Key events
51 min: That damn fool is still waving his laser pen around. “If you want squads with names ending in the same set of characters, then Iceland at Euro 2016 is hard to beat as it had a 23-man squad full of -sons,” writes Andy (not that one) Flintoff. “However, that is a cheat, as they’re not really surnames but patronymics (father’s name + ‘-son’).”
49 min: This is all really scrappy. Neither team can keep hold of the ball at the moment.
48 min: England start the second half at their own pace. Not high. The home crowd frustrated as Greece chase about.
46 min: Hall’s introduction at left-back sends Rico Lewis over to the other flank, with Kyle Walker pairing up with Marc Guéhi in the middle.
Greece get the second half started. England have made a change at the break, Lewis Hall coming on for his debut. Ezri Konsa makes way.
Half-time postbag. “Let’s be honest, the only mistake in Watkins replacing Kane is that it didn’t happen against Slovenia five months ago. Walker’s comments about the surprise of him not being in the team says enough about the closed shop of England’s first choice players. They should always have to earn it, and be dropped if they don’t, all on merit” – Adam Hirst
“Delighted with Ollie Watkins’ goal and Madouke is playing out of his skin. As a Liverpool fan, I can’t deny I’m impressed by Tsimikas’s runs on the left. By far the most enterprising Greek player so far. Hope England give Carsley a well-deserved send-off” – Colum Fordham
“Rota the single player who has destroyed the perfect list of (players and substitutes) all names ending with S. I have been following both cricket and football for most of my life and I am yet to hit that perfect jackpot. This one is the closest I recall. Was there a Bulgarian team in 1990 or 1994 with all players ending with V?” – krishnamoorthy v
(Yep, Bulgaria’s squad at USA 94 consisted of 21 players whose surname ended either in -ov or -ev … apart from one player, Petar Mihtarski, though he only played for a grand total of one minute during his team’s run to the semis.)
In the other Group B2 match, the Republic of Ireland lead Finland 1-0 at half-time. Evan Ferguson with a header just before the break. As things stand, Greece maintain their lead at the top over England on the head-to-head, while Finland are relegated to League C. England and Ireland remain, respectively, in the promotion and relegation play-off places. How useful this information is, with the second half and a final round of matches still to be played, is moot. Ah what the hell, publish and be damned.
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Greece P5 W4 D0 L1 F9 A2 Pts12
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England P5 W4 D0 L1 F9 A3 Pts12
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Republic of Ireland P5 W2 D0 L3 F3 A7 Pts6
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Finland P5 W0 D0 L5 F2 A11 Pts0
HALF TIME: Greece 0-1 England
A good half for England, and especially for Ollie Watkins and Lee Carsley. They still need one more goal to knock Greece off their Group B2 perch, though.
45 min +2: Watkins scampers off down the middle, sent clear by Lewis. But he lets the ball clank between his feet, with Koulierakis in hot pursuit, and the chance of a second goal is gone.
45 min: There will be two minutes of additional first-half action.
44 min: Bellingham dinks a clever pass down the inside-right to release Madueke, who doesn’t realise he’s got the opportunity to advance on goal and shoot. Instead he checks back to ensure possession is retained and the chance is gone.
42 min: Masouras, who has already been booked, cynically tugs at an in-flight Jones. Another player who really wants to watch his step, given this referee’s hair-trigger, albeit haphazard, disciplinary style.
40 min: There’s some eejit pointing a laser pen at the England players, by the way. A crisp cuff around the lug wouldn’t go amiss.
38 min: Masouras swings a dangerous ball in from the right. Pickford claims well, with Pavlidis rushing in. Greece giving this a really good go now.
36 min: Bakasetas batters a shot goalwards from distance. Pickford handles well. It’s become a fast, open, fun game.
35 min: Tzolis tries to release Pavlidis with a raking ball down the middle. Pickford, who is in an adventurous mood tonight, races out of his box to blooter clear.
34 min: Bellingham bustles hard down the inside-right channel. He enters the box and prepares to shoot, only to have the ball whipped off his toe by Koulierakis. That’s precision defending. It had to be, because any contact with Bellingham would have resulted in a penalty. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
33 min: Masouras wins a corner down the right. Pickford punches it clear. The Olympic stadium really bouncing now. “While I agree with Philip Cornwall that you can win trophies with an imported German manager, let’s not forget that Greece won Euro 2004 almost exclusively by hanging on to a 0-1 lead for hours at a time,” recalls Justin Kavanagh. “So tonight’s a good test for their ability to manage out a game with Germanic efficiency.”
31 min: Nothing comes of the resulting corner. Greece have finally woken up, though, and for the first time this evening, England don’t have it all their own way.
30 min: Tsimikas and Tzolis combine at speed down the left. A brisk one-two, and suddenly Tsimikas is one on one with Pickford! He shoots hard from a tight angle, but Pickford sticks out a strong arm to turn around the post. That’s great football all round, so long as we don’t delve deep into the defensive work of Walker and Madueke.
29 min: … and then Walker needlessly clatters into Tzolis. No booking this time, which is something of a surprise given the referee’s carry-on to date.
27 min: Perhaps the Hot Butter number would be better used to soundtrack the referee’s yellow card. Out it pops again, this time to book Pickford for taking an age over a goal kick. Four bookings already, and not a bad challenge among them.
26 min: … but that’s given Greece and their fans succour, and another attack comes along soon after. Rota cuts in from the right only to drag his shot well wide of the target. A wasted opportunity, with plenty of space having opened out in front of him.
25 min: Jones sleepwalks into trouble in the middle of the park and Greece are able to launch a rare attack. The debutant is fortunate Masouras, looking to make good down the right, runs slap-bang into Lewis.
23 min: Masouras goes into the book now, though, after knocking Jones over. This referee isn’t to be messed with. A fair chance this won’t end with 22 players on the pitch, and it’s not been a dirty game.
21 min: Masouras clips Bellingham. Just a foul, no booking, but the resulting roar of disapproval from the Athens crowd illustrates just how frustrated the home support have become. England, who have enjoyed nearly 70 percent of possession so far, are doing a proper number on their hosts.
19 min: Madueke advances down the right and sends a weak shot straight at Vlachodimos. Then Gordon makes good along the opposite flank before running out of room. Goal kick, but England are all over Greece here.
17 min: The corner leads to a manic game of pinball that ideally would have been soundtracked by Hot Butter. Eventually the whistle goes for … well, not sure, to be honest … but that’s welcome relief for Greece.
16 min: Gordon is running riot down the left. He cuts inside at speed and launches a fierce rising shot towards the top-right corner. Mavropanos bravely eyebrows the ball over the post. That may have tested the keeper otherwise.
15 min: The Greek captain Bakasetas swings the free kick in from the left. Pickford comes a long way to meet it and punches clear. That’s brave and decisive goalkeeping.
14 min: Tsimikas bustles his way down the left and is skittled from behind by Gallagher, who wants to watch himself. Just a free kick, but for a second, England hearts were in mouths.
12 min: Gallagher slips a cute pass down the right for Madueke, who nearly reaches the byline again. But before he can deliver another dangerous cutback, Siopis comes across to block and clear. The small matter of two bookings aside (!) this has been an almost perfect start for England.
11 min: … maybe too much confidence, though. Bellingham thinks he’s won a corner down the left, but he’s not getting it, and decides to tell it as he sees it. A daft booking for gum-flapping. Then Gallagher stops Tzolis from taking a quick restart, and he goes into the book as well. All of a sudden, two members of England’s engine room are on the old disciplinary tightrope.
9 min: Gordon accelerates down the left again. The door is slammed shut, though it takes three blue shirts to cut off the route to the penalty box. England continue to exude confidence.
8 min: It’s been a really confident start by England, and there’s their reward. Greece have hardly had a touch, other than to pick out the ball from the back of their net.
GOAL! Greece 0-1 England (Watkins 7)
Bellingham plays a reverse pass down the right to release Madueke into space. He reaches the byline and cuts back for Watkins, who can’t miss from six yards. Seems Lee Carsley knows what he’s doing. Harry who?
6 min: England stroke it around patiently. Tsimikas eventually tires of it and skittles Madueke. Then from the resulting free kick …
4 min: England need to win this game if they’re to have a chance of finishing top of the group. They need to match or better Greece’s 2-1 scoreline also. With this in mind, on ITV, the commentating team of Sam Matterface and Lee Dixon have already mentioned the benched Harry Kane over 800 times.
2 min: Gordon outpaces Rota down the left. His low cross dribbles all the way through to Madueke, who attempts a snapshot from the penalty spot but can’t get anything away. That’s a fine run by Gordon and a promising start for England.
England get the ball rolling. Plenty of boos as they do so. Hey, it is nearly pantomime season, after all.
The teams are out. Greece in blue, England in white, the Olympic Stadium of Athens already on the boil. We’ll be off in a minute!
Greece’s Euro 2004 heroes, led by Otto Rehhagel, are paraded on the pitch. Partly so they can be honoured with more shiny trinkets, partly for crowd-up-whipping purposes. “You can win trophies with an imported German manager,” notes our man Philip Cornwall, at the scene for the purposes of leisure rather than work, but already planning ahead for 2026.
England’s stand-in captain Kyle Walker talks to ITV. “Obviously you turn up and expect [Harry Kane] to be playing … the manager has made a decision and we have to stick by that as a group of lads … this is a game you want to be involved in … we take points off them and we’ve a good chance of finishing top … these are the games you want to be involved in for your country … with Harry being on the bench [Jude Bellingham] needs to take front mantelpiece and get some goals tonight … momentum to take into Sunday [against Ireland] as well … there was a lot of emotion [at Wembley] with the very sad news of George Baldock dying … they played for him, really … we need to make sure we quieten the crowd down … hopefully get a result.”
Lee Carsley speaks to ITV. “It was important to give Ollie Watkins the opportunity to experience a night like this … this team needs to try to create leaders and one way of doing that is giving them the opportunity … [Harry Kane] is fine … he obviously wants to play but his attitude has been fantastic … it’s important we give the players the chance … Curtis Jones is an all-round very good midfielder … he’ll play a little bit deeper tonight than he currently does with Liverpool … hopefully our performance will be better [than against Greece at Wembley] … it’s important we match Greece for tempo and energy … the goal is to win the World Cup so this will be a valuable experience for them and hopefully develop them.”
No fewer than eight Greece players are in danger of missing their last match in Finland if they pick up a yellow card tonight. Five of those men start – Vangelis Pavlidis, Christos Zafeiris, Christos Tzolis, Kostas Tsimikas and Manolis Siopis – while another three are on the bench (Dimitris Pelkas, Giannis Konstantelias and Dimitris Giannoulis). Not a single England player is walking the disciplinary tightrope ahead of the Wembley showdown with Ireland.
A reminder of how Group B2 looks. England have to win tonight to retain a chance of finishing the group on top and gaining automatic promotion. Greece need just a point this evening to guarantee they’ll finish first and go up; in that scenario, their victory at Wembley means they’d pip England on the head-to-head.
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Greece P4 W4 D0 L0 F9 A1 Pts12
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England P4 W3 D0 L1 F8 A3 Pts9
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Republic of Ireland P4 W1 D0 L3 F2 A7 Pts3
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Finland P4 W0 D0 L4 F2 A10 Pts0
England, as a harrumphing Harry Kane has noted, are already without Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Levi Colwill, Jarrad Branthwaite and Aaron Ramsdale. They’re also without Kane in their starting XI. He’s on the bench – injury is reportedly not a factor – with Kyle Walker taking over captain’s duties. Noni Madueke starts for the first time while Curtis Jones makes his debut.
Greece make two changes to the starting XI they named for the 2-1 win at Wembley. Kostas Tsimikas of Liverpool and Christos Zafeiris are in for Dimitris Giannoulis and Dimitrios Kourbelis.
The teams
Greece: Vlachodimos, Rota, Mavropanos, Koulierakis, Tsimikas, Siopis, Zaferis, Masouras, Bakasetas, Tzolis, Pavlidis.
Subs: Tzolakis, Mandas, Vagiannidis, Retsos, Alexandropoulos, Ioannidis, Douvikas, Pelkas, Hatzidiakos, Konstantelias, Mantalos, Giannoulis.
England: Pickford, Walker, Konsa, Guéhi, Lewis, Jones, Gallagher, Bellingham, Madueke, Gordon, Watkins.
Subs: Trafford, Henderson, Gibbs-White, Gomes, Kane, Hall, Livramento, Quansah, Harwood-Bellis, Rogers, Bowen, Solanke.
Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)
VAR: Bastian Dankert (Germany)
Preamble
England captain Harry Kane has gone public with his displeasure over the number of withdrawals from the squad. He also might be a shock omission from tonight’s starting XI. What a savage irony. Kick-off is at 7.45pm GMT. It’s on!
