Ethniki suffer four straight defeats for first time in 24 years
After falling to Finland on Thursday in Euro 2020 qualifying action, Greece suffered a fourth consecutive defeat for the first time in 24 years.
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Greece’s final hopes for a possible place in next summer’s European championships were shattered on Thursday after the Ethniki tasted a bitter 1:0 defeat to Finland. The result saw second-placed Finland move up to 12 points from five games while Greece sit far back in fifth with just four points.
Thursday’s loss marks Greece’s fourth defeat in as many games. The Ethniki lost to Turkey (2-1) on May 30th in a friendly before falling to Italy (0-3) and Armenia (2-3) in June at the OAKA Stadium for Euro 2020 qualifying. With Greece’s loss to Finland, the Ethniki suffered a fourth consecutive defeat for the first time in 24 years.
The last time the national team tasted four straight defeats was back in 1995 when the national team lost to Russia (0-3, Euro 1996 qualifying), Lithuania (2-1, friendly), Finland (2-1, Euro 1996 qualifying), and Scotland (1-0 Euro 1996 qualifying). Greece’s poor form proved costly as the Ethniki finished third in their qualifying group, behind Russia and Scotland, and missed out on the 1996 Euros despite a great start to the qualifying campaign.
Greece will be expected to break that streak on Sunday when they host group minnows Liechtenstein at the OAKA Stadium in matchday 6 action of EURO 2020 qualifying.
On another note, two Panathinaikos players were in the Greek starting XI for the first time in seven years. On Thursday in Tampere, Panathinaikos’ Dimitris Kolovos and the club’s captain, Dimitris Kourbelis, were in the Greek starting lineup. The last time the Trifylli had two representatives in the Greek 11 was back in 2012 during a 2014 World Cup qualifying match at home to Lithuania.
Then, Orestis Karnezis, Kostas Katsouranis, and Nikos Spyropoulos all started that match while playing their club football with the Prasini. Greece went on to win that match 2-0 and eventually qualified for the 2014 World Cup via the playoffs. This was Greece’s last appearance at a major tournament.
