called him and his team “wily” on three separate occasions on Thursday night. It was a compliment, but perhaps not broad enough.
As John O’Shea said before last month’s meeting: “In terms of the Irish public thinking – ‘ah, it’s Greece’ – when you actually delve into where their players are playing, the profile of their players, it’s a really hardened, experienced team.”
O’Shea did not need reminding that Greece were not at this summer’s Euros only because they lost a penalty shoot-out in Georgia. He could recall them leading 1-0 and 2-1 against France last November, drawing 2-2. He could point out that the last two countries to beat Greece – Germany and Netherlands – did so with 89th and 90th minute goals.
Maybe England’s players needed to be told this; self-absorption is hardly unique to Irish football.
So the underestimation of Greece goes on, even as they go up. They will probably be in Pot 2 in December’s World Cup draw and now have the statement victory that should alert all to an emerging team. There is something Croatian in their combination of strength and skill.
The Greek chatter on Friday morning was euphoric. It stressed the quick work Jovanovic has enacted; the 62-year-old Serbian is seen as a unifying figure post-Poyet. Jovanovic has managed three clubs in Greece, including Panathinaikos. He also led Apoel of Cyprus to the last eight of the Champions League 12 years ago – his team costing €1 million losing to Real Madrid, who cost more than that.
Now in three Nations League games Greece have won all three, conceding only once and scoring seven. Jude Bellingham’s late equaliser raised a question about goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos, who has played 45 minutes for Newcastle United since his summer move from Nottingham Forest. It is a detail for Heimir Hallgrímsson to consider.
There are others: Vangelis Pavlidis scored Greece’s latest goals, yet he was only starting as Fotis Ioannidis was injured last weekend – and will miss Sunday in Piraeus as well. Not everyone in Greece is convinced by Pavlidis but he plays for Benfica and he would surely start for Ireland.
Ioannidis scored Greece’s first in Dublin and Christos Tzolis got the second. Tzolis was one of those who impressed most on Thursday.
He is another who would surely have a higher profile and greater economic value were he French or Dutch. Tzolis was 19 when he joined Norwich City, and Adam Idah, in 2021 and his time there is not considered a success. Tzolis is now at Bruges, where he plays and scores in Champions League competition. He is only 22 and looks the kind of player we could soon see at Brighton or Brentford.
Liverpool’s Konstantinos Tsimikas also missed the Wembley win. Tsimikas had done the prematch press conference but was declared unwell by kick-off. That Greece were able to cope with losing such key players says something about depth. Their Fifa ranking, 48th, will be cut by the time of the November internationals.
There is the usual risk of overreacting. While Carsley is immediately portrayed as a coaching fantasist, rather than someone experimenting – and learning – Greece could be overpraised. The longer the game went on, though, the praise they received seemed like a correction to previous disregard.
Understandably the Ireland squad departed Helsinki buoyed by the 2-1 win over Finland, but like O’Shea, Hallgrímsson will be aware of Greece’s rising capabilities.
The shape of Sunday’s game should be different to Wembley, where the Greeks had 36 per cent possession. At home and with a big win in their sails, Greece will be expected to set the agenda. Whether they do is another matter – they had less of the ball than Finland when beating them 3-0 in Piraeus last month.
Judging by how they allowed England’s defence the ball then pounced on any error, Jovanovic might offer Ireland space to play out. And wait. What is certain is that Irish defenders must tackle; England’s didn’t, incredibly.
It will be an emotional occasion. The Greek FA’s social media has been switched to monochrome, drained of colour, to honour George Baldock. They saw something in two goals representing his number 2 jersey.
The players’ response to the Baldock tragedy showed there is nothing false about their camaraderie and a sense of purpose can now be added to Greek qualities. They are a unit.
