Greece Stuns England with Late Victory in Nations League 2024, Italy Held to Draw by Belgium
Greece defeated England 2-1 thanks to a thrilling goal by Vangelis Pavlidis in the 94th minute in Thursday’s UEFA Nations League match.
Overshadowed by the terrible death of Greek star George Baldock, the match was emotional and saw Greece win at Wembley versus England for the first time ever.
Greece defeated England 2-1 on Thursday in a Nations League match overshadowed by the death of Greek midfielder George Baldock the night before, while Belgium held Italy to a tie. Vangelis Pavlidis scored the game’s winning goal in the 94th minute. After a late goal by Jude Bellingham, Greek striker Pavlidis scored twice to put Greece atop Group B2.
A minute of silence was observed before kickoff in memory of Baldock, an English-born Greece international who drowned in his swimming pool in Athens on Wednesday, before Greece’s historic triumph over England took place at Wembley.
“Thanks to George, it was an extremely memorable day for us. It’s a wonderful occasion because of him and the fact that we are people,” Pavlidis said to ITV.
George was a member of the team, thus it was a challenging time for us. unique man. It doesn’t matter how we win today—we have to play for him. We sacrificed everything for him.”
In the 49th minute, Pavlidis glided through a shaky England box defense and hammered the ball past Jordan Pickford to give the Greeks a well-earned lead.
Three goals were disallowed for the visitors during the game, the last of which was minutes before Bellingham of Real Madrid struck a late equalizer for England in the 87th minute.
But England failed to eliminate the threat in their area, and Pavlidis took full advantage to drill in a late winner, denying Greece a third victory in three Nations League games.
Italy and Belgium drew 2-2 in an exciting Group A2 match in Rome.
Within 60 seconds, Andrea Cambiaso scored his first goal for his country by bringing the ball home from close range, giving the Italians a quick lead.
After a spilled save, Mateo Retegui doubled the hosts’ lead on minute 24 by sweeping home with his left foot.
Pellegrini Sees Red
Before taking a pair of blows in the last ten minutes of the first half, Italy appeared at ease and in control of the match.
Following a VAR review, the Italy playmaker who had earlier been shown a yellow card for a late lunge on Arthur Theate in the 38th minute was given a straight red.
After a beautiful set-piece move, Maxim De Cuyper finished impressively from 25 yards out to give Belgium the lead, which they duly reduced.
On minute sixty-one, Leandro Trossard of Arsenal completed the Belgian comeback.
Trossard slipped by the immobile defence to poke the ball beyond Gianluigi Donnarumma from close range after a deep corner was nodded back across goal.
Italy coach Luciano Spalletti stated, “There are moments that can turn a game around, like their goal right after we went down to ten men.”
“Your football play and strategy don’t always determine the outcome. After a fantastic first half, there’s no doubt that we could have performed better in the second.
France is ranked second in their group after defeating Israel 4-1 in Budapest, while Italy continues to lead their group.
In the seventh minute, Eduardo Camavinga gave France the lead when the goalie mishandled his meek attempt and the ball bounced over the line.
After 24 minutes, Omri Gandelman tied the score, and four minutes later, a crisp finish from Christopher Nkunku gave France the lead again.
Matteo Guendouzi and Bradley Barcola gave the visitors two more goals as the clock was running out.
Norway defeated Slovenia 3-0 in Oslo behind a brace from Erling Haaland, moving them up to the top of Group B3, three points clear of Austria after their 4-0 victory against Kazakhstan.
Republic of Ireland, third in Group B2 behind England, overcame a 2-1 deficit to defeat Finland in Helsinki.
On Friday, Iceland plays Wales in Group B4, Germany travels to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Hungary hosts the Netherlands in Group A3.
