More misery for Greece as Liechtenstein grab late draw
Soccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group J - Greece v Liechtenstein - Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece - September 8, 2019 Greece's Kostas Manolas in action with Liechtenstein's Dennis Salanovic REUTERS/Costas Baltas
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's miserable run in the Euro 2020 qualifiers continued on Sunday when they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by a Liechtenstein side who had lost their previous five games in the group without scoring.
Liechtenstein, whose population of 38,000 would comfortably fit inside the Athens Olympic stadium, had lost their previous 19 European and World Cup qualifiers, a run stretching back to a 1-1 draw with Moldova in June 2015.
In a near-deserted arena, Greece, the Euro 2004 champions, went ahead in the 33rd minute when Giorgios Masouras turned in a cross from Efthymis Koulouris.
Soccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group J - Greece v Liechtenstein - Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece - September 8, 2019 Greece's Giannis Fetfatzidis in action with Liechtenstein's Maximilian Goppel REUTERS/Costas Baltas
But the hosts, whose previous matches in the group produced home defeats against Italy and Armenia and a loss in Finland, paid a heavy price for failing to add to that goal.
With five minutes left, Nicolas Hasler sent a hopeful ball forward for Denis Salanovic who managed to evade his marker and slip the ball past Vasilios Barkas to stun the hosts.
Greece, who missed both Euro 2016 and the last World Cup, are fifth in the six-team Group J with five points while Liechtenstein remained bottom with one and a goal difference of minus 18.
Soccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group J - Greece v Liechtenstein - Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece - September 8, 2019 Greece's Georgios Masouras in action with Liechtenstein's Daniel Kaufmann and Andreas Malin REUTERS/Costas Baltas
(Writing by Brian Homewood; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
Soccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group J - Greece v Liechtenstein - Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece - September 8, 2019 Liechtenstein's Dennis Salanovic scores their first goal REUTERS/Costas BaltasSoccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group J - Greece v Liechtenstein - Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece - September 8, 2019 Liechtenstein's Dennis Salanovic celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Costas BaltasSoccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group J - Greece v Liechtenstein - Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece - September 8, 2019 Greece's Andreas Samaris in action with Liechtenstein's Nicolas Hasler REUTERS/Costas BaltasSoccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group J - Greece v Liechtenstein - Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece - September 8, 2019 Greece's Konstantinos Tsimikas in action with Liechtenstein's Dennis Salanovic REUTERS/Costas BaltasSoccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group J - Greece v Liechtenstein - Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece - September 8, 2019 Greece's Georgios Masouras celebrates scoring their first goal with team mates REUTERS/Costas BaltasSoccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group J - Greece v Liechtenstein - Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece - September 8, 2019 Greece's Michalis Bakakis in action with Liechtenstein's Livio Meier REUTERS/Costas Baltas
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
