Match Report
First half:
It is the Greeks who start the game through their two forwards Samaras and Saravakos, and the ball is immediately rolled all the way back to goalkeeper Oikonomopoulos. The Danish are, however, showing their intent by pressing the Greek players already from the word ‘go’, and in particular striker Povlsen looks committed to the cause. He will be the most advanced and central forward in the Danish line-up, which is very dynamic with the skilful Michael Laudrup in a roaming midfield role. At times one can see the two Laudrups use a kind of intuitive understanding between themselves, though the older of the two is also frustrated on a couple of occasions when his fledgling brother does not release the ball in time. It is still early on in Brian Laudrup’s international career, and it is expected he will be learning for some time to come yet.
The Greeks start out with four at the back, perhaps with Mavridis slightly more deep than Manolas at the heart of their defence, where Apostolakis on the right hand side has his hands (or feet rather!) more tied than his counterpart Khatziathanasiou on the other flank, who is more prone to venture into the Danish half. Tsaloukhidis is a reliable figure in the holding midfield role, and he will provide cover for his two centre halfs. Greece are aware of the home side’s strength in breaking quickly from defence, and a mobile and agile midfield is therefore a Greek necessity. It does appear early on, though, that re-installed skipper Mitropoulos is not in his best form. He had made a solid impression in the first leg between these two, but here he dwelled on the ball on a couple of occasions, and would lose it to the tigerish and interceptive Jensen in the Danish midfield. However, when Mitropoulos was given a bit of time coming deep into his own half to collect the ball, he would hit it long towards the head of Samaras or into space for Saravakos to run onto. It has to be said, though, that these tactics rarely caused the home side trouble.
It was Denmark who were on the front foot early on, as had been expected. Greece might be a difficult proposition at home, but on their travels they often leave a vulnerable impression. They struggle to get to grips with the two lively Danish forwards in the opening stages, and in particular the younger of the two Laudrup brothers is a worry to Khatziathanasiou, the Greek left back, who on a couple of occasions is in need of assistance from Manolas, the centre back operating nearest to left back territory. Denmark also win early corners from Khatziathanasiou’s side, and they are whipped into the goalmouth from Bartram’s left peg. On one occasion, Oikonomopoulos has to be alert and tip the ball over his own bar to avoid conceding directly from the corner kick. The near 40k capacity crowd are in good voice and in full support of their own team, knowing that only a win is good enough to keep up the pressure on Romania at the top of the table.
As the home side find their rhythm, they’re an increasingly difficult task for the visitors. Bartram down the Danish left hand side gets past both Papadopoulos and Apostolakis time and again, and from his advanced midfield role Michael Laudrup is able to dictate the pace, and also combine well with the two front runners. And in Jensen the home side have the player who takes no prisoners in challenges, and behind him there’s also the clever head of soon 40 year old Morten Olsen. The Greeks are going nowhere, and to add to the threat from the Danish right hand side from B Laudrup, there’s also Sivebæk, who is beginning to show some promise after a bit of a slow start in which he had rarely joined in going forward. The Greek central defenders are strong in the air, but both Mavridis and Manolas seem to struggle a bit when the home side switch on the pace. Both Michael Laudrup and Povlsen threaten to break through with B Laudrup the creative force, but from the first opportunity Manolas can clear it away for a corner before the Juventus playmaker can round Oikonomopoulos, and Povlsen’s shot when bursting through from the left of the penalty area goes wide of the goalkeeper’s post. They are getting closer, the Danish.
Greece are tough-tackling when the pace is low enough for them to come close to their opponents. The home side know they have to keep the ball moving swiftly between their players, and they do, so often instigated by the elegant M Laudrup. He does find a lot of space as he plays in a position which is difficult to single out for individual attention from the visitors’ point of view. And it is not only with his younger brother, but also with Povlsen that he combines well. However, the opening goal is the work of the two centre forwards: Brian Laudrup wins the ball from Khatziathanasiou well inside his own half, with Jensen also putting pressure on the Greek left back, plays Povlsen in down the right hand channel, and his pass inside finds B Laudrup again, who’s made a long run deep into the visitors’ penalty area. Manolas, who has earlier been booked for a nasty challenge on the very same Laudrup brother, has a rush of blood to the head and sees the ball evade him to run through to the Danish #11, who hits a low shot with his left foot through the legs of Oikonomopoulos. They have their goal to challenge Romania for the top spot, but it is unlikely that Piontek wants his team to sit back and defend their slender advantage.
There is more of the same from the hosts: They continue to try and pull Greece apart. Yet the visitors will have their best spell, if one is entitled to call a period of perhaps one minute that, when Sivebæk is receiving treatment on the sidelines, with Jensen temporarily deputising in the right back position, a job which he does well as Manolas plays a smart ball through the centre for Papadopoulos. The right sided midfielder finds himself almost one on one with Schmeichel until Jensen intercepts and can tackle the ball into the path of team mate Lars Olsen, who will extend it out for a Greek corner. This is the first clear threat to the Danish goal, yet the home side appear not to take it seriously, as they continue to overload the Greek half. It might be the result of having thrown too many men forward that Denmark let the visitors equalize: Schmeichel quickly re-starts play after catching the ball inside his area, as he so often wants to do, but Manolas can tackle B Laudrup, and the ball breaks for Mavridis, who decides to carry the ball towards the Danish penalty area. He plays a short ball for Saravakos, who in turn tries to find Samaras on the edge of the area, but Nielsen gets in the way, which is a lucky ricochet for Mavridis, who has continued his run into the area. All he has to do is side-foot the ball to guide it beyond Schmeichel for 1-1. Hardly what the Greeks deserve, but the Danish get punished for some sloppy play and lack of concentration.
The game is only tied for about two minutes as Denmark go back in front: A long diagonal punt up field by the left foot of Nielsen finds the head of Vilfort on the edge of the area, who beats Khatziathanasiou in the air. Povlsen picks up the ball and delievers a telling cross for Bartram to hit home despite not connecting cleanly with his left foot. The ball goes in just inside of the left hand post, with Oikonomopoulos beaten. A goal only minutes from the break could prove to be the perfect tonic ahead of the second half, in which the Greeks would have to come out of their own half in search for a second goal.
Second half:
For the start of the second half, Giorgiadis has made one change for the Greek visitors: right back Apostolakis has been replaced by midfielder Savvidis, who had performed well in their 0-0 home match against Romania. Not only did it mean a change in personnel, but also a switch in formation: Greece reverted from their 4-4-2 to 3-5-2, with Papadopoulos taking the right wing back slot, and Tsaloukhidis moving back into central defence alongside Mavridis (deep) and Manolas (right). Mitropoulos went into the midfield anchor role, as he had been overrun in the first half in his central position. Giorgiadis wanted more mobile players in Tsiantakis and Savvidis for the central midfield berths.
23 seconds after the re-start, Denmark had their first pop on goal when M Olsen played Povlsen in behind Papadopoulos and for him to run into the Greek penalty area, only to fire over from too much of an angle. The Greeks were seemingly doing ok by the time Mitropoulos had to throw in the towel. Five minutes into the second half the away captain had to go off with a slight limp and be replaced by central defender Kallitzakis, which meant Tsaloukhidis would go back into his original position as the holding man in midfield, and with Kallitzakis operating to the left of the three man central defence. Surely, all these switches were not ideal for the visitors, as if Denmark weren’t causing them enough trouble already. But it would get worse: Shortly after the introduction of Kalitzakis, Manolas decides to obstruct Povlsen rather unnecessarily just to the right of his own penalty area. The Danish forward had been coming forward at pace, and goes to the ground rather dramatically, prompting a red card from the English referee. The Greek centre back had to walk after his second bookable offence, despite the efforts from team mate Papadopoulos to try and refrain Mr Hackett from producing the red card. The subsequent free-kick found its way from Bartram’s boot onto the head of big Nielsen, who had no problems leaping over a passive Tsaloukhidis to score the home side’s third. And merely a minute later it was 4-1: Bartram again buccaneered down the left, Papadopoulos was nowhere to be seen, and the ball made its way to Povlsen’s head. Oikonomopoulos was left with no chance. It was a first ten minutes of the second period that the visitors could only have feared in their worst nightmares. They were not just all of a sudden three goals down, but they also found themselves a man short. With 35 minutes left for play against a rampant home side, surely damage limitation was the only way forward for the visitors?
Denmark are relentless by now. They smell blood, and they look like scoring every time they get into the Greek penalty area. However, in between their waves of attack, they rest sensibly, even allowing the 10 men visitors time on the ball inside their half. Greece will often hit it forward for Samaras to try and bring team mates into play, and he does well, the big striker, even if he has some really rugged Danish defenders to work against. Saravakos, who has taken over the captain’s armband following Mitropoulos’ withdrawal, is having a disappointing performance. He had done well against Romania in the last outing, but on foreign soil he is almost like fish on dry land. He will not even deliever good set-pieces. Denmark easily defend what little comes in the direction of Schmeichel’s goal throughout the second half, and their more defensive players take turns in going forward: Lars Olsen is not afraid to cross the halfway line, Morten Olsen likewise. Even John Larsen, the quiet centre back, is seen trotting forward at one point. Only Kent Nielsen remains at the back unless there’s a dead ball situation at the other end. Vilfort, who had stepped in for Sivebæk 30 minutes into the first half, is a non-stop runner down the right hand corridor, and with Bartram very much the same threat opposite, Greece simply do not have enough resistance about them to keep the Danish away. This is total football that the Dutch in their prime would have been proud of, even if the opposition admittedly is poor.
60′: Povlsen is played through by B Laudrup and can only finish into Ikonomopoulos’ leg when one on one with the goalkeeper. Kallitzakis tries to head the rebound into safety, but it only goes as far as to M Laudrup, who is off balance and can only sky his effort over
61′: Bartram has a go with his trusted left foot from 18 yards after Vilfort and M Laudrup combine in seeing the ball into the wide left player’s range. His shot goes well over
67′: M Laudrup gets to the byline to the left of the Greek goal, tries to score from an angle, but it is cleared away by Kallitzakis. Originally, B Laudrup had been behind the break, but he seemed to dwell too long before playing in his brother, who had seemed to be in a better position a few seconds earlier. It was the excellent close control of M Laudrup that saw him take the ball past Kallitzakis’ lounge and through to the byline
68′: B Laudrup takes a dramatic tumble inside the Greek penalty area after Kallitzakis’ tackle, but the Danish forward probably made it look worse than it was. No penalty, rightly so
69′: It is Povlsen’s turn to get to the byline from the left hand side, and his cross finds Vilfort, whose header via the ground is desperately palmed away by Oikonomopoulos, who certainly is earning his wages this evening
70′: Povlsen is one on one with Oikonomopoulos, but can only place his chipped right-footed effort agonisingly wide of the right hand post when he really should have scored. And he knows it
72′: M Laudrup comes too far to the right of goal as he bursts into the visitors’ penalty area having escaped a weak offside trap, and having been played in by Vilfort. Oikonomopoulos parries his shot away for another corner kick.
It is clear that the Greek resistance will be breached again. To their credit, the visitors do not park the bus inside the Danish half. In their naivity, they continue to try and be creative inside the Danish half, and seem oblivious to the quick Danish counters. Papadopoulos demonstrates to everyone that he will never be a full-back of international stature, as anyone who has a go down his side will make it to the byline. Unless Apostolakis had been forced to go off with an injury, the half time change that saw the Greek number 2 withdrawn (for Savvidis) was a strange one.
5-1 comes from one of the countless Danish set-pieces: Bartram again delievers a right wing corner to perfection, and Vilfort has an easy task in outjumping Mavridis to guide the ball into the net. Despite being four goals to the good, the scoreline still flatters the visitors. Had the home side been alert, they would have been even a further couple of goals ahead already. In the wake of 5-1, Piontek makes his second and final substitution as Henrik Andersen replaces Bartram, who is easily man of the match after his goal and three assists. The sub will not need more than 20 seconds on the pitch before he darts to the byline and whips a cross in, so there is no immediate respite for Greece despite Piontek having taken Bartram off. There will be two further home goals added:
6-1 – M Laudrup plays in sub Andersen, whose low shot from the edge of the six yard area is too hard for Oikonomopoulos to deal with
7-1 – M Laudrup’s penalty in injury time. One of the evening’s giants finally has his name on the score sheet after the hapless Papadopoulos brings down Povlsen deep inside his own area
Khatziathanasiou’s late booking came as he kicked the ball high into the air in frustration right in front of referee Hackett, as the Englishman awarded the home side a throw-in which the Greek left-back felt should have been awarded him.
Conslusion:
A win by a six goal margin means Denmark now have a stronger goal difference than Romania, who had beaten Bulgaria by the only goal of the game in Bucharest. However, tellingly, they are still a point adrift before their double header late in the autumn. Despite only embarking on their landslide win-margin performance after Manolas’ sending off, there was no way Greece would have returned home with anything to show for even if they had played the game out with 11 men. The home side were full of running and energy, and Greece never had an answer to this vitality. The lack of pace at the back was another bad point for the Greeks, who would also regret seeing Papadopoulos, the midfielder, play the entire second half as a right sided defender. For the home side, there were a lot of fine performances, but no one more so than wide left player Bartram, who had a hand in four of the goals before being taken off immediately after his assist for Vilfort’s 5-1 header. Seven different players came on the score sheet for the home team.
86′
54′
